mimmy52

One last look at Avignon Bridge.  Our bus was parked near it.

 It was a long ride back to the ship and after the long day, it was a good time to snooze.  We made it back to the ship about 4:00.

It was hot and sunny on our balcony.  When we'd been on our balcony this morning, a man in the cabin next to Jo and Rose had been on his balcony smoking a cigar.  We had to close our balcony door because the odor was stinking up our room.  When we were sitting on the balcony this afternoon after we returned, the cigar smoker reappeared.  I find the odor of a cigar disgusting.  I went to guest services and asked if it was okay to smoke on the balcony.  I was told it was not allowed and told where the smoking areas were.  I told her the reason I was asking was a cigar smoker near our cabin.  She wanted the cabin number of the smoker and my cabin number.  I gave her both and she said she would take care of it.  I didn't smell it the rest of the afternoon or that evening, so I guess he got the message.

We watched sail away from our balcony as the sun set, then went to the restaurant for dinner.  I had Tuscan soup for an appetizer but didn't care for it.  Rose's appetizer was fried calamari and shrimp Italian style.

My main course was trout fillet role.  My notes say it was ok, but I was still full from lunch.

Jo had braised beef pot roast.  I didn't make a not of whether she liked it.

Tiramisu for dessert.

The show tonight was called "Evergreen Classics."  The lighting must have been changed for it because it was greenish instead of purple.

The show featured the classic trio, a mezzosoprano, and a tenor.

Afterward we went back to our cabin to pack up for our departure tomorrow.  Because of flight schedules, we will be spending the day in Barcelona tomorrow and departing for the USA the following day.

We had a generous amount of free time after the Palace and the five of us planned to have lunch together.  Our guide had recommended a restaurant called La Civette.  Mari and I were lagging behind talking to our guide and he walked with us to the restaurant.

And told us what the specials were on the blackboard.

Mari and I went inside looking for the other three in our group but didn't see them, so we were seated on the enclosed terrace at a table for two.  Looking at the terrace from our table.

Mari had the beef special.

I had the marmite de la mer, a little of everything in the bowl including mussels and salmon, olives, tomatoes, potatoes, and that prawn eyeing me all in a rich broth.  We were brought water and bread, and I had a glass of the house white wine.  It was a delicious meal.

As we were leaving the restaurant, we ran into the other three.  They said when they'd entered La Civette there hadn't been a large enough table available so they went to the restaurant next door and had hamburgers.  I spent the remaining free time walking around.  I visited the shop Roger had recommended, but it was a lot more expensive than the other gift shops.  A few pictures from the rest of my time in Avignon.

The area opened onto a courtyard with a view of what they call the Old Palace.

More stairs to climb to get to the area to be toured.

There was a sign that no photos were allowed so I have few pictures of the Palace tour.  At one point Roger mentioned you could take pictures of any area that didn't have original frescoes, etc.  The first room we entered, which would have been a dining hall for entertaining, was enormous, but at the time I thought it was no photos.  I did get one of one of the fireplaces.  There was something like an iPad built into the wall that allowed the guide to show pictures of how the room would have looked back in the day and he did that in several of the rooms.

There were beautiful frescoes on some of the walls and I was particularly struck by the beauty of the multi-colored tile floor in the papal bedroom.  It was hard to believe that floor had been there for hundreds of years.  Couldn't photograph it though, unfortunately.  We came to the North Sacristy and I could take photos.  Stone effigies of Louis II of Bourbon and his wife.

I don't know if these sculptures were supposed to represent them in life.

Get a load of this guy kneeling.  Does't he look shifty-eyed?  He seems to be plotting something against the king.  I hope that isn't supposed to be one of the popes.

In this same chamber is a replica of the tomb of Pope Gregory XI.

And a beautiful carved altarpiece.

Another area is what I believe is called the Magna Porta.

Another immense space is use for art exhibitions.  My photo is of the ceiling.

The tour seemed to be over quickly and it was time to leave.  Down some stairs.

