Today is our last day in the region and we will spend it visiting Marseille. Strangely my initial idea of the city has not changed over the years… I have never been here before, only passing by on the night trains on my way to Nice. Stories have been circulating for years of Marseille being full of bandits and dangerous… silly no? Of course being there during the day accompagnied by friends and a guide like Olivia is perfect. It is actually quite a nice drive to reach the city center where we find a place to park the car and walk around. We soon get our first impression of the place… locals are known to have little patience! An older man is getting annoyed and honks at us because we have taken a wrong turn and don’t move out of his way fast enough. He yells at us before rushing off to a restaurant for lunch…
Our first stop is the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde located at the highest points of the city with a wonderful view. Marseille has a population of about around 1.5 million inhabitants. You can really see from here that it is the 3rd biggest city in France after Paris and Lyon. Houses are built all along the coast and all the way up the hills surrounding it. The Mistral is blowing quite hard today and its freezing. We wear our hat and gloves and wrap our faces up with a scarf.
The Basilica is a famous pilgrimage location. The chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of the Guard and is fillled with hundreds of pictures and model sailboats hung up bringing protection to the sailors going out to sea. The ceiling inside is intricately decorated with impressive gold and colored mosaic .
We walk around the old city and harbour before having lunch. The harbour has been important place for the city for many years. Marseille is known to having been and still is a big immigration place and a major entry point into France. The harbour has recently been renovated and made quite pleasant to walk around. Various sized sailboats and motorboats sway in the wind. A very big and nice wooden sailboat from Holland is being cleaned. It is quite something watching the men climb up on the masts to do some work on top.
We have lunch in a very nice reastaurant where they also sell wine. The ceiling is arched like in an old cellar with a view onto a square. The food and wine is delicious as usual in France. We did end up doing a lot eating this weekend… But isn’t that one of the wonderful things in life?
Our first stop is the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde located at the highest points of the city with a wonderful view. Marseille has a population of about around 1.5 million inhabitants. You can really see from here that it is the 3rd biggest city in France after Paris and Lyon. Houses are built all along the coast and all the way up the hills surrounding it. The Mistral is blowing quite hard today and its freezing. We wear our hat and gloves and wrap our faces up with a scarf.
The Basilica is a famous pilgrimage location. The chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of the Guard and is fillled with hundreds of pictures and model sailboats hung up bringing protection to the sailors going out to sea. The ceiling inside is intricately decorated with impressive gold and colored mosaic .
We walk around the old city and harbour before having lunch. The harbour has been important place for the city for many years. Marseille is known to having been and still is a big immigration place and a major entry point into France. The harbour has recently been renovated and made quite pleasant to walk around. Various sized sailboats and motorboats sway in the wind. A very big and nice wooden sailboat from Holland is being cleaned. It is quite something watching the men climb up on the masts to do some work on top.
We have lunch in a very nice reastaurant where they also sell wine. The ceiling is arched like in an old cellar with a view onto a square. The food and wine is delicious as usual in France. We did end up doing a lot eating this weekend… But isn’t that one of the wonderful things in life?
