Tuesday 15th September - Frioul Islands

Marseilles bay is enclosed and protected by three islands, the smallest Chateau d'If is the most well known. The island was fortified 1524 to defend the approaches to Marseilles from the sea.
It is said that in 1513, a rhinoceros, an animal previously unknown in Europe, given to Pope Leo X by the King of Portugal, made a stopover here on the island!!
In 1634 Chateau d'If became a prison and it received many famous prisoners including the brother of the King of Poland in 1638, Mirabeau. The most famous of all is doubtless Edmond Dantes, fictional hero of Alexandre Dumas, "The Count of Monte Cristo".
These days fiction has become fact and his cell is open to visitors since 1926.

Our boat first went to the Frioul islands where there is quite a little village and a huge marina and all looks very expensive. We unloaded passengers, some loaded with bags of groceries and others just off to have lunch.
The boat took on a few people and we left for Chateau d'If.