And a view of another courtyard as we make our way to the gift shop, which of course you have to go through in order to exit.

Views of the Avignon's walls as we walk along.

We enter under a portal.  Our purpose in coming to Avignon is to see the Palais des Papes, the Palace of the Popes, from the time that popes were headquartered in Avignon instead of Rome.

We pass some interesting buildings as we walk, and our guide Roger points out a gift shop he recommends for lavender products.  He told us on the bus about Provence and the lavender fields which must be glorious to see when they are blooming.

The Papal Palace it so immense I had to take three pictures of it.

A closer look at the tower.

The area in front of the Palace.

We entered, put our bags through x-ray, and were first in a long corridor.  This is where the bathrooms are.

When I thought about it, I remembered there was an area on the pool deck, too, that allowed smoking and that was an unpleasant area.

I was on the Poesia for a 12 day cruise and only noticed smoke when I walked through the casino, except for one day when someone decided to smoke cigars on the balcony two cabins down from us.  I believe I called the food hit and miss.  I didn't like the buffet, but that was because of the crush of people.

Once we got on the move again, we saw more of Marseille.

L'Hotel de Ville.  I couldn't remember what this building was but I took the picture with my phone and my phone knew.

I found that for photos from the bus window, my phone took better pictures than my camera.  I just have a point and shoot camera though, nothing very fancy.  The cathedral of Marseille.

I was glad to see the blue sky and wondered if the kids now had to report to school.  It was only about 10:30. Near the port which we were passing again, there is a statue of Sumo wrestlers lifting a shipping container.  Roger explained its significance, I thought he said something about east meeting west but that doesn't seem right.  I couldn't get both wrestlers in the same photo.

Then we were out in the countryside and on our way to Avignon.

Time passed quickly and soon we could see the Avignon bridge ahead.

The other side of the bridge.

The wall around old town.

I stepped outside so I could take in the views.

After a brief stop at the gift shop, it was time to start making my way down.  Elevator first, then stairs.

Back on the bus, we started our downhill trek.

  We came to a stoplight that was at one of the twists in the road and even after the light turned green, the bus didn't move.  There were cars parked along both sides of the street and on each side a car at the end was sticking out just enough that the bus couldn't make the turn without hitting a car.  The driver spent a while honking his horn but that didn't produce anything.  The driver and Roger got out to look around while traffic backed up behind us.  I felt sorry for the lady waiting at the bus stop because the bus she needed was behind us.  After 15 minutes and other men showing up, a decision was reached.  The yellow car looked small enough to move.

They had to lift and shift several times but finally Success!

There was just enough room now for the bus to make the turn.  Roger said we'd had to wait until the police came and gave the okay to move the car.

After leaving the port area, it was a twisty uphill path to Notre Dame de la Garde.

Here's something the tour description didn't mention.  There are 150 steps to get to the church.  Roger recommended that anyone who didn't think they could manage all those steps to wait at the landing we were on.  Toilets were on the second floor of the church although once you're inside, there's an elevator.  Since it's an hour and a half ride to Avignon, I hope no one who couldn't manage the steps had to use the toilet.  The elevator also takes you to the sixth floor which is where the chapel is and also from there you can take in the views from outside.  

The chapel was beautiful and had many motifs that had to do with the sea and sailing.

Along the side walls were a lot of ex-votos.  An ex-voto is a religious offering given to fulfill a vow.  Some of the ex-votos were inscriptions, some were pictures.

There were a number of side chapels devoted to particular saints.

I was intrigued by what seemed to me at first glance to be an old sewing machine, and I thought at first this side chapel was dedicated to maybe the saint of seamstresses, but then I realized that every side chapel had it.  I still don't know what it was but thought perhaps a repository of a relic.

There are mobiles hanging from the ceiling with models of ships.

These were offerings in thanks for a safe voyage.

Monday, November 4 - Marseille, France

It looked pretty gloomy when we pulled into the port of Marseille.  Fingers crossed we won't have another rainy day.

