Marseille and Cassis

Chateau d'If off the coast of Marsallies

The fishing village of Cassis













The first Calanques.











A sailboat anchored in one of the coves.















Calanques of Cassis





This morning, we tried to sleep late since our tour did not leave until noon, but no luck. I was wide awake at 7:30, so I got some stuff done on the internet and lounged around the room. We woke Peyton and Mom up so we could go eat at Parrot Cay for breakfast. Afterwards, Peyton, Patrick and I headed back to our room to relax (aka the boys played video games while I worked).

We had a little trouble convincing Peyton to get off the ship, but he eventually acquiesced and we were headed for Cassis – on a bus. It look about an hour of winding through the city of Marseille and over the mountain to Cassis before we finally arrived. There were tons of people waiting for the ‘train’. After about 20 minutes, we were able to board the ‘train’ which was nothing but a glorified tram made to look like an old open air train. The ride could not have been 5 minutes before we were dropped off at a small fishing village. We got on a boat – about 40 feet long, that had an elevated deck on the bow and a covered stern. We opted for the stern in order to keep Peyton and my Mom out of the sun. It was a good thing we did because the waves were quite high and several people got soaked on the upper deck.

After about a 10 minute ride, we went into a narrow cove filled with boats to catch a quick glimpse of the cliffs, the boat then left the cove and quickly went into two more coves before returning to the village. It was very pretty, but we really did not get to see the cliffs for very long and before you knew it, the ride was over! I don’t think we spent 30 minutes on the boat and 20 minutes of that was going back and forth to the village. Although the village and ride were pretty, I would think time could be better spent than a 2 hour bus ride for a 30 minute boat ride.

We were given a voucher to have a drink at a small restaurant by the sea. It was very nice there in the open air café. For the first time in a month, I was served a Coke Light with a glass of ICE. I thought I died and went to heaven. After a quick drink, we wandered through the village. Mom and I stopped at Grand Marnier Crepes and THIS place I HIGHLY recommend. They do not speak English, but they were very accommodating while we ordered white chocolate and Grand Marnier crepes. They made the entire trip worthwhile! I was also able to pick up some postcards and hand made soap for friends back home.

We finally got back to the ship at 6:15 and ran back to the room to change for Disney Dreams. This is Peyton’s favorite show about a girl who meets Peter Pan and tries to learn how to fly. It is a wonderful show and if you ever find yourself on the Disney ship, this show is not to be missed.

We then took Peyton to play at the camp while we grabbed a quick bite and watch Casino Royal in the Buena Vista Theater. Right as the movie ended, Peyton paged us to get picked up. I took him back to the room to change into his PJs while Mom and Patrick went up to the Pirate deck party and grab some food from the late night buffet. I think I fell asleep about 2 minutes after my head hit the pillow.