We disembarked around 10:00 AM and took the ship’s shuttle into the city center for $17 per person round trip.
Ship currency was in USD and it was added to our onboard account. Our shuttle diver gave us a map of the downtown streets, circled the meeting point where the shuttle dropped us off, and kindly gave us directions to Vieux Port where we wanted to go.
Street vendors lined the walkways near the ticket booth, and I determined to check them out later. We purchased tickets for a water transport and entrance to Castle If (Chateau D’ If), the setting of Alexander Dumas’ book, The Count of Monte Cristo. It has been a fort and a prison.
Our timing could not have been better because the ferry arrived soon after we purchased the tickets. The ride itself provided a great view.
Vibrant, clear blue water surrounds the castle.
The entrance
More Photos of the Castle:
Info about Alexander Dumas
The ferry whisked us back to Viuex Port.
I found a magnet made to look like a miniature painter’s palate with a Marseilles city scene painted on it. This will become a Christmas ornament for my travel tree. I also found my postcard, but none of the vendors carried postage, and since this is Sunday, I will not be able to mail it from France. Sigh…..
If you think the people in the prior photo are headless, you are partially correct. Don’t worry. There are no zombies in Marseilles (at least that we saw). I just don’t like to post photos of people without their permission if they might be recognizable, so I just chopped off their photo heads.
Before departing from the port at Marseilles, we walked up to the Lido deck for pictures of this industrial port. That is when we noticed the “Hollywood-type” sign. I wonder who copied whom?
Watch for next post: Livorno – for Cinque Terre