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.

Marseille: Spring Break Part 1

Le Vieux Port

Finally! I'm back. After a great and admittedly exhausting week, I've made it back and I'm so excited to sleep in my bed tonight. I could only take so many more hostel shenanigans. Some people just do not understand whispering. Ah. Anyway, I should start with Marseille. Too many pretty pictures though, so I'll split it up a bit.

A really cool mirror installation that made us feel like we were in double, alternate reality Marseille

We took the train Saturday afternoon from Grenoble and arrived in the nice, warm city with a stunning ocean view. Our first night we treated ourselves to some tasty seafood and a walk around the Vieux Port (old port).

The port and Notre Dame de la Garde (on top of the hill)

Sunday we went to the Calanques. They're absolutely amazing and I'm so glad we took a whole afternoon to see them. We packed a lunch, took the bus out, and hiked for about an hour before finding the perfect point to perch ourselves on to feast our eyes (...and to eat).

Les Calanques

I honestly couldn't believe how crisp and turquoise the water was. Coming from Northern California, I'm not used to ocean you can actually see through. The pictures are grey, but the sun did make appearances for us. Appearances during which we would throw off whatever layers we were wearing and lay back immediately to take it all in. That night we met some great hostel friends with whom we ate dinner and hung out for hours before falling into bed. 

View from our lunch spot