Of course, despite all that, we were walking and there's still a lot to discover in this process for example, there was a French amusement park on the dock. Though it was too early in the day to be open it was kinda neat walking through the rides and concession stands seeing everything written in French. We would grow to resent everything written in French later in the day, but I'll get to that.
As we walked we discovered an old French fort and from the edge of the water we could see Notre Dame de la Garde in the background. The early morning sky created a beautiful scene to see.
The port where we docked is full of sailboats and fishing boats.
Because we were up and at 'em so early we were able to watch the fishermen as they came in with their catch of the day.
On either side of the water (cause the port is shaped like a water peninsula) are hotels, high rise homes and cafe after cafe after cafe. One just blended into the next with the only way to tell the difference was the color of awnings or tablecloths. You could have eaten your way into oblivion if you stopped at each one.
Check out the menu board in this photo. Yep, everything is in French. How quaint, but now I'm sorta needing some English somewhere. Street names, shop names, products, signs, EVERYTHING is written in French and no one seems to want to translate for you. I'm beginning to think the French don't like us.
The nicest French folks we found were at the local MacDonalds. They let me use their potty (Ed said I hit every MacDonald's potty across Europe). Though the food was a little strange (check out the photo of the MacDonalds' menu board) the bathroom was even stranger. But they let me use it so down I went into the bowels of the storage room under the store, to a unisex bathroom with, of course, no toilet seat). We had a snack of french fries (no pun intended) with their mayonnaise-type sauce and a coke with no ice. YUM. 
The rest of Marseille was basically a busy city with stores lining the streets and a mall that we wandered through. Buses. street trolleys, traffic and street vendors abounded on this busy Monday.
One interesting aspect of the mall, however, was that it was built right next to some ancient ruins that I figured they were trying to raise money to "save". A couple of French men were babbling about it and they had handouts and brochures with pictures of the site and what looked like contribution forms to fill out. Beats me, it was all in French and again, no one seemed to want to translate. 
I figured I'd make the best of the day and shop a little though it was all stuff I could have bought in my local mall back home. Half way through one store Ed came and got me and said we were leaving. It seems he was going to sit down outside the entrance to the store and wait for me but was rudely told he couldn't sit unless he bought something to eat. Now, get this, the mall is empty, it's too early for any meals, and there's about 50 empty chairs. BUMMER. I have to say, however that once out on the street I found some awsome 5 Euro shoes. Ed even found a jacket he sorta wanted but Marseille had just bummed him out so that he didn't want to spend anything more than he had to in this whole country. I, on the other hand, had money left from the budget but my Jane's Perspective still wouldn't let me buy anything but stuff that I just couldn't get at home so I settled on a little shop that sold French soaps and bought up a mess of different "flavors" for myself and for gifts to take home. They made delightful souvenirs. And upon leaving France, we pulled out of port as night fell and were treated to one of the most beautiful night time scenes we had seen on the whole trip. 
A last meal on board with our traveling companions left us with time to pack, put our bags outside the door for pick up, and an early bed time call for we had to be up by 5AM when we were loaded on buses for the Barcelona Airport. After a change over in Amsterdam, we were home by 5:30 pm Memphis time the same day. (Dont' let that time fool you, we were still over 11 hours in flight time. Our bodies told us it was closer to midnight). So the trip was over. We were safe and sound at home and we had money left over from our 50 Euro a day limit. That last night on the boat, I overheard a fellow say he would be glad to get home to eat some "real" pizza (insinuating that our pizza is the "right" kind of pizza - be aware that only in America do you get all that tomato sauce). Was it just a coincidence or ironic that we ate out at CiCi's pizza buffet on the way home from the airport that night?
The best thing about the trip in my opinion is the time of year we traveled (early Nov.) because we hardly ever had to stand in line, not even at the Vatican, and the weather was perfect. The worse thing about the trip in my opinion is the long flight time and uncomfortable planes. The greatest advantage we had on the trip was that we were young enough to walk as much as we did. The most lasting effect from the trip was our weight gain of over 5 pounds each. But with all the pros and cons I wouldn't trade the memories for anything. Thank you for allowing me to reminisce by sharing with you.
