PAGE FIVE
Marseille - Andrew, Jacqui and her Mum - 2008
For the fourth time in one year Andrew found himself back in France. This time it was on business at a Conference in Marseille in October 2008. Jacqui and her Mum accompanied him on this trip.
Fort St. Nicholas,
Marseille, Provence
On the first day I spent much of my time at the Conference whilst Jacqui and her Mum spent much of it at the Hotel. After the Conference I walked along the Vieux Port (Old Port) back to the Hotel, passing the Abbaye St. Victor and the two Forts on either side of the Harbour Entrance (Fort St. Nicholas and Fort St. Jean).
Abbaye St. Victor,
Marseille, Provence
Abbaye St. Victor with
Notre Dame de la Garde behind, Marseille, Provence
Fort St. Jean,
Marseille, Provence
Jardin de Vestiges - the
remains of Greek Massalia, Marseille, Provence
La Canabière, Marseille,
Provence
The next day I only did a half day at the Conference and in the afternoon we took a taxi up to the dominantly placed Notre Dame de la Garde Church which towers over the whole city.
The Climb up to Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Notre Dame de la Garde,
Marseille, Provence
Another view of Notre
Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Top of the Tower, Notre
Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
This church is relatively young, being constructed around 1864, but it is a thing of some beauty. A fortress had existed on top of the hill before the Church (a few bits of wall still remain). The church is dominated by the 151 foot tower topped by the adopted symbol of Marseille – the Madonna and Child statue which gleams brilliantly in the Mediterranean sun.
Madonna and Child, Notre
Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
The interior of the church is a little less exciting – anyone who has been inside this variety of modern/Romanesque church will be familiar with the brick arcading and gilt work. Although the sheer scale and the fact every inch is covered does at the least impress.
Main Aisle, Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Interior of Notre Dame
de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Gilded Domes, Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Another Interior of Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Turning back outside the view across Marseille is spectacular. You really get to appreciate the size of the city from here. It is, after all, France’s second largest city after Paris.
View from Notre Dame de la Garde of Marseille, Provence
Marseille Centre from Notre Dame de la Garde, Provence
Church of St. Vincent de Paul, Marseille, Provence
View from Notre Dame de la Garde of Marseille Harbour, Provence
Marseille Cathedral, Provence
Fort St. Nicholas from Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Andrew at Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
We lingered for some while around the exterior of Notre Dame de la Garde, getting views in all directions (including towards our next destination, the Chateau d’If). We then decided to try to walk back down into the city centre. We managed to get about halfway before we decided enough was enough and sought out a bus. The bus deposited us at the foot of the Vieux Port and we shuffled around a few shops before looking for dinner. Every day in Marseille dinner was one variety of fish or another – it was marginally easier to eat here if you are a fish-eating vegetarian. A vegan would starve immediately!
Jacqui and her Mum at Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Cherub, Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Marseille has a particularly poor reputation for crime and as night began to fall we began to feel a little edgy. When a phalanx of police arrived and began to spread out across the squares and alleys around the Vieux Port we decided it was probably time to head back to our Hotel.
Looking Out to the Med, Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
Chateau d'If from Notre
Dame de la Garde, Marseille, Provence
The next day I was quite excited to be visiting my first full-blown 100% bona fide French Castle. For many years I’d been to France and had visited Chateaux, Forts and other things, but this would be the first proper castle.
Leaving the Old Port,
Marseille, Provence
Leaving Marseille Behind!
The boat trip down the Vieux Port offered some excellent views of the older parts of Marseille coming down the slopes to the Harbour. One side dominated by Notre Dame de la Garde, the other dominated by the Cathedral.
Chateau d'If, Provence
Coming in to Dock, Chatea d'If, Marseille, Provence
You pass between the two Forts which guard the Port entrance and then you are out into the Mediterranean chugging out towards a series of small islands, the Frioul Archipelago. The one you land at first is the main objective for most people. On this island is the Chateau d’If, one of France’s great castles.
The Castle Keep, Chateau d'If, Marseille, Provence
Entering the Chateau d'If, Marseille, Provence
View from the Castle Keep, Chateau d'If, Marseille, Provence
Courtyard, Chateau d'If, Marseille, Provence
It was very hot out at the Chateau on this particularly balmy October afternoon and a cold drink in the tiny café was our first port of call before tackling the walls and towers of the Castle. It was here that the Count of Monte Cristo was said to have been imprisoned.
The Clear Waters of the Med, Marseille, Provence
Outer Walls, Chateau d'If, Marseille, Provence
Anchored at Chateau D'If, Marseille, Provence
What a terrible prison it must have been, boiling hot in the summer and no doubt cold and exposed in the winter, there is really nothing else on this island – but Marseille and the freedom it represented are clearly in view. It’s a kind of medieval Alcatraz!
