Marseille, France

After three exciting days in Barcelona, we were ready to board the Emerald Princess. We took a taxi from our Barcelona hotel to the port. We were all excited and when we saw the size of the ship were amazed. It was like a city. With the ability to hold 3,573 passengers in addition to the 1,227 crew members, it is actually bigger than Eunice and it probably had more to offer onboard in the way of stores and restaurants than Eunice has!

It didn't take us long to get settled into our balcony stateroom, Hank registered at the teen center, and us off to dinner.

From the Captain's Log:

28TH AUGUST 2008 - BARCELONA, SPAIN
At 2204, with all pre-departure checks satisfactorily completed, EMERALD RINCESS slipped her moorings and eased slowly thrust off from her berth. After passing through the breakwater we disembarked the local pilot at 2229 before setting an easterly course towards Capo San Sebastien. Having rounded Capo San Sebastien, north-eastwardly courses across the Gulf of Lions were maintained....Overnight we continued towards the French coastline and the port for Marseille. From departure Barcelona last night until our early morning arrival, EMERALD PRINCESS steamed a total distance of 182 nautical miles at an average speed of 20.6 knots.

There is just no way to describe the excitement that filled the air the first night of the cruise as the ship began to ease away from the dock. Unfortunately, we left Barcelona after dark and our pictures really didn't turn out good. Maybe in a way that is good, because the magic and mystic of the moment will just be a memory.

Throughout the cruise, we took lots of pictures onboard the ship and I've combined all of them into one album entitled Onboard. As I look back there are so many other things I wish I had photographed, but it seems there was just so much! I don't think we did anything the first night except eat and walk around the ship.

From the Captain's Log:

29TH AUGUST 2008 - MARSEILLE, FRANCE
Overnight we continued towards the French coastline and the port for Marseille. At 0748 we embarked our pilot before entering the harbour and, once inside, the ship swung through 180 degrees to port before berthing alongside, Port side too.
Sky at noon: Fine & clear
Wind: Light Airs
Temperature: 23.0 degrees C/73.4 degrees F
Air pressure: 1016.2mb

The early morning pictures of our arrival at Marseille were taken at sunrise. The quiet still of the early hour, the angle of the sun, and the light haze hanging in the air made entry into the port feel to me as though we were stepping into one of the paintings that I would later see hanging on the walls of the basilica.

I'm sure Marseille is a lovely place to visit, but as I'd expected when making our plans, it was the least exciting port of call we visited. I chose for us to go on the half-day City Tour Excursion for a couple of reasons. First, it was designed to give first time visitors of the city a brief tour. Second, Hank was already not wanting to get off the ship–he'd made friends onboard. I wanted to make certain I was comfortable leaving him in the care, custody, and control of the teen directors before Rick and I took off to parts unknown for a longer period. And finally, after three days of trekking around Barcelona, my barking dogs needed a rest.

Our city tour included a visit to the well known landmark, Notre-Dame de la Garde, a large basilica with 170 steps and a stunning view of the old harbor. I thought I’d get Rick’s day started of right–climbing steps! The tour also said that we were supposed to have a photo stop at Longchamp Palace, but we barely got a chance to snap a bad photo from the bus.

We were able to view from the bus windows many of the sights of Marseille, but photographs were relatively few. Our first stop was at the War Memorial on the Corniche. After this brief photo opportunity, we proceeded to the nineteenth century Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, built by the architect Esperandieu, which is an enormous Romano-Byzantine basilica in the hills to the south of the Old Port. The terrace offers spectacular panoramic views of Marseille and its surroundings.

Shipping and fishing have long been the major influences of the area. This is evident inside the basilica. Parishioners bring beautiful paintings to the church as offerings when they want the safe return of themself or a loved one from the sea. There are also model boats and ships given as offerings and the walls are covered with names and dates of persons and voyages that have been submitted to God for his protection and blessing.

As in most European cathedrals there are beautiful mosaics covering the ceilings and walls. Interestingly, the beautiful gold colors are not the most difficult to obtain–they just use gold which is pretty much universally the same color. The difficulty comes in coloring the glass and making it match and or graduate the way the artist envisions. Sometimes they might wait days or weeks to get the right color. There is a frame inside the basilica with a large piece of shrapnel mounted. On the outside wall are gouges where bombs in WWII struck the building during the battle of Marseilles. They have not been repaired in remembrance of those who lost their lives.

A quick lesson for you who might be wondering, as I was, the difference between a basilica and a cathedral. Sorry, the teacher in me just can’t pass a good lesson by. I’ve been using the terms basilica and cathedral interchangeably and for some reason something told me that I was incorrect. Of course, to a non-Catholic, this really isn’t a big deal, but I’m certain a Catholic person would take exception to my loose tongue or pen as the case may be.

Basilica – a large and important church that has been given special ceremonial
rights by the Pope. The privileges attached to the status of basilica include a certain precedence before other churches and they usually possess a papal throne and a papal high altar from which no one may celebrate Mass without the pope's permission.

Cathedral – the principal church of a bishop's diocese containing the episcopal throne.

Church – a church can be both a basilica and a cathedral.

After leaving the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde our guide dropped us off at the port for a free hour of shopping.

When we returned to the ship about 1:00 p.m., Hank was still in bed! We rousted him up and kicked him out so we could take a well deserved nap. Afterward, we hung out on the ship or the rest of the afternoon until it was time to set sail again.

From the Captain's Log:

Thrusting clear of our berth, EMERALD PRINCESS eased herself slowly out through the narrow breakwater before disembarking our pilot and turned to the east. Having rounded the southern tip of the Isle d'Hyeres a north-easterly course was set.

In the photo Marseille album you will see pictures of us sailing into the Marseilles port, some of the French country side, city of Marseilles, the War Memorial on the Corniche, and the Notre-Dame basilica, and departing the port.

At each port that we visited I tried to either eat something or purchase something that was significant or special to that area.

Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provencal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. The word bouillabaisse means to boil at low heat. Bouillabaisse is a fish stock containing different kinds of cooked fish and shellfish and vegetables, flavored with a variety of herbs and spices such as garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel, and saffron. There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse, typically scorpionfish, sea robin or European conger.

Since I'm not fond of fish or seafood, I opted to pass on the bouillabaisse. I couldn't even get Rick to try it and he will eat anything (except British hot dogs)! I think legs, tails and shells was a bit of a turn off even for him!

My souvenir from Marseille was soap. Not just any old soap, but Savon de Marseille.

Savon de Marseille is a traditional soap made from vegetable oil that has been made around Marseille for about 700 years. Louis XIV introduced regulations limiting the use of the name "savon de Marseille" to soaps made in and around the Marseille area, and only from olive oil. Today this law still stands. By 1913 soap production had reached 180,000 tons and in 1924 there were over one hundred soap making companies in the Marseille area. Now only five remain.

Traditionally, the soap is made by mixing sea water from the Mediterranean Sea, olive oil, and the alkaline chemicals and lye together in a large cauldron. This mixture was then heated for several days, stirred constantly. The mixture is then allowed to sit, and once ready, it is poured into molds, and allowed to set slightly. While it is still soft, it is cut into bars and stamped, and left to completely harden. The whole process can take up to a month from the start before the soap is ready to use. Today, there are two main varieties of this soap, both are made in the same process, but one is made with olive oil and the second is made with palm oil.

I haven't tried the soap yet, but I did buy a sponge in Greece so maybe I will soon!