April 19 – 23, 2026

We left the SS Catherine after breakfast. It was a wonderful trip. We said goodbye to our Australian friends – Paul, Maria and Bernadette. Our time with them was great fun.

The staff arranged a car for us to take us to our hotel in Marseille, the Intercontinental. We expected the trip to take 90 minutes but I guess because it was Sunday and very little traffic on the highway, we made it in just over an hour. The highways in France are often lined with these Italian cypress trees.

Our room was not ready so we talked to the concierge about what we might do (and I had chat GPT suggestions too)! We decided to walk to the museum where you could go up to the top level and take a bridge across to the fort.

On our way, we stopped at the Cathedral La Major which is one of the largest churches in France. It was built between 1852 and 1893.

In Europe you do visit a lot of churches and while there are a lot of similarities, each one is somewhat unique. This one had lots of mosaic tile.

We didn’t go into the Mucem other than to cross the bridge to the fort. It is the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations. It opened in 2013 and is connected to the restored 17th century Fort Saint-Jean by a sea spanning foot bridge. They do concerts, talks, workshops and film screenings in addition to having semi permanent and temporary exhibitions.

The Intercontinental Hotel dates back to the 12th century. In the 14th century two hospitals merged. The building remained a hospital until 1993 when the last patients left and it became a teaching hospital for medics and paramedics. That hospital closed its doors in 2006 and the city acquired the building in 2007. The Intercontinental Marseille opened here in 2013. It is a really amazing building and a 5 star hotel. It was a good choice as it is overlooking the old port and the oldest part of the city.

We checked into the hotel and went to the old port for lunch at a waterfront restaurant. I can pretty much read French menus and can get by with about a dozen words and phrases.

On Monday, we took the advice of our concierge and went on the small train to the Notre Dame. It goes through very tiny and winding streets on the way up the hill to the basilica. It was narrated but we couldn’t really hear much of it on the way up.

Here are some pictures we took on the way up to the church.

This church, in addition to its location, is really spectacular. Here are some of the many pictures we took. The church is on the upper level above the crypt.

The church is located at the top of the hill of La Garde, the highest spot of the city. It was originally a lookout over the sea and housed a 13th century chapel that became a spiritual refuge for sailors. Later, Francois I built the Fort de la Garde in 1524 to defend Marseille from the troops of Charles V. The church is known affectionately as La Bonne Mere (the good mother). The walls are covered with pictures of maritime activities and there are ropes with small ship replicas hanging in the church.

I could include so many more pictures, but you get the idea – it is a very special place with hundreds of colorful mosaics and many votive offerings. Atop the bell tower is a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary.

As beautiful as the inside of the church is, the views are impressive too.

The narration on the way back to the port area was better and we learned something about the neighborhoods. The way back was different and much steeper!

We walked around the old port and found an artisan boulangerie for lunch. Delicious. Then, I found a gelato shop and had two kinds.

We enjoyed the old port area and went back to the hotel for a rest. We had drinks and food on the hotel terrace. Later, back in our room – believe it or not, we get our Netflix here so we watched the Frankenstein movie from 2025.

On Tuesday, we chose to explore Le Panier neighborhood which is just behind our hotel. The name means “The Basket” and it is the very spot where the Greeks first settled when they arrived in 600 BC. Today, this district is home to winding alleys, shuttered facades, laundry strung balconies, galleries, museums and authentic Marseille restaurants. We visited the Vieille Charity which was ordered to house the “poor natives of Marseille” in 1640. It is empty now but the facade is interesting to see. In the 1950s the building narrowly escaped demolition.

I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the street art, the postman and the buildings. Norm captured one of this cat!

We walked back to the old port area after browsing and shopping in the old and unique Le Panier district, and found a wonderful restaurant for lunch.

Then, we went back to pack because we have a 5:55 AM from Marseille to Frankfort then on to Newark. We will find a nice restaurant for dinner and head to bed early. It’s been a nice three days in Marseille. The old port is really something to see – 3500 berths for boats and lots of ferries and sightseeing boats are here too.