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CRUISE HOLIDAYS UK

Call Susan Holt on: (0123) 328-0908, or e-mail: sholt@cruiseandtravelholidays.co.uk

DESTINATIONS

 

Africa

 

Alaska

 

Asia

 

Bahamas

 

Bermuda

 

Canada / New England

 

Caribbean

 

Hawaii

 

Mediterranean

      Athens (Piraeus),

      Greece

 
      Barcelona, Spain

 
      Cannes, France

 
      Dubrovnik, Croatia

 
      Ephesus (Kusadasi),

      Turkey

 
      Gibraltar, United   

      Kingdom

 
      Istanbul, Turkey

 
      Mykonos, Greece

 
      Naples & Capri, Italy

 
      Nice (Villefranche),

      France

 
      Provence (Marseilles),

      France

 
      Rhodes, Greece

 
      Rome (Civitavecchia), 

      Italy

 
      Santorini, Greece

 
      Venice, Italy

 

Mexican Riviera

 

Northern Europe

 

Panama Canal

 

South America

 

South Pacific

  

Bustling Marseille, with more than a million inhabitants, is the second-largest city in France and the country's premier port. It's been called France's New Orleans. A crossroads of world traffic -- Dumas called it "the meeting place of the entire world" -- the city is ancient, founded by Greeks from the city of Phocaea, near present-day Izmir, Turkey, in the 6th century B.C. Marseille is a place of unique sounds, smells, and sights. It has seen wars and much destruction, but trade has always been its raison d'être.

 

Perhaps its most common association is with the national anthem of France, "La Marseillaise." During the Revolution, 500 volunteers marched to Paris, singing this rousing song along the way. The rest is history.

 

Much elegance and charm is found here as well. The Vieux Port, the old harbor, is especially colorful, compensating to an extent for the dreary industrial dockland nearby. Marseille has always symbolized danger and intrigue. It's a bustling, fascinating city unlike any other in France. A city official proclaimed recently that "Marseille is the unbeloved child of France. It's attached to France, but has the collective consciousness of an Italian city-state, like Genoa or Venice."