Monday, April 29, 2013

Marseille- Part 2

Notre Dame de la Garde
 Our trip continued on Monday with a walk up to Notre Dame de la Garde. It's a surprisingly small church filled with boats hung from the ceilings. I believe the idea was that it was to keep the sailors safe.
View south from the church
We got a nice view from the church- the Mediterranean and all the islands surrounding Marseille. After the walk up and back and lunch, we took the boat out to Chateau d'If. It's basically the Alcatraz of Marseille. An island prison built by King François I (16th century) and made especially famous by one Alexandre Dumas in the Count of Monte Cristo.
At the top of Château d'If
 We had a great time exploring the various cells and turrets, but we got kicked off the island pretty quickly. I say kicked off, but I really mean the weather was getting too out of hand so they told us we had to get off as soon boats would no longer be able to land.
Château d'If (deef)
 Tuesday was our last full day in Marseille. So we walked all over, seeing the Palais Longchamp and picnicking in its gardens ad well as la Vieille Charité over in Le Panier (the old, historic quarter).
Palais Longchamp
Mmm columns
 The sun was finally out in full force, so I did what all do when in the south of France: gelato.
Melon
La Vieille Charité
 And Wednesday we left in the afternoon to catch our train to Barcelona. But before leaving I strolled for a bit on my own, passing the fish market and exploring all the little side streets I'd yet to see.

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