Marseille

Marseille is a city to be talked about.  Not one that is particularly conducive to tourists, nor to one’s eyes.  It wasn’t completely terrible, not at all, but compared to other cities that I have visited around the world, it doesn’t rank very high on the list.  Coming into the city from the highway we passed through what are known as the « banlieues » and are suburbs of Marseille with lower incoming housing for people from all around the world.  The third largest city in France Marseille is considered a real melting pot of culture and individuals.  Most of the buildings are high-rise apartment buildings that don’t look much like what would be expected for the Mediterranean coast of France, but the buildings seem to suit the population that resides.  In Marseille proper, the city is full of construction with scaffolding on every block, roadblocks, and cranes covering much of the port area.  Arriving, we continued our walk up through the city to the basilica Notre Dame de la Garde, the highest point in Marseille.  After a short hike the view from the basilicas absolutely stunning as you can see all of Marseille, the sea, and the islands nearby.  The color of the Mediterranean is a brilliant aqua blue that is not matched anywhere else that I have been in the world.  The basilica, despite its fame was not extremely appealing to me, but I decided to enter nonetheless, however when I walked in, that space was overheated (already 90°F outside and with so many Italians tourists, even warmer) barely bearable and pretty empty for a church so I left and continued to wander around the outside looking at the seaside landscape.  It was only later, talking with some friends, that I hadn’t actually entered the church but rather the crypt, and in fact the church was beautifully decorated in colorful tiles and plaques that I missed.  Zut !  

Descending down back into Marseille we split off into various groups and I hopped on a boat.  Marseille was one of the first Greek ports in Western Europe, known then as Massalia.  Marseille was hit by the black plague in the 18^th century killing 100,000 of its population.  Eventually the port and the surrounding islands and buildings became an entrance port of immigrants coming into France.  On the islands of Frioul hold what appears to be the French version of Ellis Island, a record of all those who came, or attempt, to enter France and mainland Europe.  The boat took us out of the port with hundreds of sailboats and past the Chateau d’If from the well-known store of Monte Cristo (which I’ve yet to read, or see as apparently there is a film as well).  This castle, for someone who has no particularly vested interest, is not wildly interesting except that it is a castle in the middle of an island in the Mediterranean.  Apparently French motorboat drivers are insane and I ended up soaking wet in wonderfully pure seawater and hanging on to the edge in the most wonderful and insane boat ride I’ve been on in a long time.  The Islands of Frioul are still a mystery to me as there are again many boats but as it isn’t a large island there aren’t that many residences so my curiosity began wondering what people do and whether people have residences (permanent or otherwise) on the islands.  We went to get some lunch and then wandered around.  There are a few beaches on the island, some larger than others but we found ourselves traipsing across the island and finding a small cove with a very small beach.  The water was cold compared to the water at Stes Maries de la Mer but equally refreshing with a gorgeous view of sheer coastline and sailboats. 

The boat ride back was equally exhilarating and I was again drenched, even more unexpected this time as the whole boat was as well.  Landing back in Marseille I had some delicious raspberry and mango sorbet and then we all headed back to Avignon and I slept the entire bus ride back.