Marseille

Yesterday evening before dinner, we went to the Top Tier reception for “loyal to Royal” people.  They passed out champagne as we entered, with a jazz band playing and all the RC brass lined up at the door of the theatre to welcome us. The top three “elite” were announced and photographed, with the top guy (from Houston!) with almost 3,000 points. For comparison, we have 72, after four cruises.  

We’d had a late lunch, so we made dinner from appetizers at Coastal Kitchen. 

Lobster mac and cheese

Caesar salad

Burrata and pesto 

Beef tartare

The sun set last night at 9:03, and Charlie took this photo at 9:19.


Since we’d opted out of the “strenuous” excursion originally booked, we had a leisurely morning, catching a shuttle into town (about 6 km) to the cathedral. It was beautiful, of course, and I loved the pink-blooming trees all around it. 





We climbed a LOT of stairs to get to the plaza, then followed a route Charlie planned to get a feel for the town. The “streets” were so narrow that I thought at first they were potentially dangerous back alleys! 


We sat for a bit in a shady plaza and people-watched.


We had lunch at a place Charlie found, highly rated on Trip Advisor, and while it was tiny, the people were friendly and the burgers delicious!



We walked down the street afterwards and bought some still-warm madeleines, chocolate, orange blossom, and framboise (raspberry). So good!


I liked this pedestrian shortcut, but we didn’t climb all those steps!


We took the shuttle back with no waiting. The wind was FIERCE today, but the weather was otherwise perfect. Judging by the whitecaps, we may have a rougher night ahead. More tomorrow!

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