The Daily Program said a shuttle bus service is available today for a cost of 16 euros per adult, 10 euros per child, and tickets would be in the cabin.  Again, I presume that is for passengers who have not signed up for an excursion.  It was about 20 minutes to the city center and the first shuttle bus left at 8:15, the last bus to city center left at 3:00 but the last bus from city center to the ship was at 4:45.

Five of us are doing a shore excursion called "Avignon and Panoramic of Marseille," leaving the Zebra Bar at 8:15.  On the bus, our guide Roger said Provence enjoys sun 360 days of the year, and unfortunately we happen to be there on one of the five cloudy days.  Since today is cloudy, the kids will not be in school in case they get sick.  I guess if you don't have snow days, you have to come up with something.

We start out with a tour of Marseille from the bus.  I got a glimpse of Fort Saint-Jean and a bit of blue sky.

On the highest hill sits the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde.

Marseille has a wheel too.

I'm sitting on the right side of the bus with a view of the coast as we continue.

This shelter was built to reflect for those who want to take pictures of themselves.

Another view of Fort Saint-Jean.

Out on that island is Chateau d'if, familiar to those who have read "The Count of Monte Cristo."

Some views as we rode along.

I can answer one question.  There are two pools but neither is covered.  It seems to be a fairly small ship compared to newer ones.

We had a good lineup for dessert.  I'm sure you'd never guess I love sweets.  Rose had the prettily named Coconut pistachio dacquoise.

Mari had the warm apple crumble.

Hardly worth a picture but I'll put my dessert here too--vanilla ice cream.

After dinner, we went to our favorite bar, the Zebra Bar.

Then after a drink, onto the show which tonight is called "Space Odyssey."  As he does before every show, cruise director Nicholas makes the introduction which we always fail to understand.

Part of the show is just about costumes.

Playing with hoops.

A clever laser light show.

These acrobats were exceptional.

A final look at the costumes.

Tonight as we left the theater, some of the performers--acrobats, contortionists, etc--were lined up along the side.  I didn't know if this meant they were leaving after tonight or if some of them had just arrived.  I wish now I'd gotten some pictures.  But it's time for bed.  Tomorrow we'll be in Marseilles and it's the last full day we'll have on the ship.

We passed the MSC Bellissimi on our walk from the ferry to the terminal building.

We had to separate Poesia passengers from Bellissimi passengers, then entered the terminal and stood in a long line for xray.  Our line stalled.  Someone in front of us had something that was a problem.  Carol said it looked like a butter knife, but surely he hadn't been carrying a butter knife around with him.

We finally made it back on board and after dropping stuff in our room, headed to the buffet.  They had a welcome aboard cake for the passengers who embarked this morning.

Since it was so late, I just had some French fries and a small dessert so I didn't spoil my appetite for dinner.  It was too chilly to sit on our balcony, but we had the door open.  There is really a lot of trash that is collected in the port.

I forgot to add this photo this morning.  We had seen a small boat sailing toward our ship and towing something.  It dropped off the "something" which turned out to be a container for trash.  Goodbye to our Halloween decorations.

With sunset shortly after 5:00, we were leaving the port of Genoa in the dark.

People were standing at railings watching us leave.  The wheel looked pretty at night.

So time for dinner.  Our waiter's assistant took our picture.  The next time I'm going to ask for a booster seat.

One of the items for starters was "Petals of tomato and mozzarella fiordilatte."  Doesn't that sound pretty?  I ordered it just so I could see what petals of tomato look like.  The next time I serve sliced tomatoes, I am going to change the name and tell everyone I'm serving petals of tomato.

I also had the Gardener's minestrone soup.

And for the main course, fillet of cod Ligurian style.  Delicious.

We had been walking downhill so it didn't take long and we were back at the port.  Fortunately the rain had let up a little when we were at the Cathedral, just dripping cups now instead of pouring buckets.

We came to the Palace of St. George from a different direction and saw this lovely detail.

We walked through a covered area that housed small cafes and souvenir shops.

