Bonjour! I have been patiently waiting for the opportunity to visit La Bonne Mère (literally “the good mother”), the Marseillaises’ designation for Notre Dame de la Garde, the basilica that oversees the city. It was built in the 19th century on the site of a fort erected to protect the city in the16th century. It is the most visited site in the city and is a place of pilgrimage as well. Sitting on the highest point of Marseille, its view is unequaled.

What I found unique in this sanctuary were the models and paintings of ships to commemorate the sailors who paid tribute there for being saved from storms at sea.

If you know anything about St. Thérèse of Lisieux, maybe you can appreciate the fact that she came to Marseille in 1887 and blessed others through her vocation, including a criminal who was converted while on the scaffolding.

By the way, when I contact people back home, everyone asks how we are faring in the heat that is baking millions of people in Europe right now. The answer: we plan carefully and find ways to cool off. Dean ordered a neck fan before he came, and it has been put to good use! We also use the Metro (subway) less often than I did earlier this month, because it has no AC and it’s brutal. We also take Bolt (like Uber) sometimes just to get from point A to point B quickly and in comfort! 97 degrees in the afternoon, walking on asphalt is no fun.

On June 25 we decided to check out the Mucem, where we saw an exhibit about Mediterranean culture. I was impressed with the thoughtful curation of a limited number of objects displayed to exemplify the many cultures around southern Europe and north Africa. So well done, and not grindingly exhausting as often happens with larger exhibitions.

We also visited a selection of the many treasures received by the museum in its several iterations during the past 150 years. Again, so well curated and displayed.

After visiting the Mucem, we walked through Fort St. Jean without stopping and crossed a pedestrian bridge to the Panier neighborhood. Hot and exhausted from walking only a few hundred meters, we ordered a Bolt, but the drivers kept dismissing us. Frustrated, I saw a bus approaching that was the line we needed. In my panic I forgot to check not only the number of the bus, but also the direction it was headed. Oops! We got off a couple of stops later, ordered a Bolt, this time with more success.

Enough about transportation and the weather! Traveling can seem glamorous until you deal with these things.

On June 26 I decided to go to La Musée Regards de Provence, a modern art museum housed in a former water treatment plant. It was interesting to see the exhibit by Gilles Barbier, who uniquely expresses his philosophy about objects and creatures sharing the same spaces equally through time.

The exhibit by cartoonist Albert Dubout was what had drawn me to the museum, and I was delighted to study his work piece by piece. Such humor! The exhibit included a few political statements as well, in the early 1930s during the rise of authoritarianism. Many of his drawings have hordes of people in great detail, sort of a precursor to “Where’s Waldo” as I see it. What fun. Here is his self portrait, and a couple of examples of his work. Note: “poisson d’Avril” means April fool. I included that one because it is in collage form, which I like to use. You might recognize that the grotesque giant is Goliath, slain by David in a comical scene typical of Dubout.

Since I have shared photos of visual arts, architecture and graffiti, I can’t leave out the art of les pâtisseries for which France is so famous!

Finally, another photo of sweet Sydney trying out a “tuffet” on the terrace of the rental Dean and I are using this week. We are very pleased with its spaciousness and convenience. It is located close to the Metro, the tram and a bus line, affording us a selection of public transit options.

I anticipate only one more entry after we visit Paris beginning tomorrow, for only two full days. À bientôt!