March 16

Welcome to Marseilles, France!

We awoke bright and early for a full day of double excursions, and after the great start yesterday we had high hopes for today.  First, let me mention that yesterday we crossed the open Mediterranean Sea from Barcelona to the French coast and the water was rough....no, not rough...I mean ROUGH.  To the point that all four of us expressed concerns that we wondered what we would take when they called to abandon ship and head for the life boats.  I've been on some rocky waves before, but this was at a slightly higher level of "roller coaster ride!"  But all was well and we arrived unscathed.  So we boarded the bus and began about an hour ride through Marseilles to the small, seaside village of Cassis.  As we wound along the coast, the scenery was stunning and our guide, Oliver (pronounced in French as O-live-E-AY) gave us an nice overview of the city and it's history but pointed out this was NOT the "City/Panoramic Tour" - which we had scheduled for this afternoon.  About thirty minutes in we arrived at the base of the mountains/hills that separated the greater Marseilles metropolitan area (the largest city in France based on square miles covered - second in population).  And the winding roads to the top gave us picturesque and panoramic views, so cool.  We arrived in the small town of Cassis and got off the bus to make the small walk to the bay.  We were told we had about half an hour before our tour boat was scheduled to leave.  So we walked around the bay and admired the gorgeous weather (in the upper 50s) and the gorgeous views....

We all gathered on the pier and boarded the boat with another Viking tour group.  We cruised out under crystal blue skies on the sun-splashed Mediterranean and ducked into three inlets where we circled around and admired the cliffs and scenery before heading back about forty minutes later.  Just really amazing scenery, up close from the deck of the boat....

We had about twenty minutes before heading back to the bus and a more direct route home instead of over the mountain.  We pulled up at the ship at about 1 pm and we were scheduled to depart at 2 pm for our second excursion.  Grabbed a quick lunch and were quickly on our way.  Kim's photo below sums up our opinion of the second excursion......

So, let me say this up front...... I fully would understand if you said to me......"So let me get this straight - you were walking around the historic, old port of Marseilles, France, on a gorgeous spring afternoon, in shirt sleeves, under sunny 60 degree skies and YOU were disappointed?  You need to reevaluate what is disappointing and what is really amazing!"  So here's the story - our second tour was the "City/Panoramic Tour" and we expected to be escorted around the city to see it's highlights.  And knowing (from previous Viking Oceans "Included" tours) that we would probably make one, MAYBE two brief stops, still we were anxious to learn about Marseilles.  So what actually happened was (a) we had the same guide as the morning - which in and of itself was not a problem; (b) we were stuck in traffic for a good thirty minutes by protesters to national laws and civil rights; (c) we drove on the IDENTICAL same road we had been on this morning, heard the IDENTICAL same commentary; and turned around, drove back into the central part of the city and parked outside a mall and were told we had an hour to ourselves.  NOT what we were expecting.  So we walked along the historic old port which was very picturesque.

And again, let's be fair - the weather was great, we ARE in France, it was a gorgeous site and we thoroughly enjoyed the walk.  But we were disappointed that basically we got a three-hour repeat of what we had experienced in the first 40 minutes of our morning excursion.

Last story......when we went to leave this morning Dan couldn't find his room key card which is your "everything card" and must be in your possession to leave and return on board (and has your credit card info).  Finally Kim and I left them and hoped they would find it in time for the excursion.  They had to rush to the front desk and get a new card, and they actually beat us to the bus.  I tell you this because yesterday one of our cards went missing.  I was insistent it was Kim's but she didn't think so and so I had to go down and get a new card.  But every time I'd left or got back on the ship there were issues with my card working.  So today when Kim and I went to leave for the second excursion the same thing happened and this time they recognized that the problem wasn't MY card but Kim's....why?  Because Kim had a card that said "Mark Love" and I also had a "Mark Love" card, so when she left and returned MY photo was coming up.  So, like Dan this morning, Kim had to rush to the front desk and get a new card before she could leave the ship!  All in a day of international travel :)  Tomorrow we will be in Monaco and will tour Monte Carlo, Nice and the surrounding area.