Mari suggested we stop for Cokes so we stopped at this ice cream place.

Couldn't drink them outside but there were a couple of chairs we could relax in.  There were still Halloween specialties available.

There were some vendors set up outside the covered walkway.

Time to head to the meeting place.

The aquarium is right on the waterfront.

I don't know what the dome is.

There's an amusement park type ride.

We looked around for our guide but didn't see her.  We ran into Nan and Carol who said their guide had told them he wouldn't be there, so I guess ours hadn't intended to either.  Nan had been waiting about half an hour for the ferry, but ours was a special ferry for cruise passengers so it wasn't making regular trips.  We had about a 15 minute wait in a big jumble of folks.  We could see a little more out the windows on the way back, although they were still rain spotted.  There was this ferry.  

And a Costa ship in port.

Details of the Cathedral facade.

This lion decorating the Cathedral stairs looks distinctly disturbed.  It's so annoying when a hair gets in your mouth.

We were allowed ten minutes inside.  It was beautiful inside too, but very dark and you could only stay in the back, the aisles were roped off.

Rainy days are always good for naps.

In 1941, due to a crew error, a British battleship fired an armor piercing shell into the Cathedral.  It broke through the wall but didn't detonate.  It's still there along with a plaque describing the incident.  My photo wasn't good so this is from the internet.

After that we were given free time.  Our guide handed us maps, told us what time to meet at the port, and said to walk downhill from wherever we were and we'd find the port.  Mari and I walked around a little, afraid to get too far away.

The surprise was actually that we were stopping for snacks.

It was nice to get out of the rain for a while.  Plus there was food.  There were tastings of bruschetta and focaccia 

We could also have white wine and still or sparkling water.  Some among us, not saying who, may have helped themselves to two glasses of wine since there wasn't much more than a taste in them.

At another table were various dippings and products that were for sale.

But there was more of Genoa to see.  We left the Ducal Palace by a different entrance, a more elegant one.

On one side was a church, Chiesa del Gesu.

Is it still raining?

Yep.

About this time a couple approached and said they'd finally found us!  They'd been lost for over an hour after they'd taken some pictures.  There are so many blue-poncho'd people walking around, they'd even thought another group was ours, but it was a group from MSC Bellisima. Also about this time the rain started coming down in buckets.

If you don't have an umbrella, no problem.  There are plenty of umbrella sellers out.  Their umbrellas are actually pretty, with scenes on the inside when the umbrella is opened, but those who were interested wanted small umbrellas.

I included this picture because our guide actually has her paddle in the air where it can be seen.

We turned another corner to see the Cathedral of San Lorenzo.  Beautiful!  The couple who had just joined us groaned.  This is where they'd been the last hour.

I managed to catch up with the group when we turned the corner onto Piazza De Ferrari.  This tour guide never checked to see if everyone was with her.  Not at any of the stops we made and not ever before taking off again.  I'd thought Mari was ahead of me since she has a longer stride, but I didn't see her.

While we were admiring Piazza De Ferrari, a small group of blue-clad folks joined us.  It was the rest of our tour people, the ones who'd stopped to take photos of the inner courtyard.  Fortunately Mari was with them.

Piazza De Ferrari is the main square between the historical section of Genoa and the modern center.  A lot of the buildings around it are financial businesses.  Even in the rain it was interesting.

Our next stop was Ducal Palace.  I caught a corner of it in the photo below on the right hand side.  The colorful building.

Inside and up a flight of stairs.

And then we stopped on the landing.  To the right was another flight of stairs with the symbol of Genoa displayed at the top.

The flight of stairs to the left led to an art museum, but we weren't going there.

We went back downstairs and turned into an open area that had some kind of exhibition.

When we walked through another doorway, there were stairs to the left and an elevator in front.  The elevator was full so our tour guide said we'd take the stairs.  This staircase went up and up and up.  It was half stairs, half ramp.

Our guide had said we would have a surprise at the top.  I thought she meant we'd have a close-up view of this tower.

We pass such interesting side streets, if that could even be called a street.

