Marseille Can You See

So it's nearly the 4th and we're missing the barbeques and fireworks this year in favor of beignets and foie gras (not together, of course). We'll be back in the U.S. in a mere 6 days now, and woke up today realizing that this is already our last day in Hyeres; the time has gone more quickly than we could have imagined. Tomorrow morning we're off for the last four days in France--to be spent in Paris. Finn and Nathan have seats on a flight with the rest of our group, and Vivi and I will be traveling first class on the high speed train. I've never traveled first class anywhere by any means of transportation, but I'm train-riding with a toddler, so my expectations for soaking up the amenities are sensibly low. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can of the French landscape on the ride (I have a window seat on the upper deck of the train, so the views should be great), and hoping the timing of our journey is such that Vivi will sleep for at least a portion of the trip.

In the meantime, we're spending this very warm last day here in southern France cleaning our apartment, packing our bags, and preparing for a fabulous send-off dinner with Ross. He's in charge of the aperitifs and charcuterie, and we have two fresh fish for the main course and a bag of pretty pastel-colored macarons for dessert. And, this being France and all, there will of course be wine.

As for posting, I'm again a bit behind, so without further delay, here are the photos of our group's trip to Marseille on Wednesday. Marseille, a major port town, is the second largest city in France (behind Paris), and clearly a cultural melting pot as well.

Our first stop was the Musee des Beaux Artes (below), a beautiful (and enormous) fountain, or, perhaps better stated, series of fountains and pools.

It is also, like much of Marseille it seems, at the top of a rather large hill. We did a lot of climbing that day!

This photo (below) was taken inside the "musee", beneath the center dome you can see in the photos above.

The views from the top were amazing.

The next stop was the basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. We again parked at the bottom of the hill on which the basilica stands, then climbed the many stairs toward the church. There was a wonderful breeze at the top of the hill, and stunningly wide views of all of Marseille below.

The golden statue you spot at the top of the church is of Notre Dame -- "Our Lady," or, as the people of Marseille know her, "la Bonne Mere," the good mother. She and the Christ child in her arms watch over the city and the harbor.

Inside and out, the church is tiled over with ex votos, notes of gratitude and prayers to the Holy Mother from the people of the community of Marseille. Reading them offers a visitor a kind of shadow-history of the city and its inhabitants.

We visited the crypt first. The crypt was dark and cool, glowing with the light of hundreds of candles. The children were awed by this. Finn couldn't stop commenting on this statue of the crucified and dying Christ and how "sad" it was. ("Yes, Finn. That's exactly right," we told him, happy that he seemed to really get it.) Vivi was immediately silenced when we entered the crypt. Her eyes widened at the candles, and very quietly, in a near whisper, she said only, "Wow, wow, wow." Again, exactly.

The higher church is a magnificent work of mosaic tiles and gold leaf. There are side chapels off the central sanctuary, each devoted to a particular saint. The place was hushed and beautiful, but more touristed than any of the other churches we've yet seen.

Here, outside, Finn and Vivi found a hiding place in the courtyard.

Following the visit to the church we stopped in the central shopping district of downtown Marseille. Our first order of business was food--we were starving. We (along with Ross) sat down at this sidewalk cafe for beers, pizza, and (for the youngsters) ice cream. It was the perfect rest after our afternoon of seeing the sights.

(In this photo below Ross and I are working to decipher the menu. We ended up order the kid-friendly pizza "jambon" -- ham, that is. The pizza was good, but we all agreed that as far as pizza goes, New York beats France any day.)

There was a carousel not far from the cafe, so as a treat for the kids we stopped for a ride. They loved it. (Finn named his horse "Racer".)

We left the city then, tired but happy.

I don't know how reliable or available internet access will be in Paris, but if I can I'll try to do another post or two during our time there. Until then, happy Fourth of July weekend, all! Have a hot dog and light a sparkler for us. :)