Marseille, France – December 2

Marseille, France is the country’s oldest city. It was founded by the Greeks around 600 BC. It has always been a port city. We were docked in the new port, where the passenger ships and ferries go. The old historic port was a short distance away. The commercial port, which is where most of the goods coming into France land is farther down the coast from Marseille proper and covers almost 55 miles of coastline.

The entry to the harbor area has several small islands. One had a jail on it and was the setting for the story of the Count of Monte Cristo. The old port has 2 forts protecting it. Marseille is the entry way for the French region called Provence. It is said that the French national anthem was originated here. The population of Marseille is around 860,000 with an area about 3 times the size of Paris. The area away from the harbor is hilly.

Our tour was to the town of Avignon and the Palace of the Popes. When we got on our bus, our guide told us that the taxis were striking and blocking the highways. She indicated that she and our bus driver had mapped out a route to avoid these blockages and get us to our destination promptly. Unfortunately this did not happen and we spent over 3 hours for our 1.5 hour ride. About the taxi strike. Apparently here in France doctors can have patients transported to emergency rooms or hospitals by taxi, if an ambulance is not available. The strike was because the taxis were having to wait a long time for the government to pay them and they wanted the client to pay and then the client would be repaid by the government.

On our ride, we passed many lagoons that were fresh water but eventually connected to the sea. Many had bright pink flamingos, which are the same species we get in Florida. The Rhône river is in this area and we saw it as we traveled.

In 1208, the Pope Innocent III had a crusade to eliminate the Cathars and make the area more Catholic and was also approved by the King of France Louis VIII. The crusade lasted until 1226 and at that time all the land of the ejected Cathars was divided up. None was given to the Pope although he had helped in the crusade.

There was a period of over 200 years when the Pope was not in Rome, as he is now. In 1348, the Pope purchased the land in Avignon with the intention to build a permanent residence. During the 200 years there were 7 Popes all who built on to the structure. Some were Pope for only a short while and some for lengthy times. Why were the Popes in France, well, apparently one Pope was traveling and died in France. When a Pope dies there is a conclave to elect a new one, AND it is held wherever the prior Pope had died. So, one Pope died in France the next one was elected there and chose to stay and so there was a succession of Popes in France. One of the last Popes decided to visit Rome, died there and the Italians elected a new Pope from Italy and made it impossible for the Pope to live anywhere else, which is why the Pope is now found in Rome.

We toured the Palace of the Popes, which was built over almost 200 years. It is mostly huge rooms that we saw. There were many preserved frescos and ceilings. There were no furnishings.

The trip back was much better. No blocked roads and the correct amount of time.