Day 2 - Monday, June 18 - London to Marseille

I never thought I would say this, but I had a good, although short, night's sleep on the flight over. We had sleeper seats that lie down flat and were very comfortable. We could get used to this but the regular cost for a business class ticket is about the same as our week-long cruise.

We have 4 hours between flights but again are able to use the comfortable BA lounge which has lots of snacks and drinks. While waiting to board our flight, we met a man who was on the crew for the English Formula 1 racing team going to this weekend's race in Marseille. His specialty is jacking up the front of the car when it makes a pit stop to change tires.

The flight to Marseille is only two hours. When we arrived, the pilot apologized for being 5 minutes late.!

At airport we found the bus to the main St. Charles train station and from there took a taxi to the Newhotel Vieux Port, a small, pleasant, 3-star hotel. Our hotel is very convenient, only one block from the harbor, one block from the metro and one block from the tourist center. Our window looks out at the church flying buttresses, stained glass windows and bell tower just across a very narrow alley. Our hotel is the building just to the right of the church.

We were thirsty after arriving and stopped at a cafe on the promenade for a beer and glass of white wine, The harbor is packed with yachts and sailboats. The docks extend almost half-way across the harbor on both sides with just enough clear space in the middle for boats to get in and out. The basilica Notre Dame de la Gardes is on a hilltop on the other side of the harbor.

After walking down the promenade to the Fort St. Jean at the entrance to the harbor, we came back looking for a seafood restaurant. There must be dozens of restaurants, pizzerias, ice cream shops and more along the promenade. I had a huge bowl of mussels with herbed fries and Carmen had a plate of giant prawns, squid, octopus and fish, washed down with a carafe of white wine. Everything was delicious.

On the way back we stopped for a dish of nougat and pistachio ice cream before returning to our hotel. Although it was only 4pm in NY, we were ready to fall into bed at 10pm here.