After our departure from the port at Livorno, we were scheduled to sail to Monte Carlo. That plan, however, was not to be.
With rainy, stormy weather, we were looking at 18-20 foot seas that evening, with that continuing into the next day. With Monte Carlo being a tender port, that would mean boarding small boats that would transport us from where the ship anchored into the actual port. With seas that high, those tenders would not be running, so there wasn’t much point in sailing to Monte Carlo. Instead, we simply headed for Marseille a day early. I will admit, I was looking forward to seeing Monte Carlo, but you can’t argue with nature, so we’d have to make the best of some free time in Marseille, even if it was a bit rainy there as well!
Given the weather, we decided to take a taxi up to the Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde, figuring that being inside the basilica would be nice no matter whether it rained or not.
Of course, from up there you can see the whole city. 😉
From there, while the rain held off, we decided to walk back down to the Old Port, and explore the historical center of Marseille for the afternoon. In retrospect, I was glad to get this opportunity to see more of Marseille than I would have had we come a day later. It’s a lovely, and historical city, one I’d love to come back to and see even more of one day.
As usual, when dealing with vacation plans that are deterred by the force of nature, you shrug your shoulders and make the best of it. While I had been planning on spending this day walking around Monte Carlo and getting photographs of the Grand Casino and the opulence that is Monaco, instead it was an overcast day in Marseille. Oh well! There are far worse things that getting to spend a day exploring the historical capitol of France, no?
You can check out the full set from Marseille over on Flickr!
Only one more day of the cruise left to document! Thanks for coming along for the ride!
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