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Published: November 10th 2009
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As I had mentioned, we literally happened upon a bus that was leaving for Marseille in 1 minute, so in no time we were on our way. The trip itself was uneventful and in perhaps 45 minutes we were dropped off in the city right at the Arc de Triomph - yes, apparently Marseille needed its own. The oldest city in France, Marseille is second population-wise only to Paris. Its port is also the 2nd largest in Europe, so this was certainly going to be a change from little old Aix.
Now we were all a bit apprehensive of spending 2 full days in the city seeing as all the guidebooks described it as, in so many words, a garbage dump. "Nitty", "gritty", "dirty", "real", and "ethnic" were among the adjectives we came across to describe it. As a result we had a back-up day trip to Avignon on the back burner, but in the end it was not needed. Despite the legitimate presence of garbage piled up on many a street corner, I found Marseille to be a really interesting city - extremely multi-ethnic, endless remnants of past elegance and prowess, great food, and overall a fun place to
explore. Even in the sun the city is extremely grey, giving it this really mysterious air to it. I'd love to see a horror film shot here!
Anyway, finding our hotel proved much an easier task than that of the hotel in Aix, and actually being in the city center was a welcomed change. After settling in a bit, we set out for our day's adventures. First stop was the large church just up the street, l'église des Réformés. It was a very attractive structure both inside and out, but nothing overly exciting.
Our next move took us to the Palais Longchamp and its surrounding Parc. The park is centered around the chateau d'eau and its impressive fountain, which commemorates the arrival of water in Marseille by canal from the Durance River. The fountain itself was one of those things you just couldn't take enough pictures of - I found it incredibly gorgeous, and at the same time a bit eerie and Gotham-city esque for some reason with its goliath statues and moss-covered stone.
Continuing to take advantage of daylight, we then trekked to the opposite end of the city to see the famed Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, the basilica
Arc de Triomphe
Apparently Marseille needed its own perched atop Marseille's highest natural point. As a result you can see it from almost anywhere in the city both day and night. It was definitely a bit of a hike, but the result was so worth it. The church itself is a Neo-Byzantine structure and was reminiscent of churches I have seen in Bulgaria. From there one can see the entire metropolis of Marseille sprawled out in every direction. The real treasure, however, was inside the basilica. The mosaic work was some of the most gorgeous I have ever seen - the closest I could compare it to is that of Częstochowa. There were depictions of various flora and fauna, voyages across the sea, angels, saints - you name it!
One we'd had our fill of that we headed back toward the city center, stopping for some croissants and other delicious things to hold us over until dinner. Continuing along our way we couldn't help but stop inside the Brasserie du Banque for a drink. Realistically we were attracted by the nuts, snack mix, olives, AND little bits of bread with pâté on them on every table. This was an excellent move as we also were introduced to
an excellent new Alsatian beer produced by Fisher.
For dinner we ended up at a very small but cozy wine cave featuring small portions of delicious French specialities. We split a nice bottle of granache that Mike picked out, and we nibbled on, oh, you know, just some fois gras and then a really nice andouillette sausage. Good move. Still hungry but too exhausted to do something legitimate, we stopped at the local Monoprix and bought ham, bread, and boursin to make sandwiches, plus cookies. There was some slight drama upon entering as Alex got mildly punched in the chest by a drunk/schizo man, but bé, we'll leave that in the past. Nice and full it was time for bed before day 2...
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Bryan
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J'M MRS
I'm so glad you loved Marseille. Looking forward to hearing about day 2. ...and FISCHER?! HAHAHAHAHA! Yay, I love you. I think M. Jasset will also be glad you found la bière blonde d'Alsace, which, j'en suis sûr, kept him company many an evening. Have y'all been so fortunate as to find Desperados yet? ;-)