Marseille

A day isn't nearly enough to spend on a visit to France's largest city, but it gave Kathryn and me our first glimpse. And it was the second half of Sunday and Monday morning, so eating dinner was a challenge, as most French restaurants take Sunday night off.

In fact, the highlight of our Sunday evening was not dinner, but the drink before. We'd been recommended the Bar Caravelle on the first floor of the Hotel Bellevue, and a very good suggestion it was. There's a narrow balcony, with just enough room for two rows of tables. We squeezed into the last 2-person table, not in the front row, but still with a good view of the Vieux Port directly below. We drank pastis (well, it is the local drink), and were brought some olives and some little fried fish - which would have been better had they been freshly fried. But the views of the Vieux Port below, and the basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde on the hill opposite were glorious. Truly a belle vue.