{EUROPE} Day Seven - Marseille, France

 We arrived in Marseille around 8:00 this morning. It is the oldest city in France and is currently the 3rd largest city in France behind Paris and Lyon...

The kids and I met up with our tour shortly after breakfast and headed into town, via bus, toward the Old Port...

We passed by City Hall...

before heading (way) up to Notre-Dame de la Garde...

To visit, one must climb many, many stairs. Though, we were told 197 steps to the top, we counted 222 steps (think of it as "training" for our visit to Pisa later this week). We might've missed an elevator somewhere near the top to help with those last few steps, but at that point, I'm not so sure it would've relieved us very much!

The church is situated at the tallest point in the city and offers incredible, panoramic views!

It is beautiful on the inside, as well. decorated with gorgeous mosaics...

On the way to our next stop, we passed by the Porte Royale, or the Arc de Triomphe of Marseille...

as well as the train station, featuring railings designed by Gustave Eiffel...

Next, we visited the impressive Palais Longchamp...

built to celebrate the construction of the Marseille Canal...

Along with the park, and its focal point fountain, the structure now houses a couple museums, as well...

From there, we headed back down to the Old Port area for some free time...

{If you look really closely, you can see that the "blob" above us is actually a reflection of us standing below the mirrored ceiling!}

Afterwards, we headed back to the ship to meet up with Grandma and grab lunch...

Au Revoir, Marseille!

On to Italy tomorrow...

a new country for the kids, and one step closer to meeting up with Hubby!

More {EUROPE} 2022 Fun

Day One - Barcelona Day 1
Day Two – Barcelona Day 2
Days Three & Four – Barcelona Day 3 + AT SEA
Days Five & Six – Gibraltar + AT SEA
Day Eight – Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure & Portofino (Genoa), Italy
Day Nine – Pisa (Livorno), Italy
Day Ten – Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Days Eleven & Twelve – Pompeii (Naples), Italy + AT SEA
Day Thirteen – Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Day Fourteen – Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey
Day Fifteen – Istanbul, Turkey
Day Sixteen – Mykonos, Greece
Day Seventeen – Athens, Greece + HOME!

{EUROPE} Day Twelve - Paris (Le Havre), France

Port of Call: Le Havre, France

This morning we docked in Le Havre…

about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Paris. Hubby and I were last in Paris on our honeymoon nearly 15 years ago...

and though it is a long drive away from the port, we opted to head into the city to show our kids the big sights...

When you only have one day, you hit up as many of the big spots as you can, so we took a shore excursion, arranged by the ship, while my mother stayed back in Le Havre to rest up some. You know, we've always wanted to instill a love of travel in our kids, and a sense that there is more to the world than what we see and do every day. 

So, after our trip in, we headed straight for the Eiffel Tower...

M was especially excited to check off something on her "bucket list" (or rather the list she completed as a school assignment in honor of the 100th day - "Things to do before I'm 100")…

"Take a selfie with the Eiffel Tower"...

DONE!

From there, we headed up to the first level...

to for a special lunch at 58 Tour Eiffel...

After lunch, we wandered around a bit...

We didn't make it up to the tippy top like last time...

{flashback to our 2003 visit}

as we were quickly on to our next stop, The Louvre...

where we again, hit up the main pieces.

Winged Victory...

Venus de Milo...

She's really aged well over the last 15 years. I must learn her secrets...

{flashback to our 2003 visit}

and of course, Mona Lisa...

{side note: this was the hardest picture to get ever - I was being pushed and shoved by a blob of about 200 people (all trying to get up to the front of the roped off area), while trying to keep my 3 children from getting trampled}

So, the last time I was at The Louvre it was in December, and might I recommend NOT going in the summer for several reasons... 1) it is HOT 2) there are too many people 3) they will trample you 4) it is HOT 5) it is HOT...period.

But, with all that being said, there's NO way we could've done all that we did do without our guide and her fast tracking us into everything!

 After leaving The Louvre, we did a bit of a city drive while our guide pointed out some more landmarks including the Arc de Triomphe...

  and for fun, another little flashback to 2003...

 With that whirlwind now behind us, we're getting packed and ready to disembark the ship tomorrow. Time to get ready for the last part of our adventure!

Headed to LONDON tomorrow...

More {EUROPE} 2018 Fun

Day One - Travel By Air, Land, & Sea

Day Two - St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands

Day Three - Cork (Cobh), Ireland

Day Four - Dublin, Ireland

Day Five - Liverpool, England

Day Six - Belfast, Northern Ireland

Days Seven & Eight - Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland + AT SEA

Day Nine - Inverness (Invergordon), Scotland

Days Ten & Eleven - Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Scotland +AT SEA

Day Thirteen - London Day 1

Day Fourteen - London Day 2

Day Fifteen - London Day 3

Day Sixteen - London Day 4

Day Seventeen - London Day 5 and HOME!