Our next stop on our Mediterranean cruise was the French city of Marseille.
Well, that’s where the ship stopped, all we saw of the city is what we could from the harbor and from the bus that drove us an hour and half inland on a tour titled, “In the Steps of van Gogh.” I should point out that it’s not pronounced , “van go” like many people do. It’s a Dutch name that apparently can only be properly pronounced by a Dutch person. Our French tour guided didn’t even try, she simply announced that the French can’t pronounce it either so she’d call him, “Vincent.”
The tour was a trip to Saint-Remy-ed-Provence where van Gogh spent time in the local psychiatric hospital. First stop was in the town of Saint-Remy for a restroom stop and 30 minutes for shopping or rather panic about only having 30 minutes to shop. After that we were taken up the road to visit the Monastery of Saint-Paul de Mausole that in 1889 housed the Saint-Paul Asylum where van Gogh admitted himself for treatment. The events leading up to his seeking admission were his break with fellow artist Paul Gauguin and incident where van Gogh cut off most of his ear.
This was one of van Gogh’s most creative periods and the building and grounds of the hospital are the subjects in many of his paintings. Here he painted well known works like The Irises, and Olive Trees. It was interesting to see where he worked and lived during his stay. The building where he stayed is now a museum with a gift shop, but there is still a mental hospital nearby which uses art therapy as one method of treatment. Some works by recent patients were for sale in the gift shop and there were a number of artists on the grounds painting and drawing.
Our next stop was supposed to be lunch at a French country restaurant. No, didn’t happen. When we got to the bus we were informed that the bus wouldn’t start and a mechanic had been dispatched to fix it and get us going again. Yeah, right. There were a few of us mechanically inclined folks on the tour who were sure that the problem was more than a dead battery and that the mechanic wouldn’t be able to fix it.
Turns out we were right and eventually another bus was dispatched to fetch us from the field where the bus was parked. By this point we’d missed lunch, and weren’t in good humor. This wasn’t entirely Viking Cruises problem as they contract their tours out to local operators who have to meet Viking’s standards. We were told by our guide that there were a lot of tours out of Marseille that day and most of the buses were on other trips so we had to wait.
I was delighted when our replacement bus arrived and we could be on our way. We did make one more stop in a walled city on top of a hill that Heather and I didn’t really like, but there was a nice gelato shop where we got a treat before heading back to the ship.
A few days later we received a letter in our cabin from Viking admitting the problem and refunding half the cost of the tour. It was nice to have them do that without us having to demand it.
On our way out of port we got a nice view of Chateau D’if, the famous fortress and prison in Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Heather was interested in viewing it as we passed as this was a book she read as a teen.
Next stop was the small nation of Monaco, the second smallest nation in the world. Only the Vatican is smaller. Later I did see the Vatican so I can now say that I’ve seen the two smallest nations on the planet.
Again, we didn’t spend much time in Monaco, but we did walk half way across the tiny nation to get from the dock to our bus that drove us into France for our tour of the day. Our first stop was Antibes, a walled city and harbor. We had a short tour of the city and then were let loose to shop and get lunch on our own. Here Heather and I sought our favorite French food: A baguette sandwich. We did find one and enjoyed it.
Then it was off to visit the home, now museum of the French painter Renoir. In his later years Renoir suffered greatly from rheumatoid arthritis and moved to the south of France for the warmer weather. The museum houses many of his later works and has preserved his studio from that time. It was interesting to see where he spent his final years.
Then it was back to the ship and an evening meal at “The Chief’s Table,” one of the two specialty restaurants on board the ship. It was also our anniversary that day so this was a special treat. The restaurant was billed as a kind of culinary experience with a set five course menu. The menu changed every three days and on our day it as an asian seafood, wine and duck dinner. Each small course came out with a preselected wine and much description from our waiter. I don’t really remember all we ate except for the Peking Duck burrito that was the main course.
Sadly, while the meal was nice and I drank more wine than I should have, it upset Heather’s tummy and she didn’t really recover from that till we got home. You don’t want the details …
Our next stop was Tuscany and the port city of Livorno. From here you could get tours for Pisa, Florence and other places in Tuscany. Being in the cheap cabins, the good tours were gone when we went to select one so we got a tour of Lucca. Yup, I hadn’t heard of it either before I booked the tour. Turns out to be a medieval walled city with a nice gelato shop. We had a long bus ride, a short walking tour and a couple of hours to wander on our own. We found a nice restaurant for lunch and the gelato place.
I don’t remember what we did back on board ship other than comment how much Italy and Tuscany looked like California.
The next stop was the port at Civitavecchia. Yes, that’s how it’s spelled. I never did figure out how to pronounce the city name, but that’s where the cruise ships dock near Rome.
Heather wasn’t feeling well that day so I set out on the tour of Rome alone and vowed to take as many pictures as I could. Most looked like this:
Rome is a crowded city and the population of four or five cruise ships made it even more crowded. The tour was basically a bus ride to the Colosseum. From there Viking had setup a shuttle service to take you to the Vatican, Piazza del Popolo (near the Spanish steps) and back to the Colosseum. I found lunch at a pizza place and managed to stop at each of the shuttle stops. I walked to Saint Peter’s Square, but since I didn’t have a ticket, I didn’t actually get into Vatican City, but I got pictures.
