Take me away to Marseille, and Venice...

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Waking up at the crack of dawn (because our apartment is floor to ceiling windows and no blinds..at all (has made getting changed an interesting experience). We headed out after tea and brekky on Saturday 29th, walked along the port vieux with all it's boats and found that Marseille had it's own ferris wheel - which is becoming almost as much of a habit as going to Hard Rock Cafes! So we hopped on, this one has the added adventure of being open, and having the twisty pole thing in the middle so you can turn your carriage. WHS anyone? We got a great view of the whole port, the rooftops (which are decidedly more mediterranean than Paris, and Notre Dame De La Garde. It was a great warm day of 19 or 20 degrees so we sat outside and had coffee (mocha frappucino in Evie's case) before I realised I had left our day passes at the flat so we traipsed back to get them, so we can go on the ferry service which goes out to Chateau D'if (the locale of the Count of Monte Cristo) and Frioul Island. Having queued for a good 40 mins to get tickets (the pass gets you the ticket for free, but you still need to queue up to get your free ticket - thereby nullifying having gone to the trouble of getting the pass in the first place), we decided we were hungry, so had lunch at Hard Rock cafe before getting on the next ferry, Sitting out in the sun (cold wind though!) it was lovely to cruise on the water and see the town from a completely different perspective. We got back to shore around 3.45, so headed back to our flat and chilled for a bit before having some Marseille Pizza for dinner and crashing. Sadly Sunday the weather had turned and was really quite cold and grey so we gave ourselves the morning off. In the afternoon we had cool ride on the petit train - a tiny 3 carriage train thats famous in Marseille for taking people around the city - we went up the coast road that takes you to St Tropez and Nice, and I saw the spot where I had my photo taken 15 years previously, so Evie managed to snap me on the train in the front of the same spot. The train takes us all the way up to Notre Dame De La Garde, the basilica which looks over the city. Inside was beautifully ornate and the view from the tope was spectacular! Take note of the sign out the front of the church in the pics! The train took us back down and we returned home to re pack (again!) ready for the next day settling for some cheap and cheerful dinner on the port, where I had my first and likely only beer on the trip...(mainly because they had no wine)..Monday 1st May - the month we return home - we tidies and farewelled our flat, got a shuttle to the airport and had what turned out to be the worst airline experience of the holiday. Volotea which is an Italian budget , seriously couldnt get a thing in a thing with a handful of 50s..or board a plane. It was the most disorganised chaotic mess - doors that would only open when one of the stewards would unlock it, so people would have their boardng oass checked and then pool up waitng to go into the corridor, then once in the corridor it was a queue of people getting more and more quished because the door to the stairs down to the tarmac wasnt open, then once on the tarmac we queued up the stairs of the plane cos the door of the plane wasnt open! Unfortunately our seats were right next to the engine, and Evie and I are still not better from whatever hit us in spain, so landing for Evie was just torture on her ears...poor love...finally got out to Venice airport, and discovered I had booked our water taxi to Venice itself for the next day - thankfully they swapped us over, and within 15 minutes we were in a boat with 8 other people on the water travelling at a 60 degree angel. I was surprise at how wide the body of water is that separates Venice from the mainland - We reached our stop -San Stae, and found our little B & B on Calle Bonvicini. We had an hour to rest and then we headed out to find Deb and Pip - Who just happen to be in Venice at the same time - we intended on meeting at Al Prosecco (would have been great to have a pic there Dad) but they were closed, and it had started raining - so we found a nearby bar, had some drinks outside near the canal (undercover) then moved inside and had a great dinner. really wonderful to catch up with old friends, which was their last night in Europe before heading back to Oz the next day. Venice for one night isnt nearly enough - but its what we had - Pisa tomorrow!

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