La Marseillaise

On Saturday March 30th, it was time to head back to Narbonne. But not before stopping by Marseille before getting the train! I'd been to Marseille almost exactly six months prior, albeit briefly, on my first day in France this year. I didn't actually go into the city, but took a motorcycle tour of the nearby Calanques, which are small fjords. This day, though I had only a short time in the city, I wanted to catch the highlights of France's second-largest city. It turned out to be a GORGEOUS blue day in Marseille.

I started off in a nearby beach, a bit to the west of Marseille. 

Mediterranean beaches in the southeast of France are often rocky (whereas the beaches on my side, the southwest, are mostly sandy).

And on to actual Marseille... first stop: Notre Dame de la Garde, which stands on a huge hill overlooking the city. You can see the basilica, built in the 19th century, but on the left you can see the tall wall that is what remains of a much older fort on the same site.

Passion of the Christ just outside the church

Marseille as seen from the church - If you look in the water to the left, you can see three islands (two large in the background, one small in the foreground). The smaller one is the Château d'If, the real-life island prison made famous by the Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo.

yet another crazy hair picture... merci le vent

cross/heart/anchor, and look how the railing looks like a boat!

If you look closely, you can see along the right a kind of mobile with models of boats hanging down. The church is seen as the guardian and protector of the city and of the boats who come in and out of the port.

view of the sea from the door of the church, which would be much better without these people, but whatever, you get it

You can see the hills behind the city - the landscape is beautiful in this part of France.

view of some of the city and Vieux Port

Porte d'Aix

in Vieux Port (everything from now the end is Vieux Port)

Hôtel de Ville

Notre Dame de la Garde as seen from Vieux Port

And with the 4:06 train Marseille-Narbonne train, my little mini-vacay to the "other" south of France was over. It was one of my goals for myself to do some travelling on my own this year, and now I've done it! Even if it wasn't really "on my own" because I hung out with friends (Annie & Laura), it was still an adventure I set about on solo, and it was really nice. I went to the movies by myself for the first time ever, I ate at a restaurant by myself for the first time ever, and I just generally moseyed around and did my own thing. I met people I otherwise wouldn't have met. I saw things I otherwise wouldn't have seen. I had a great time, and I highly recommend solo travel in one form or another to anyone! It's a great experience.

Please notice how Monaco's too small to even show up on the map on its own... but it's a little east of Nice.

It's not all the time you get to just up and head on a little spontaneous 5-day adventure in the middle of the week "just because." If I haven't mentioned it before, this year is THE BEST.