We are marching along, uphill now, on a slippery street.

Looking back, it's easier to see the street although it doesn't look as steep as it felt when I was walking it.

We entered the Palazzo Bianco, the White Palace.  It is now a city art gallery.

We are told to put our umbrellas in the corner.

But we don't go any further.  We look at the staircase while our guide talks about famous paintings that are housed here.  Maybe we just needed a few minutes out of the rain.

We were packed together so tightly, I stepped outside to get some air and took a couple of pictures.

We started moving again and were passing some interesting places but our guide didn't give us any time for taking photos.

Some of our group entered this courtyard to take a few pictures.  I took this one, then noticed the rest of the group was getting away from me and I hurried after them.

I managed to snap this interesting building though.

Buildings in Piazza Caricamento. I like the one that looks as if it has a bit of a castle on top.

We started walking.

Facade of the Palace of Domenico Grillo that is in another piazza with the church of Santa Maria delle Vigne on the left.

Our guide said we could enter the church for a brief visit.

It dates from the 10 century.

I like how a palm tree figures into the statues.

Time to hit the road again.

Sunday, November 3 - Genoa, Italy

It was raining as we pulled into the dock in Genoa and the high today will only be about 59 degrees Fahrenheit.  I had to put on shoes and a sweater for the balcony so I could take pictures of our ship's entry into the port.  We passed some interesting sights.

Some mornings Mari orders room service so she can relax with coffee before she eats.  It's a shame there isn't a coffee maker in the room.  

The excursion Mari and I are taking today is called "Historical Centre," and we're meeting at 9:15 in the Pigalle Lounge.  The others have a different excursion, but they were in Pigalle Lounge too.  Carolyn said she had a sore throat and had gone to the medical center.  She had to pay 100 euros for the visit and was given antibiotics and a nasal spray and she doesn't yet know what that cost is.

When we checked in for our excursion, there were blue plastic ponchos available to take for the rain.  At 9:30, four of the tour groups were called and we walked to the terminal together.  Another ship is in port too (can't remember which one) and they have tour groups walking to the terminal. 

The line just to enter the terminal.

Both ships have passengers disembarking so we had to wade through luggage to get out the terminal door.  It was hard to keep our MSC person with a paddle in sight.  It was a madhouse!  Outside we had to avoid those pulling suitcases and also vehicles.  I just followed the crowd because by this time I couldn't see our MSC lead person any longer.

One of the things that attracted Mari and me to this excursion was that it started with a ferry ride.  We walked to the ferry and discovered that many of the excursions are using it.  I guess we should have expected that.

We're enjoying the ferry ride even though it's raining so hard we can't see out the windows.

Our ferry, photo taken after we got off.

The ferry took us to Piazza Caricamento where we met our tour guide although it was hard to find her in the crowd because she was clutching the paddle to her chest unlike the other guides who had their paddles raised.  Our tour will be conducted in French and English.  She was the worst tour guide of our trip.  There were even times we had to remind her that we hadn't heard the English version of her description yet.  She was fiddling with something in her hand which I took at first to be her phone but turned out to be a microphone.  She couldn't get it to work.  We could hear the other tour guides setting out and talking on their microphones, but our guide (I can't remember her name) blamed the non-working microphone on the fact that she'd been waiting here for us for an hour.  As if we'd had any control over our arrival time.

At least we'd found a canopy to stand under so I could take pictures.

Our group all huddled in blue ponchos while our guide begins her spiel.

Directly across from us is the Palace of St. George built in 1260 for the Doge--aka ruler--of the Republic of Genoa as it was at that time.  Not great photos since I stayed under the canopy to keep my camera dry.

2013cruiser, the excursion description mentioned a 50 minute drive from the port to Tuscania but we went to Tarquinia first and it seemed shorter.  It took about 30 minutes to go from Tarquinia to Tuscania and then it probably did take 50 minutes to get back to the port.  It never seemed overly long.

