Now we are in Toulon, France! Moving right along the French Riviera or Cote d’Azure as others call it. We had a beautiful sun rise this morning – all the different colours in the sky and a nice orange sun! We had our last Excursion planned for our cruises (this is our 12th HAL one) to Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. With an early departure for this 8 hour tour we were ready to go! Pulling into Toulon, the captain did a very interesting U turn (according to Andrew) and then when I was sitting on the balcony I saw the exact thing happen with an overnight ferry that came into the port. I almost thought his back end was going to hit us! Please note on the 2nd picture of the ferry that they have the same “thrusters” at the bow of their boat that the Oosterdam has which are directly under our stateroom it seems – they are LOUD when they are used! Anyways, off to shore we went, with one of the steepest gangways I have run into! It took me and two “helpers” to make sure I did not go too fast down the steep incline (they know I only have 1 break). Again, large bus but only 10 people on the tour! First we saw a beautiful painting when driving out of Toulon above the theatre and then we were on our way to Aix-en-Provence. I will leave most of that commentary to the pictures however we had a nice walk around the town and then some free time to do whatever we wanted. As the cruise was ending we went to a grocery store (where we used the shipping elevator to go down to where the groceries were) and then while walking to the square we had seen where I could get a fridge magnet, I ran into a Body Shop where I got some Vitamin E for my skin to keep it in good condition (it is not burnt but dry due to the sun). Then we met the bus driver and were on our way to Marsaille! The tour guide really wanted us to take a picture as we entered Marsaille which you do via the highway through a tunnel but we had picked up so many squished bugs on the highway that the picture did not work out… It was kind of spectactular though to not know there was a huge city on the other side of these tall hills as you drove down through a valley and through a tunnel under the hill and on the other side it was totally different! The bus took us around the sea front and up to a beautiful church that over looks the water. Unfortunately there are over 300 steps to climb to get up to that church and I was aware of that when booking this Excursion so I stayed on the bus, buckled myself in as we were pointing downhill at quite an angle, and had a nap! I felt a bit like I was having a nap while climbing a mountain as that seatbelt really was what was holding me onto the seat. Andrew and the others came back after an hour and he has some pictures that I will add to this post. Then we were back to the ship, via a scenic route through Toulon and off to sea to Barcelona. This night we were dining in the Pinnicle Grill which is the more upscale specialty restaurant on the Oosterdam – I had prepared my stomach all day for the meal tonight and made sure I was hungry! As per normal, I had ordered my meal last night – Jumbo shrimp appetizer, scallop entree with a 12oz Maine lobster on the side and Baked Alaska Lynda style for desert! We were out to sea when we were dining and arriving in Barcelona mid-day so we could sleep in after this huge meal! Oh what did Andrew eat you wanted to know? He had lobster bisque, a lovely steak and creme brulee (which of course is gluten free for sampling purposes)!
