MARSEILLE: Vieux Port and Old Town Walk

Bonjour friends and family: Leaving Barcelona, and after a long travel day, we arrived in Marseille around 8:30 pm last night and made our way to our small apartment near the Vieux Port area. What a cute little place. It has everything we need, and is immaculate with three large windows. It's amazing what can be done with a small place. We put a few things away in the apartment, and since we only ate crappy things on the train, we decided to go out and get something to eat. After our salad, we called it a night.

This morning, the sky was a brilliant blue and the sun shining as we stepped out to discover Marseille, the second largest city in France. We have always wanted to come here, and finally we made it! Already there were people out and about. Some were carrying bunches of olive leaf branches, and we were reminded that it's Palm Sunday. When I looked at the buildings, I was reminded of similarities I have seen in Paris, but no, it is not really like Paris at all. It has a grittiness to it. Already, I can feel it has it's own personality! There isn't the same café culture here either, as there is in Paris. You don't see cafes on every corner. But, it reminds me of many of the places we have seen in Provence. The South of France. Beautiful. Light buildings with the creative wrought iron on the balconies everywhere!

So, off we went to start our walk through some of the historical areas of Marseille. Right away you know you are in a very multi-cultural city. There is a real mixture of people here from Saudi Arabia, Romania, Morocco, Tunisia - just to name a few.

There is a huge marathon going on in the city this morning and live music and other festivities. We decide to start our walk in the Vieux Port (Old Port) area. It has been the natural harbour of Marseille since antiquity and is now the main popular place in Marseille. Vieux Port is located at the end of La Canabiere. La Canabiere is the historic high street in the old quarter of Marseille. The avenue was built in 1666. In Julia Child's book, "My Life in France", she refers to this street as one where GI's from the second world war used to pick up unsavory girls! Speaking of Julia Child, who lived in Marseille with her husband Paul in the early 1950's, we were able to see the apartment building where they lived at 28A Quai de Rive Neuve, which overlooks the Vieux Port. When standing there, it's funny to think this in one of those little apartments, she sat and typed away her notes for "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", which became so famous!

Then we walked through some of the most interesting streets. Some of the buildings are well kept, some aren't. But what is consistent is the pale colours of Provence. When I think of Provence, I think of light and beauty. We walked up to Fort St. Jean, a fortification in Marseille, built in 1660. Here, we saw spectacular views of the old harbor and Notre Dame De La Garde. This is a Catholic basilica that sits on the highest natural elevation in Marseille. We could hear church bells ringing periodically throughout the morning. Tomorrow, we will walk up to this Basilica.

The cutest little stores and cafes, and cool garden boxes were just some of the nice highlights of a wonderful day.

We walk by a home where Napoleon Bonaparte once lived, there is a plaque above the door to commemorate this. You can go to the Musee des Docks Romains which has an area where Romans of the 1st and 2nd century AD once kept their wine. Another corner has a sign which talks about the north shore of Marseille and how it was blown up by dynamite in 1943 under orders from Himmler. 20,000 people were evacuated and about 2000 apartments were destroyed. We walked on farther and came to The Place de Lenche, which was the site the old Greek agora during ancient times, and where we later had lunch. There are so many things to say, but I really think this picture sums it up: "Marseille - you know it's a city of beauty and culture". If a person can put aside some pre-conceived ideas, then I believe you can't help but be in awe of this city.

The nicoise salad was amazing at Le Vieux Panier restaurant at Place de Lenche. There were about 6 different restaurants represented on this vibrant and interesting square.

Here, you can see fascinating streets and doors, just to give you an idea.

Everywhere we turned we were taken by another interesting building, such as La Charite Museum (Centre de la Vielle Charite). This was once a poor house, where nearly 1,000 needy people were housed.

At the Noailles metro station, sits a beautiful statue:

There are so many fascinating food stores, as well as markets here, I can't believe it. I'll be taking pictures of them in the next few days. Here is a picture of a cool store in the Noailles area, run by it's Arabian owner. Note the different sizes of paella pans and burners hanging from the ceiling.

Tonight we are going out for a walk along the harbour... Au demain, Karen