Marseille

 

Saturday 23rd March, Marseille.

Today started wet. Jacqui had got down to work early leaving me to plan our trip through Italy and Greece. It looked as if Marseille was going to be a wet visit which was a shame as the city looked so promising. Legend has it that everything began 2600 years ago when a Greek sailor and the Ligurian princess had a love affair.
Lucky for me the rain stopped at lunch time and by 1.30 I was on my bike cycling towards George's Pompidou Avenue which is the start of the Mediterranean coastal drive across Marseille and the first of my sites, Chateau d'If the notorious island fortress that figured in Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo". I was starting to feel sorry leaving Jacqui behind working as we had seen everything together so far. I cycled for six hours including stops and over 40k but what a vibrant city Marseille was. However, never take a car, it was permanently gridlocked, the French just seemed unwilling to give way for the sake of keeping the traffic flowing. This caused me no problem as I just cycled past the stationary vehicles.

 

I chose to complete the three walking trails recommended by the office of tourism. But being nosy I saw a park that was not on my map. I ventured up and saw one of the most beautiful settings Marseille could offer. It was called the "Palais du Pharos" which turned out to be the seaside residence given to Napoleon by the City of Marseille. Then went onto Bas Fort Saint Nicolas, one of the two forts guarding the old port, then up to the Abby St Victor and the Notre Dame De La Garde, which is the highest notable landmark of Marseille. I then happily rolled down the hill, passing all the traffic, to the old port and old city (the Panier district). The only five sites worthy of note were the second fort (fort Saint Jean), the cathedral, hotel de Ville, hotel Dieu and the le Vieille Charite, a baroque seventeenth century church and hospice, absolutely breathtaking. Then I ventured out of the main city along the La Canebiere up to the Palais de Longchamp, Museum of natural history and the art museum only to be greeted by a stunning water fountain which would put the Trevi to shame. It was getting late, dark and I had to buy bread for the day, plus a few more items. Having no lights on the bike caused no problem as the cars were all still gridlocked thus allowing me to take the short cuts home.