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This blog is about our trip to Southern France and to Germany.  We spent about a week in Marseille and then moved to Avignon where we caught a week cruise on the Rhone River, visiting a number of towns including Arle, Vienne, and Lyon. 

From there we flew to Munich Germany for the October Fest and then on to Oberammergau for the Passion Play.  This has play has been held nearly every 10 years, with very few exceptions, since 1633.

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August 30 – Transfer to Marseille

We were up early for breakfast and were off the Sea Cloud and on our bus by 8:30 for the drive to the airport. We were at the airport very early and spent the waiting time in the lounge.  Our flight to Marseille, France left late afternoon.  The flight was uneventful.  

Our luggage come through with no problems and we had a driver waiting for us to take us to our hotel. 

Our hotel is right on the harbor with the old town behind us.  A perfect location.  And even better, our hotel room faces the harbor so we have a great view out our window. 

We had a snack on the plane so neither of us were very hungry for dinner.  So we took a walk along the promenade and found a small shop that served crepes and ice cream.  So we had both.  Yummy. 

The harbor is nicely light at night.  Lovely view. 

August 31 – Marseille Sightseeing train and walking the Old town (Vieux-Port- Panier)

We were a bit lazy this morning and didn’t head out until around 10:00.  We headed down the promenade and saw a small white and blue tourist train that was going to the Notre Dame de la Garde.  This cathedral is high on a hill overlooking Marseille and it looked as though it would be quite a walk.  So we decided to take the train. 

Just as the train was leaving we got a call.  It seems we had a tour walking tour scheduled…had totally missed in the vouchers we had received for this.  So, we had to miss out on that one.  

The drive took us through town and along the coast where we saw the Frioul Islands a short distance from the shore.  These islands were the setting for Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo. 

We also saw the Plage (beach) Des Catalans and part of the Corniche Kennedy and a few other interesting sights.  However, most of the shoreline sights were below our line of sight so no photos.

The Notre Dame de la Garde had lots of terraces around it... 

so there were lots of views all around the city and the coastline. 

And the interior was beautiful.  It was a bit different from many Catholic Cathedrals we had seen in that it didn’t have any small chapels along the sides of the nave.

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More Notre Dame de la Garde
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We eventually took the train back down to the main part of town and started our walking explorations. 

We stopped in at Fort Saint Jean, one of two forts that protect the entrance to the harbor. 

We could see Fort St. Nicholas directly across the harbor entrance. 

We also had good views of the Palais Pharo on the point beside the harbor entrance.  This palace was offered to Napoleon III by the people of Marseille.  However, he never lived here.  It is now a conference center.  

Nearby was the Mucem Museum.  It focuses on the history, archaeology, anthropology and art of the region.  We opted to not to visit the museum but the exterior was fascinating.

From their we walked up to the Cathedral de La Nouvelle Major.  It is a newer cathedral (19^th century) and had a beautiful exterior that was somewhat reminiscent of Moorish architecture with its stipes of colored stone.

The interior was lovely but simple.

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More Cathedral de la Nouvelle Major
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From there we headed up into the old town where we found a café in a plaza with lots of shade.  A perfect place for lunch. 

After lunch we wandered Old Town (Vieux-Port Panier) for a while.  There were lots of narrow pedestrian streets…

many with little artsy vignettes,

and lots of street art. 

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More Street Art 
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We found our way up to the Centre de la Vielle Charite.  This was a former almshouse and is now an archaeology museum.  The architecture was pretty interesting, but we didn’t tour the museum. 

We did a lot of walking and saw a lot of Marseille around the harbor area. 

We eventually made our way back to the hotel.  We had eaten lunch rather late, so we decided to stay in and have bars for dinner. 

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More Marseille
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It was a hot day and resting in the hotel was good.