Mediterranean Cruise May 2014 - Marseille, France.

Six months since I last updated! All my good intentions went out the window.

Our next port was Marseille and it was very peaceful as we sailed in in the early morning.

We had booked a private tour to Avignon and to the Pont du Gard with some other people onboard.

Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct in Southern France that crosses the Gardon river and is part of the Nimes aqueduct that was built in the first century AD.

The Gardon river.

An old mill at the side of the river which I believe was converted to a hotel.

From there we went to Avignon. This is the Palace of The Popes which is one of the largest and most important Gothic buildings in Europe. It was the Papal residence during the 14th century before it returned to Rome.

The golden statue of the Virgin Mary on the Palace.

Looking down onto the Square from the Palace.

Pont Saint-Benezet otherwise known as Pont D'Avignon. This bridge spans the Rhone river and was originally built in the 12th century, but was destroyed 40 years later during the Albigensian Crusade. It was rebuilt with 22 arches but they were prone to collapse when the Rhone flooded. It was eventually abandoned in the mid 17th century and only 4 arches remain.

View across the Rhone.

The Rhone.

In the grounds of the Papal Palace.

These fish were huge!

Looking out over the old town of Avignon.

After leaving Marseille, our next and final port of call was Gibraltar. We have been here many times so usually only go ashore for our duty free.

I hope you enjoyed travelling with us.
Photos of our next cruise in the Baltics will follow soon.

Mediterranean Cruise May 2014 - Genoa, Italy.

Our next port was Genoa in Italy. We were having breakfast on the balcony as we docked.

The cruise terminal.

We hadn't been to Genoa before so decided to walk around the seafront and part of the city.

This is the galleon, Neptune. It is a replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon and was built in 1985 for Roman Polanski's film "Pirates". She was also used as the Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's ship in Neverland.

The Bank of St George, a beautiful building.

"Lanterna" The lighthouse of Genoa. At 249 feet, it is the world's fifth tallest lighthouse. Including the rock it stands on, it is a total of 383 feet high. It was built in 1533 and modernised several times through the years. The original tower was built around 1128.

Then it was time to set sail for our next port of call, Marseille in France.

Mediterranean Cruise May 2014 Corsica and Livorno

Well it seems I have managed to get 2 years behind with posting our photos. Our first cruise in 2014 was to the Med. We have been there many times so didn't take many photos.
Our first stop was Barcelona but we were feeling lazy and decided to stay onboard and enjoyed having the ship almost to ourselves.

Next stop was Ajaccio on Corsica.

The welcome!

We just walked around the town and down by the beach. The water must have been cold as there was no-one in it. We didn't try it either!

The next stop was Livorna which is the port town for Florence, Italy. We have been into Florence a few times so decided to take a vineyard wine tasting tour.

This is a family run vineyard.

All the wines were nicely laid out to encourage sales.

The chapel.

Next we were taken on a tour through the fields of vines by horse drawn trailers.

After the tour of the vineyard it was time for the tasting with home cooked breads and local meats and cheeses. We were too busy eating and drinking to think about the photos. A very pleasant day.

Then it was back to the ship to head off to our next port of call which will be Genoa.