Toulon – October 6, 2014

Up and at ‘em!  We were off the ship by 8:15 and met our guide Eva right where we thought she’d be!  So far, so good!  She had a nice VW Van that sat the six of us very comfortably and we were off to Aix En Provence and Cassis!  Then…..there was the traffic!  Yikes!  Lots of stop and go to get away from the port area and then it was pretty clear the rest of the way.  We spent several hours in Aix which is a charming town and actually first settled by the Romans because they found some hot springs there.  We heard a lot more history but I won’t bore you!  Paul Cezanne (the artist) is from Aix, if anyone cares….:)

We did the walking tour around the old town and then sat in the center square and had a nice lunch of some panini’s.  Then we were off to the little town of Cassis which started as a fishing village but is now full of summer homes for the French who can afford it.  Michele and Tom decided to walk around the harbor and do some window shopping while Ed, Betty, Don and I took a boat ride out to see the Calanque’s which are inlets carved by the sea into very high cliffs.  They have sheltered beaches and anchorages for yachts and very protected from any wind.  The pine trees on the cliffs appear to just grow out of rock!  I’d heard about these for a long time so was anxious to see them and I doubt if I’ll ever get another chance.  Glad we did it and the weather, again, was spectacular!  We were on a small boat that held only 12 passengers without any protection so the elements could have been iffy!  The worst that happened was some messed up hair!

Before we knew it, it was time to make our way back to the ship.  We had another lovely dinner in the Symphony dining room this evening and everything was delicious!

I made another donation in the casino, but the Commodore saved the day by being up a few dollars!  We seem to even each other out, which is a good thing!!

Tomorrow we have an early arrival in Livorno and we have a day planned to visit Siena and San Gimignano with Betty and Don.  Michele and Tom, since this is their first visit to Italy, have a tour to Pisa and Florence.  Should be a great day for everyone!

This is such a port intensive cruise that after Livorno, Rome and Naples we will really need a day at sea to regroup!

Going to crash early tonight as we have a 6:00am wake-up!

XOXOXOXO