drron29

A long line of fish restaurants. And fishermen selling fresh fish.

Our wander around Marseille close to the waterfront. Bathing pigeons.

Sorry JP she was a really cold tart made of stone. Didn’t do anything for me so I let my camera wander off elsewhere.

Well a little snippet from our butler tonight - Venetian Cocktail party so a formal night. It appears the butlers are in agreement with our comment that this segment is totally different to the last. They want to see more Venetian members embark in Citavecchia.

The railway station -old and new. And Marseille's Arc de Triomphe. Roman ruins discovered when building a shopping centre. We were then let off the bus for free time at the shopping centre or just to wander. We just wandered.

Now you may remember I mentioned a young English couple I met at Carcassonne. Well I turned around after taking the above picture and there they were. He was lining up a picture and noted he was aiming at a statue which featured a naked woman's derriere. So I said hello to his partner and told her to keep an eye on him and what he found interesting. So a little chat and alaugh but then I only just got back to our bus on time.

Evidence of the strikes in France.

Let off at a park celebrating the finish of a tunnel to deliver water to the city.

Now back on the bus and downhill.

A drive up narrow roads to a hilltop church/ fortress, Notre Dame de la Garde. Great views.

Where lots of tourists go to see where a fictional character was imprisoned. The Count of Monte Christo.

Now on the bus for the Highlights of Marseille.

Next morning steaming in to Marseille.

Actually there are now over a thousand different Australian gin brands. Most produced by boutique distilleries. We have several within a 30KM range of our home on the Sunshine Coast. I do like Sunshine Brothers as they do a special release at times. For example a dragon fruit gin for Valentines Day- a lovely red colour.

You don't have to drink the offered wines of the night. Rojaan is often offered a Chardonnay which she really dislikes but then will ask for a Sav. Blanc which is what she prefers. Last night we had dinner with a couple from Florida. Of the included wines they really like Alexander Valley Syrah from Sonoma. The sommelier brings a bottle and leaves it on the table. Last cruise on the dawn we had a few meals with a retired Australian politician. On SS he had always preferred Billi Billi shiraz from Australia. Again always a bottle left at the table. However I did get him to try a Chilean carminere one night and he then stuck to that. So leave your bottles in your cellar -wine often doesn't travel well. And if you have a favourite wine type just ask for it and they will recommend a wine from their list. Plus if you want a special wine check out the Connoisseurs list with prices closer to wine shop prices than restaurant prices. Can be great value.

Dinner in Atlantide again. For starters Rojaan had the mushroom and cheese turnover and I the red prawns. Both enjoyable. I had the Tomato soup. Brilliant as usual. Rojaan went with the Italian veal chop. Couldn't finish it but it was lovely. And I went with the lamb Rogan Josh and it was just as requested -extra spicy. Really good. We passed on desserts. Back in the room they had changed our orchid.

We were on the Lisbon to Barcelona on the Moon. Lots of scooters and wheelchairs but we did not see any parking in the hallway. We at different times saw most decks. The only problem we had was one woman with a scooter thought that it meant she could push in anywhere. On excursions she didn’t seem to need her scooter. In restaurants a waiter usually parked the scooter out of the way.

More from the bus. La canal de Midi. Another ferry arrives. Another is alongside. But I arrived for trivia 1 minute before we started. Shared first place even though we scored 18.5 points and were the only team to get 2 questions right. And the port. The Moon had to leave Sete early as the Port Authorities had booked another ship into the berth 4 hours before the Moon's scheduled departure.

Now I was on bus number 1 out of 4. However the order of leaving Carcassone was 4,3,2,1. I was hoping I would get back to the ship for trivia at 4.45pm and it was now 3 pm. A couple of views first the memorial to the soldiers of the local people in the 13th century when they were invaded by the French Army on the orders of the Pope. The French won. Next Narbonne and it's cathedral..

And this was the place with their price lists. Back outside past the market. Still had 30 minutes until the bus was leaving so looked around the cemetery.

It actually was a lot quicker than I thought it would be so did go back inside. And was lucky to find no one on the drawbridge. And I found a place that was possibly the cheapest place to eat so I treated myself to a crepe with sugar and lemon which has always been a favourite of mine. It only cost 2.5 euros and had table service with a smile in a pleasant little courtyard.