Leaving the Chateau d'If, Provence
Leaving the Chateau d’If the boat briefly stops at one of the other small islands before chugging back into Marseille. On the return journey some excellent views can be had of the stripey confection of Marseille’s “New” Cathedral – the “Old” one is actually attached to the back of the “New” one (although that description is marginally redundant as it still dates back to 1800s).
One of the other Frioul
Islands off Marseille, Provence
Heading Back towards Marseille, Provence
After our return to Marseille we went shopping in one of the many shopping malls in the city centre. Jacqui and her Mum were both impressed with the shopping available and are keen to return. We found ourselves in a rather rough street full of Algerians trading dodgy goods at one stage and then decided to head back onto the main street before having a final fish meal (al fresco at our Hotel).
Marseille's Cathedral, Provence
Marseille is not a city that gives up its treasures as simply as, say, Paris or Rome, but it is a place which has a real energy and is likely to be somewhere which merits return visits to get the best out of it.
Coming into the Old Harbour, Marseille, Provence
St Ferréol's Church, Old Harbour, Marseille, Provence
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin - Andrew, Jacqui, their Mums, her Aunt and Uncle - 2009
2009 Mini-Cruise Part One
After our successful cruise in 2008 aboard the Brilliance of the Seas the same group took a mini-cruise with Cunard aboard the Queen Victoria in October 2009. The cruise was due to go to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Cherbourg to most people!), Rotterdam and Brugge.
The Queen Victoria in
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Normandy
Being October in the Channel the weather was not on our side for most of this trip. Our arrival in Cherbourg was met with a torrential downpour. For a while we sat inside the ship, looking out into the wet gloom before gritting our teeth and taking the little shuttle bus into the town centre.
The Italian Theatre on a
Wet Day in Cherbourg, Normandy
Cherbourg Market,
Normandy
Andrew's Mum with
Pumpkins in Cherbourg, Normandy
Cherbourg (or properly speaking Cherbourg-Octeville or Cherbourg-en-Cotentin depending on what you're referring to) is a fairly modest sort of a place. Little flashy architecture, but at the same time not as care worn and commercialised as Calais or as modernist as Le Havre. It actually felt like a normal working town which just happened to be on the coast.
Umbrellas needed!
Cherbourg, Normandy
Apparently Cherbourg is
famous for it's Umbrellas!
The rain managed to ease off for long enough for us to explore a little of the town centre. Scattered showers encouraged us to duck into shops now and again and Jacqui found a number of shoe shops which she wanted to return to at a later date! One shop that did look very useful was a specialist umbrella shop … only in France would you find a shop which sells nothing but umbrellas!
An Alley in Cherbourg,
Normandy
The Damp Streets of
Cherbourg, Normandy
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin,
Normandy
At one end of the old town centre, near the sea, stands the Trinité Church. A large, ancient church which is one of the few buildings in Cherbourg which stands out. It has some great gargoyles and some good medieval carving.
Trinité Church,
Cherbourg, Normandy
Gargoyle, Trinité
Church, Cherbourg, Normandy
Trinité Church,
Cherbourg, Normandy
From here a nice view can be had back down the Inner Harbour towards the main part of town.
Advertising Mural,
Cherbourg, Normandy
View of
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Normandy
The poor weather did not encourage us to linger longer in Cherbourg, although we came away pleasantly surprised by one of the nicer Channel Ports. It was also to be Formal Night aboard the Queen Victoria, so everyone wanted to get back aboard in order to preen themselves and put on their finery. For me this meant donning my evening suit for the first time and getting that tricky bow-tie to sit properly.
Back about the Queen
Victoria
Aboard the Queen Victoria
A lot of fuss was made about Formal Night, including an insistence on black and white clothing which turned out to be nonsense. A great many people were dressed in reds, blues, golds etc., although most did dress formally. In many ways it was a symptom of the problems of the Cunard cruise – everything was about class and we were not in the top class cabins. If you were you got every service and access to everywhere, if you weren’t some parts of the ship were actually shut off to you. This didn’t seem to have been the case with Royal Caribbean – if it was it certainly wasn’t rubbed into your face continuously – and it was one of the things that will almost certainly stop us going anywhere with Cunard again.
Coppery Elegance on the
Queen Victoria
Formal Night
Although the Queen Victoria was certainly elegant, it just wasn’t in the same class as Brilliance of the Seas and the organisation was typically British – i.e., there WAS no organisation! The final nail in Cunard’s coffin for us was when it didn’t dock in Zeebrugge and so we were denied our visit to Brugge. As the cruise had cost quite a lot of money, this was not a happy situation. But before that happened, we travelled to Rotterdam.
