Mad about Marseille

Okay, this blog is a retrospective. The Pavlovians are actually on the hard, polishing and cleaning Pavlov and fettling her for a new owner. We've been in the stark reality of Port Napoleon for a few weeks now. Life on the hard is always... well, hard! We've rented an apartment in town, and emptied the entire contents of Pavlov into this flat, that actually feels smaller than Pavlov. I've been exhausting myself polishing the hull, and Megan has sweated blood and tears over the interior, getting her back to pristine shape and obliterating the past 5 years of life aboard her. During this time, the wind has never stopped, blowing between 20 and 40 knots most days, alternating with periods of overcast rain. Anyway, the job is about done, and the first prospective buyer is coming for a second visit today.

Anchored in the Iles de Frioles, just outside Marseille. 

Dusk in the Iles de Frioles.

So with work on the boat currently in abeyance, I thought to take a moment to complete the blogs of our trip here. Marseille was the last major port we sailed to in Pavlov, and we were being met here by two of our good friends from Australia, Kiss and Crim (actually Chris and Kim, but the Spoonerism just gets stuck in my mind). I actually taught with Chris at Casino High School in a former life, and they have had the dubious honour of being the only return invitee's to Pavlov; in fact they have been on board three times now. They sailed with us in Turkey at the start of our voyage. Chris was working in a school outside Istanbul at the time. They met us again in Greece for a great tour through the Ionian, and here they were again for the 'last voyage' of Pavlov. We thought we'd do a retrospective tour back through the wonderful French coast we'd just sailed.

Our berth at the yacht club in Marseille

That's the floating club house for the marina.

Pavlov on the crowded dock

We met up with some old cruising friends who lived in Marseille, Eric and Hanife. They showed us around Marseille, including lunch at the very scenic spot below.

Our lunch venue

View of Vielle Port in Marseille.

Eric, Megan and Hanife.

Old town of Marseille

The 'tres chic' Pavlovians at large

Panoramic view of Marseille's old port

French statuary has something unique about it

Eric with his mother

Small fishing port surrounded by the metropolis 

Fisherman cottage

Entrance to fishing port

French seaside pool

Eric and Hanifer took us up to the Basilique Notre-Dame de la Guarde, the church that towers over Marseille. It's a stunning view from up here. The church is interesting in that it contains lots of models and memorabilia of ships and aircraft whose owners believe that the vessel was saved by their God imprecations.

Marseille panorama from the Basilica Notre-Dame

A view of the old port from the church

The main steeple

Church facade

Main altar

Note the models of the 'saved' vessels

More 'saved' memorabilia

Chris and Kim arrived, and we retraced our steps, sailing for 9 days to Toulon and back. We had a wonderful time, it was re-energizing having them on board to make everything remarkable again.

Sunset at La Ciotat

Pavlov at the 'Quai d'Accueil' at Sanary

The port at Sanary 

Traditional boats at Sanary

The Admiral in Sanary

Silk artwork in the sweet

Spit, Megan, Chris and Kim with Pavvie in the background at Bandol

The port at Madraque

So, reminiscences aside, I need to haul myself back to present reality. Its a huge shift for us, to move our base from a floating gypsea life-style to living in a suburban flat. Wish us luck in maintaining our sanity. Caio for now!