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| The cliffs of Provence |
Our first excursion day on the ship was to Provence. I was extremely excited for this day and it did not disappoint. We hired a private guide for the day, to show us the sights. They met us at the dock and had already come up with a plan for the entire day. Our first stop was to a tiny town about 25 minutes away from the port of Toulon, where a typical Provencal market was being held on the main street. There were vendors selling everything from fresh fruit, to clothes, to olives, to knives. We meandered the market street and stopped to get some coffee and tea at a cafe. The marketplace is a setting where you can really immerse yourself in the non tourist culture of a place. Our second stop was what our guides, David (the main guide) and Vincent (driver), called the French equivalent to the Fjords of Norway. Our journey to these cliffs led us on a long, narrow and incredibly foggy road with stunning, but fleeting views of the port on one side and great views of the mountains on the other. We stopped once to take photos of the mountains and then got back in the car to finish the drive to the main cliff view. It was quite amazing. The fog blanketed the towns below as well as the countless vineyards scattered throughout the valley. After this we continued our drive to another small town, on the way seeing the basilica built into the high cliff faces where Mary Magdalene's body was discovered in a cave where she lived for 30 years. We reached the next town and had a delicious lunch. Me and about half of our group had crepes while the others had meat and fish dishes. My crepe of choice was prosciutto, cheese and an egg cracked on top, baked. In this same small town we visited the Basilica de Mary Magdalene, built in her honor. It was a gorgeous church and featured in the center was her actual skull, in a container and framed by decorative golden hair. After this, our last stop was a private winery tour. We learned how they make wine and the adults got to try it. We all got to try the olive oil as well. We rushed back to the ship after this, completing a great first day in France.
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| ah, France |
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| An olive vendor |
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| The Basilica |
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| The gorgeous mountains |
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