I didn’t really enjoy Rome without Heather and the crowds and insane traffic didn’t make it a nice place to be. When I got back to the ship I asked myself if I’d ever go back to Rome and my answer is, “I’d go back to Madrid, I liked Madrid.”
Well that’s it for this week. Next time I’ll finish talking about our trip starting in Naples and ending in Venice.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Hope Heather is alright now!
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She recovered quickly after we got home.
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:)))))))))))))))
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Oh gosh, I can’t wait for the next instalment. That sounds so reminiscent of our Princess cruise from Beijing down to Sydney a few years back. After every port they apologised that the entertainment crew had missed their flight in. We both caught a flu that we couldn’t shake for 4 months. I do hope Heather is feeling better.
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I’ll have another post this Sunday and Heather recovered within days of getting home.
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Well, it certainly was an experience! I’m so sorry that your wife didn’t feel well. Nothing worse than being sick on vacation.
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It was an experience!
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Wow, for this part of your trip, my main reaction was a grateful, “Better you than me”. Too much running around, too many people, not enough food. I’m amazed you can remember much about it at all – your schedule was jam-packed.
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It was packed, and there was a lot more we could have done. It’s the kind of trip where you have to realize you don’t do everything on schedule.
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Dear friends of our just got back from a six week cruise/tour around the Mediterranean in Greece, Italy. As they recounted all of the problems that happened, they cheerily commented that “these are the memories we’ll remember, not the perfect days!” I sure hope that’s true for you, too as well!
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We’ll remember
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Nice coincidence: we’ve flagged this very same itinerary (on Oceania) for somewhere down the road. We’re especially interested in the stops in Spain, although you make the brief visits to the south of France and Monaco sound worth the while. Italy will be a disappointment, but only for the reason you implied. It’s simply impossible to see/appreciate everything those cities have to offer on day trips. I lived in Rome for a college year and there was still so much more I could’ve seen. I hope you’ll give Rome another chance someday (just make it a four/five day chance!)
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We were surprised at how much we enjoyed the South of France. I wish we had more time there. The problem with Italy from a cruise ship is that most of the places you really want to see are 1.5 hour drive from the dock so by the time you get there and back, you have maybe 2 hours to see anything. I got about 2.5 hours in Rome and it turned into more of an athletic event to get from place to place in the alloted time. Also, when you do get where you’re going from the ship, you and about 10,000 other cruise ship passengers are with you. The thing I liked about Madrid is that we were in a hotel downtown and most things we wanted to see were a short walk or short taxi ride away and we could pick less busy times to see things. I’m not sure I’ll get back to Rome, but if I did, I’d plan on at least five nights.
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You might’ve talked me out of this cruise altogether (a good thing). If I can find a similar itinerary with just Spain and France I’d go for that instead. I don’t want my wife’s first impression of Italy to be rushed and overcrowded. It’d be much better to plan a trip to Italy alone in the off-season, with enough time to really explore this wonderful country. Thanks for the comments, Andrew.
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I don’t know if you can get just Spain and France on a Cruise ship, but if you get to Italy on the ship, I’d explore the port cities instead of trying to get all the way into Rome on the bus. I know my wife would like to explore more of Tuscany and if we did that, I’d spend at least a week there.
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Thanks for sharing your adventures. Glad Heather is OK:)) As a tourist who has been blessed to visit Rome 4 times over the past decade, I want to make a case to return to this amazing city. It’s a great walking city, and there is a pretty comprehensive bus system, and a scaled down train grid as well. Yes, it’s busy! Yeh, it’s Rome. Traffic. Tourists. Crazy drivers. Long lines to see things. But the beauty that you can see there is fantastic. The museums, churches, etc. are plentiful and breathtaking. As well, the food is wonderful, and the people watching is lovely too. Try to spend at least a week. And perhaps pay a bit to get guides that will let you bypass the long lines. Enjoy. Happy 2024.
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I am also sorry to hear Heather got sick. That really puts a damper on things. Thank you so much for the descriptions. I do like hearing about the places you visited. Have a good week. 🙂
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It slowed us down, but in some ways that was good as we got to enjoy more of the onboard amenities.
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Cruises sure pack in a lot on their day trips. Sorry Heather got sick. You were able to do a lot.
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That’s the advantage of a cruise – you get to do a lot of things. Nothing in depth, but you get a lot.
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Yes… you can relax, be busy and eat good food.
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Lots of good food on the ship.
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Van Gogh is indeed very difficult to pronounce and if you watch a l;ot of programmes about him. the correct Dutch pronunciation is virtually impossible. It seems to be the same consonant sound at the beginning and the end. with a short “o”. The consonant is like “ch” in “loch” Ness, or a genteel clearing of the throat. Overall that gives you “ch o ch”.
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I once heard a real Dutch person pronounce it and tried to get him to teach me how to say it correctly. He politely refused.
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In actual fact, Van Gogh didn’t like his surname and he always signed his pictures “Vincent”.
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True.
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Sorry to hear Heather got ill so far from home. Even so, you’ll reminisce about this trip for years to come.
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We have a lot of stories from this trip that we won’t soon forget.
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