It was about 2:30 when we got back and we went right to the buffet.  Their pizza is great.  Jo and Rose like it so much they've taken to getting some and bringing it back to the room about 10:00 each night.

Mari had what they called charcoal pizza and thought it was good.

I just have plain old cheese pizza (along with the really good fries).

And dessert.  Always dessert.

Sunset was really early tonight at 5:06, not that we could see it because of the clouds.  I watched the terminal while the tours that had spent the day in Rome were arriving back.  It was dark and rain was pouring down.  Most everyone was back on the ship when I took this picture.

We pulled away from the dock while we were at dinner.  I had sauteed mussels marinara for a starter.  Mmmm, good.

And risotto pescatora with seafood and tomato for the main course.  It was okay but the risotto has never matched the excellence of the asparagus risotto I had the first night on the ship.

My dessert was called chocolate duo cake.

And someone else had tarte tatin--confit apple, buttered caramel cream, and mascarpone fleurette.

No show in the theater tonight!  We were surprised.  Instead we first visited Bar dei Poeti and heard a duo and then a piano player.

I had a glass of Cava.

The duo, NJ

Then we went to the Zebra Bar and listened to Duo Sol and Fe (my favorite) and after that the Lucky Band.  Another wonderful day!

An altar in a side chapel.

In the coffin underneath are bones.  And a scroll.  I didn't see any indication of who the occupant was.

Some of the kneeler pads were lifted so if you wished you could punish yourself when kneeling.  Or maybe kneeling on the wood was a penance given.

When we left the church, I spotted a gelato shop and Mari decided to go shopping.  The gelato really hit the spot.

I sat on a bench outside to eat it and had the view of flowers and an old building which was pleasant.

Time to head to the meeting spot, this time at the bus in the parking lot.

A memorial of some kind in the parking lot.

The three in our group who had planned on shopping were disappointed.  They said all the shops had closed, maybe for lunch, but it made them disappointed in Tuscania.  We thought a better tour would have been to stay in Tarquinia and see the Etruscan painted tombs rather than going to Tuscania.  Driving back to Civitavecchia, we passed this.

We're getting to the port.  The Batman ship and our ship are visible.

We pass Forte Michelangelo again.

One couple wanted to be left off the bus before we reached the terminal, and that was okay with the driver and guide.  Other people got off because they thought that's where the bus was stopping, then got back on again when they realized it was still a little walk to the terminal.

Inside the terminal.

Some people are clever enough in their trip reports to take a picture of the ship and pinpoint their cabin.  I know our deck was above the inflatable rafts, but I couldn't tell exactly which cabin we had.

There's a lower level to Tuscania.

We passed under another archway.

It opened into a wide vista.

We all scattered out along the wall, but the guide stayed on the hill and perhaps was describing what we were able to see, but I wasn't able to hear her.  I really wish the tour companies used listening devices.

We were left at the overlook spot for free time.  Mari and I walked back the way we'd come.

There was an interesting shop.  Etruscan musical instruments? No, I guess not.

The church of San Giacomo was behind the fountain we saw earlier.

We went inside.

We turned a corner and everyone was immediately interested in what was under the canopies.  This marked the start of free time. Turned out to be craft sellers and they had interesting items for sale, especially jewelry.  A lot of purchases were made, even by our tour guide.

There were other views of interest too.

The city must be planning (or has already had) a big blast for Halloween if even the plants are covered with webbing.

We met up with our guide again at the designated time in a plaza near the parking lot.

Back on the bus, we were on our way to Tuscania.  It was about a 30 minute ride.

We viewed the city walls from the parking lot.

Then entered Tuscania through a portal.

We walked past shops and restaurants.

And we stopped at a 17th century Baroque fountain.  A couple on this tour have a habit of being the first in front of every place of interest so he could take photos of his companion (I was going to say wife but I don't know if she was).  It wouldn't bother me if it was just one snapshot, but he takes multiples while the rest of us wait our turn. And it wouldn't have bothered me if it was just this one place, but it's everywhere.  The grayer skies must be making me grumpy.

We continued walking.