September 3 – Pharo and the Abbaye of St. Victor

Its another hot and humid day in Marseille but, undaunted, we headed out again on a walk to see more of the city.  When we got to the waterfront we found that the flower market was in progress.  It wasn’t too big, just 3 or 4 vendors.

We walked to the other side of the harbor to Fort Saint Nicholas.  Unfortunately, it was closed.  From the signs it appeared that it was undergoing restoration work. 

So we headed over to nearby Palais Pharo.  This 19^th century palace had been offered by the city to Napoleon III.  But he never used it.  It is now a convention center. 

It sits out on a promontory that guards the entrance to the inner harbor and has great views of the inner harbor, 

the nearby Mecum Museum,

the city,

and Mediterranean Sea and ferry harbor.

Nearby was the Abbaye of St. Victor.  Beautiful old stone building.  There was a baptism in progress while we were there.

The most interesting part of the Abbaye was visiting the crypt.  Much of the early building was carved directly into the stone and this was very apparent from within the crypt. 

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More Abbaye of St Victor Crypt
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We then headed off to visit a small museum.  On the way we ended up Rue Grignan, which turned out to be the street with all of the high-end shops like Hermes, Rolex, Cartier and others.  Decided not to window shop.  Out of our price range.

This building on the street had a most interesting façade…old looking front entrance and shiny, shiny skin on the rest of the building. 

The Musee Cantini was housed in a former private mansion and the exhibits are primarily from the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  There were a few by Matisse, Picasso, and a bunch of artists that we had never heard of.  But we both enjoyed the tour.  It was small so not overwhelming, and the pieces were varied and interesting.

We had both eaten a fairly late breakfast so we decided to have a milkshake from a nearby Steak and Shake (an American company with real, American milkshakes) and then went back to the hotel to cool off. 

Statue in a square. 

We spent the time working on photos and future travel decisions.  Then another walk to dinner.