Thursday 10.14.2010


To See the Sea


All our players are back in the game, and we’re back to a bit of fruit and egg this morning (no pastries) before we hit the road for the Mediterranean. The target this morning is Marseilles and then we will see what’s next.

It is about an hour drive to Marseilles. We start south from Arles and then swing to the east as we near the coast peeking between peaks at industrial looking, oil based port cities. It is a hop and skip from the middle eastern oil producing countries through the gulf of Aden into the Med and across to here.


Marseilles is France’s largest port and its second largest city with a million and a half people in the area. We enter the city along the water and port where there are dozens of ships from cargo monsters to passenger liners to fancy yachts, with dozens more at anchor out in the harbor. Busy, busy busy.

There is a tunnel under an inner harbor that takes us into the heart of the city and into the middle of some sort of major demonstration. The police have closed off one of the main streets through the city and the usual participants are streaming into the area on foot. The French enjoy nothing more than a good revolution, but they do it so often you lose track of their mission.

We have read that the one place to go in Marseilles is the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, high on a hill above the city. After a few false starts we climb on winding urban streets through the heart of the city to the top of the highest point around. The sea and city views are spectacular from large viewing areas all the way around the church. It is a bit hazy today but we still see virtually every major site in the city using the identifying photos mounted at convenient spots. We can’t see the protesters but hear plenty of sirens.


The church itself is brilliantly ornate with gilded statues inside and out. The golden statue of “Our Lady” on the peak of the building is over 70 feet tall including the base. There are bullet holes on the back of the church from the liberation of Marseilles in August of 1944.


We pick the sleepy little fishing village of Cassis as our next stop along the coast. The 20-mile road from Marseilles takes us inland around the craggy seaside outcroppings and then swooping back down into Cassis. We motor confidently right into the middle of the action where the beach, marina and town all meet, and this is no sleepy fishing village. There are hundreds of folks milling around the sun-swept row of cafes and hotels soaking up the atmosphere and Cote d’Cassis wines. There are also zero parking places available. We spend 20 minutes driving around in circles and into dead ends until finding a pay lot a half-mile from the action.


It is after one so some of the outdoor cafes have a few seats opening up and we snare a table in the sun just feet from the moored boats. It’s a pizza day again today. There is a reason for this pizza addiction we seem to have. The French don’t eat lunch the way we do. The offerings on midday menus generally include what we would consider to be full dinner choices as well as a plat du jour, or full meal special. We rarely see sandwiches except at small take-away stands or brasseries (bars), so the choices come down to pizza, pasta or salad to satisfy our American habits.

After lunch we take a stroll to the beach and Mary does her water touching ritual. It is sunny and well into the 70’s with people in the water and lounging on the sand.


It is now 2:30 so we pick a leisurely route that heads north and then rounds back to the west to Arles. Unfortunately we do not communicate well with GPS chick Monique and she starts us back into Marseilles. Before we can get her squared away we are stuck in a major traffic jam right in the middle of the city where we spend the next half hour. When we finally spring free it is off through grape and olive covered hillsides, small villages (Roquefort, as in cheese) and gorgeous landscapes. This is the Provence we have read about and almost makes the traffic fiasco worthwhile.


At 5:30 we get back to Arles and Monique hasn’t quite finished with us. In the heart of the old city she directs us into a dead-end alley that takes the efforts of all three of us to get out of. Mary spots an arrow-sign that she thinks might be for through traffic and sure enough we get loose once again. Finally home.


Dinner tonight is at the place we enjoyed our first night here, Palao. The food was good and our server was the best we have seen on our trip to date. She is back on tonight and seems genuinely pleased to see us. After chatting for a bit in broken French and broken English we find out that she is “Italiano!” Molto Bene! No wonder she is so good; no wonder she is happy to see us; no wonder she is so pleasant. A riddle solved.

We start with a cheese plate, wine and beer. Mary has a terrific salmon pasta, Pat has a saffron pasta and John has a rare beef filet smothered in a peppery gorgonzola sauce and tasty mashed potatoes. We would eat here once a week if we lived in the neighborhood.


The day had many more good parts than bad parts.

Today’s weather: Sunny, warm and hazy, low 60, high 79.