Marseilles, France

Our first port of call was Marseilles, France. Admittedly we didn't plan on too much sightseeing there and chose instead to do some strolling and sampling the local cuising.

Princess provided shuttle buses that ran from the ship to the old harbor (le Vieux Port) in the city. The harbor was very nice and had some open market stands that dotted the shore. They sold various things ranging from clothes, soap, souvenirs and freshly caught fish . Off in the distance you could see Notre Dame de la Garde sitting atop a hill that overlooked the city. It was a little rainy but we packed an umbrella and started off.

One other thing to mention is that it was a Sunday and most of the shops were closed (although the restaurants are open). So if you have any ports of call that arrive on a Sunday, do some research to see if anything is open (especially if you want to shop).

Also, if you're interested at the harbor we noticed a miniature locomotive that served as a tourist hop on/off service. I'm sure it takes you to all the sites in Marseilles like similar services in other cities.

We took a walk down the quaint streets which wound around the city. There were many shops (many high end ones as well) but unfortunately they were all closed. We did so much walking we ended up at the Notre Dame de la Garde which is a large church that overlooks the city. The walk is not for the feint of heart as the incline is steep. The church is free to enter and offers some great views of the city and harbor (as well as the beautiful church itself). After we were finished we discovered that there was a bus that ran from the church to the harbor so we took it instead of walking back down.

We also spent time around the harbor vising restaurants and had bouillabaisse and crepes. Bouillabaisse is a seafood dish originating from Marseilles. The place we chose was okay but in hindsight we should have done research on good restaurants because we ended up picking one at random. The waiters didn't speak English at all so we had a little trouble getting what we wanted. Again, if anyone knows of a good place, please leave a comment and share. We also went to a little crepe shop nearby (there are quite a few) and had a delicious Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread) and banana crepe.

Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.

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Resources:
* Marseilles, France on Wikipedia
* Marseilles, France on Wikitravel