Bright Staircase, Queen
Victoria
To see pictures from the rest of the cruise see: Netherlands
Boulogne-sur-Mer - Andrew, Jacqui, his Aunt & Uncle and his nieces - 2010
It had been some years since I boarded a cross channel ferry to Boulogne. My last visit to the City had been with my parents in 1994. On that occasion I had been heartily ill on the ferry returning home and so it had not enamoured me to that mode of transport.
However, that was a long time ago and as Jacqui and I had arranged to take my niece, Elizabeth, to France for a day a ferry trip began to look like an inevitability. In the end six of us arrived at Dover at an obscene time in the morning to board the LD Lines ferry across to Boulogne – myself, Jacqui, my nieces Elizabeth and Charlotte and my Aunt Bev and Uncle Ed.
On the Cross Channel
Ferry
I remember back in the old days being able to wander around all over the ferries, but on this ferry there was little else to do but sit in the lounge and wait for it to cross the Channel. We did have a quick wander around the decks, but there was very little to see and we ended up back inside fairly promptly.
City Gates,
Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
Since my last trip to Boulogne the ferry port had moved from the quay by the town centre to one well out of town – so it was a good thing we had brought the car across. A short drive up the hill took us to the car park by the City Walls and we passed through the Port des Dunes and into the Ville Haute – the old walled town of Boulogne.
Viking Ship against the
Ramparts of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
The Belfroi,
Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
On my previous visits in 1986 and 1994 I had had no idea of what Boulogne might have to offer. I can recall when I came with Roy we went into the Basilica, but that had been entirely to warm ourselves up as it was a freezing cold day. In 1994 I don’t remember getting much further than the market in the new part of town at the foot of the hill.
This time I was determined to see the landmarks of the town.
Belfroi and Hotel de
Ville, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
The first of these we came across was the Belfroi (Belfry). Although thoroughly French these days, the presence of a Belfry gives away Boulogne’s earlier Flemish background at a time when the Pas de Calais was all in Flanders. It is possible to climb the Belfry, but today we didn’t do this and I contented myself with some nice photos.
The sun continued to poke its way through the clouds as we turned onto the main artery of the Ville Haute, the Rue de Lille. This leads straight up to the highest point in town where the massive Basilica of Boulogne’s Cathedral dominates. Indeed, the Basilica dominates more or less every view of the Town.
Boulogne's Basilica, Pas
de Calais
We wandered up to the Basilica but it was warm enough by now that we didn’t need to make use of the oil heaters inside (see my first visit to the town in 1986!). We then went around the outside of the walls to the Castle.
Boulogne's Castle, Pas
de Calais
Another view of
Boulogne's Castle, Pas de Calais
At last – the Castle! Having been to Boulogne on at least two other occasions it seemed incredible that the Castle had always eluded me. Although it is fair to say that Boulogne’s Castle is not the greatest in France, it is nevertheless worth a visit.
Main Gatehouse, Boulogne
Castle, Pas de Calais
Boulogne-sur-Mer's
Castle, Pas de Calais
Inside is, surprisingly, not the usual collection of armour and local history, but instead a kind of mini-British Museum. Exhibits covering Egypt, Rome, Africa and all manner of other exotica fills the various rooms of the Castle. On our visit the top storey was taken up with an exhibition of rather random abstract art by Georges Mathieu – a local lad. It turns out that the Museum in the Castle holds the fifth largest collection of Egyptian relics (after Cairo, the British Museum, the Louvre and the Egizio in Turin)!
Having thoroughly explored the surprising Castle we gathered outside for a group photograph and then wandered back down to the Rue de Lille to find some sustenance.
At the Castle of
Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
This was at a tiny pizza and pasta restaurant which seemed to be run by one man who took the orders, cooked the food, served us and everything. He must have been relieved when – just as we left – another group of 6 people came in. He could never have coped with 12 people simultaneously!
Main Square in the Ville
Haute, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
We walked back to the car and drove down into the New Town for some shopping. As we wandered around looking at shoes and chocolates we passed St Nicholas’ Church on Place Dalton which is actually the oldest church in the town, dating to the 13th Century.
St. Nicholas' Church,
Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
Jardin Auguste Mariette,
Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais
Having done our shopping we had some time before our ferry back to England – so we drove north to the unfortunately named Slack Dunes just north of Wimereux – hang on, more déjà vu, I’d been here before too!
Slack Dunes near
Wimereux, Pas de Calais
We wandered along the Dunes for a little while, but there isn’t much to see and there was a very unfortunate “old fish” smell permeating the area, so we headed briefly into Wimereux for refreshment and then back to Boulogne to catch the ferry.
Walking the Slack Dunes,
Pas de Calais
We arrived back in Dover as darkness fell, we’d had a long day and it had been quite tiring, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves – and much to my delight the Channel crossing both ways had been calm as a millpond! Hurrah!
Returning to Dover
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