Marseille 
As one of France's oldest cities, this was one of the stops that I had most been looking forward to and it did not let us down. As soon as we viewed the port from the balcony we could tell that this was going to be a place we would enjoy!
 
Marseilles is 479 miles south of Paris and also holds the title for largest Mediterranean port. The walk from the ship into the city was along a gorgeous harbour front with boats in the water and cafes and bars lining the streets. We realised quite early on that one thing there is plenty of in Marseilles is cafes and bars.  
 
There did not appear to be any touristy type shops or market sellers as we walked and, in a way, this was a nice thing because Barbara was ambushed in Genoa when they walked back to the ship without us and, within about five seconds, had a bracelet shoved onto her wrist and a man insisting she needed to pay for it. I wish I had been there because she did pay for it!  
 
There was none of this type of going on in Marseille and, whilst we missed the markets and then men yelling "buy my selfie stick!" ...that kind of behaviour would have seemed out of place here. 
Our walk around the harbour took us into a main shopping area with many of the high streets you can find in the UK. The buildings were typically French though with the old look shutters lining most of the windows. I really did love the place.
It was very hot again, around 35 degrees at the peak so not quite as bad as Rome! We wandered around the old town which did not look all that old. This lead us to wonder if we were even in the right place!  
 
After a pit stop for cold beers we headed off to the other side of the harbour and found some really nice shops selling local gifts. It seems that soap is very very popular here in Marseille and they produce it by hand in a plethora of colours and fragrances. David bought some nice flavoured and spiced salts which we use quite a bit in our cooking and, after we had exhausted ourselves walking, we headed off for another beer before wandering back to the shuttle bus for the trip back to the boat.
 
We have just this minute set sail and tomorrow, after six long days of constant ports, is a very welcome at sea day. I shall be spending most of it in the pool. The others can join me if they wish. :-)
 
We have been entering but not winning the trivia challenges....altogether disappointing but we are hopeful of our chances tonight. Little little has promised to take care of the opposition. OOOh..... I forgot! Barbara also has a ring now....hers is a sapphire and she is also looking at some earrings to go with it. Little Little is having a very good holiday but is still not speaking to me about the Pisa incident when she got soaked through and had to be laid out to dry. I think she is making a bit of a fuss to be honest....

 


After our sea day tomorrow we will be heading to Gibralter! This is quite exciting and it should be really really hot. :-)