Marseille

After a night of living as high rollers, Ashleigh and I took advantage of a tour later in the afternoon. This gave us an opportunity to catch our breath. We had a relaxing breakfast and decided to enjoy the serenity of the panoramic lounge on the ninth deck. I took my free time to web log and Ash kicked her feet back and read.

It was a drizzly morning and we were both thankful to take a leisure attitude for the day. The Port of Marseille in the largest in the south of France and has held that title for centuries. Marseille is the second largest city in France, behind Paris by a large margin.

Our tour departed at 1:30 and as lovely as our easy go morning was executed neither of us wanted to spend an entire day on the ship so the risk of getting a little wet while walking around the quaint town of Aux didn't deter us.

We did get off to a less than ideal start. The rain was heavy which caused our driver to be hesitant and quick to depress the brake, which made Ash car sick. The tour guide was unsure about what to do with us. At that point, the rain was coming down in blankets and she wanted to audible the walking tour of the city but didn't really have a backup plan.

We exited the bus during the shower's respite and crowded into a local bistro for cappuccino. While we sipped our tiny cups the sky unloaded it's heaviest assault of the day which put doubt into our heads about how grand of an idea it was to leave the comfort of the ship.

The doubt was dried away as French rays of light began to dry the town. Our tour continued and we never looked back. An hour of education was followed by 90 minutes of free time. As it is with most of our checklists, having local cuisine was high on the list and we both wanted to indulge in a French crepe; I had nutella and banana and Ash had nutella and strawberries.

The crepes fueled us while we shopped for authentic French gifts and explored the beautiful city of Aux. We boarded the ship right at curfew and headed to our room. The sky's pigment changed to gray and the wind picked up. Ash decided to lay down before dinner and I explored the upper decks before the sunset. When I came back to check on Ash it became apparent that the rough Mediterranean had taken its toll on her tummy. I went to the rear of the ship, sat in the comfy deck furniture, sipped my vodka martini and read. 

After enjoying the company of new friends and donating to the ship's casino, I called it a night and joined Ash and her tummy in a restless and rocky night at sea.