Lundi Nuit in Lectoure

We returned from Marseille by mid-afternoon on Monday.  We went to Lundi Nuit on Rue Nationale.  A big party on Monday nights during summer!  The band was terrific and played up and down Rue Nationale.  We had fun!

 

Marseille

Over the course of the weekend, we enjoyed seeing some of Marseille, particularly around the Vieux Port.  

Olympic Sailing in Marseille

We took a city bus from our hotel to the Olympic sailing site.  Whitney’s family met us soon after we arrived.  We entered with our bar codes, then looked around the site.  It was a very hot day without much wind, so the first event, women’s windsurfing, was delayed for about an hour waiting for more wind.  There were giant tv screens on site and a few tents.  We sat under a tent, in view of a large screen tv.  The competitions were too far out to sea for us to watch, and know who was in the lead.  All in, it was a very interesting experience!

Saturday in Marseille

We took a train from Narbonne to Marseille on Saturday morning, arriving in Marseille at 12h30.  We took a taxi to Les Goudes, a few km south of Marseille, to meet Whitney’s family at the house they rented for the week.  We walked to Callelongue to have lunch at Grotte de Callelongue.  After lunch, Corey and Toby jumped off the cliffs in the Calenque de Callelongue.  We preferred being spectators!

Papa and I took a bus back to Vieux Port in Marseille, to our hotel on the Port.  We walked around the marina at sunset and Fort Saint-Jean, a 17th century fort at the mouth of the port.  People were out walking, enjoying the long days of summer, live music, and warm night air.  The sun set at after 9 pm, with beautiful light over the marina until close to 10 pm.

Narbonne

After dropping Audrey at the Toulouse airport this morning, we went to the train station for our 8:45 train to Narbonne.  We have visited Narbonne several times in years past, and are happy to return. Just after we arrived, we had a coffee and croissant under the trees along the Canal in the center of Narbonne, after seeing the Archbishop’s Palace Museum and the Via Domitia (ancient Roman road).  We took a walk through the west side of Narbonne, to Les Halles (the covered Market), and to Saint-Paul Basilica, where we explored an ancient paleo Christian underground cemetery from the 3rd and 4th centuries.  We had lunch at Le Petit Comptoir, a Michelin recommended restaurant that we recommend also.  Lunch was delicious!

After lunch, we talk a walk on the east side of Narbonne, visiting Saint-Just and Saint-Pasteur Cathedral, built between 1272 and 1340, but never finished.  We went to the Roman Horreum, built during the 1st century BC, they are underground galleries thought to be an ancient marketplace.  We saw Saint-Sebastien Church, built in the 15th century in flamboyant Gothic style, and used as a Carmelite convent chapel until the French Revolution.

We are watching the Opening Ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris this evening, on tv from our hotel in Narbonne.