Read all of JOY DODDS’ previous Mediterranean Musings – from Italy to Spain and France, and including gastronomic delights
MARSEILLE – RIO-SUR-MER OR MORE?
Marseille has been called “a bouillabaisse of Mediterranean cultures”. The Old Port, filled with fishing boats and yachts, has been the beating heart of the city for centuries since maritime activities became the city’s main source of income. Today the quays’ promenades are lined with colourful cafes and bars, most with al fresco seating which is perfect for watching the world go by. Every morning, vendors set up the fresh fish markets on the Quai des Belges, a great sight!
The key attraction of Marseille is the city itself – the atmosphere, flux and throbbing beat of a big port city full of all the peoples of France’s former colonies. Almost despite itself, it has accumulated a backlog of culture – to which Marseille’s stint in 2013 as European Capital of Culture has brought a certain amount of coherence.
The city achieved another aspect – as a cultural icon, rather like its neighbour, Aix-en-Provence. The city underwent somewhat of a facelift, particularly around the Vieux-Port, where Norman Foster’s reflective Ombrière hangs over the paved waterfront and Mucem (the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations) standing alongside the 17th century Fort Saint-Jean, former stronghold of the French Foreign Legion.
Marseille has also been described as a “Rio-sur-mer”, renowned for its seedy reputation and drug-related gang violence à la “The French Connection”. Forts flanking the entrance were built both to keep the enemy out but also in the forlorn hope of keeping the Marseillais themselves under control.
It has countless landmarks. The history of Saint-Ferréol les Augustins church on the Quai des Belges near the Old Port goes back to when the site was owned by the Knights Templar in the 12th century with additions of an Italian-style bell tower and the neo-baroque façade while medieval Château d’If Is a 20-minute ferry ride from the Old Port, the island made famous by Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo”.
The other two visitable islands, Pomègues and Ratonneau (collectively known as “Frioul”), are joined by a dyke. They afford fine walking along wild limestone cliffs and lovely bathing from creeks in summer. Sainte-Marie lighthouse (1885) on the northern esplanade de la Joliette has a cylindrical turret and dazzling white limestone. The 19th-century Caroline Hospital was used as quarantine to keep yellow fever out of Marseille. The village of Jouques, on the coast built along the Réal River is interesting for exploring and outlooking to the island.
La Canebière, Marseille’s emblematic avenue leading to the Vieux Port, expressed the wealth and aspirations of the port’s great colonial trading days, flanked by grand hotels and ornate merchant town houses. Today it is home to less-grand shops. By contrast, the Capucin district is a souk area of market stalls selling spices North African products.
Climbing up the hill to the north of the Vieux Port (Old Port), Le Panier is visible as a hill of tightly-packed old houses behind the Hotel de Ville. Just a few minutes walk takes you up step-streets of brick and stone, to the Place de Moulins at the top. This is a “quartier” with both character and pride, with many open squares, good terrace restaurants, and the amazing Marseille Panier Street Art. Le Panier is where the incoming Greeks settled and the oldest urban quartier in France. “The French Connection” happened right here. La Vieille Charité (2 Rue de la Charité), an astonishing 17th-century building which used to be the poorhouse and is now home to Mediterranean Archaeology and of African, Oceanic and Amerindian Arts. The archaeo-museum has France’s second collection of Egyptian treasures, after the Louvre.
Saint Victor’s Abbey founded in the fifth century, on the south side of the harbour, is one of the oldest places of worship in France with interesting archeological and architectural elements. Other fine landmarks include Pharo Park at the far end of the old port, with its old château, lovely gardens and great views. The “château”, the Pharo Palace, was the residence of Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III. Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica is visible everywhere and commands a brilliant view of Marseilles and out to sea. The basilica is topped by a huge gilded statue of the Virgin standing on top of the basilica’s 60-m high belfry. Meanwhile, the Basilique St Victor stands near the southwest corner of the Old Port, by the Fort St-Nicolas. Built on top of a 3rd century necropolis, the monastery was destroyed during the Revolution.
The area around the main railway station, St-Charles, northwest of the Old Port is only a few minutes walk from the Old Port and La Canebère. Two blocks in front of the station, at the Place Guesde, is the Arc de Triomphe, built to commemorate the Revolution and the First Empire wars. The Jardin des Vestiges (Garden of Ruins) is an interesting archaeological park in centre of the city with the ruins of the 1st-century docks and the 4th-century entrance to the fortified Greek town as well as an underground aqueduct, and various walls and towers.
Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974) from Aubagne, near Marseille, one of France’s greatest writers, took Provence regionalism to the screen in ‘Jean de Florette’ and ‘Manon des Sources’ , showing the most beautiful landscapes. Pagnol’s trilogy ‘Marius, Fanny and César’ is set in the city of Marseille itself, and subjects its idealised exotic port, its cafés, and the Provençal language and musicality.
Marseilles has to be the seafood capital of Provence, its bouillabaisse world-renowned. Head to a restaurant on one of the
small walking streets beside the Quai de Rive Neuve for the perfect dining experience. “Moules Marinière” (mussels) are prepared with plenty of onion and Provençal herbs. For dessert, try a “navette”, the small Marseilles pastry baked in the shape of the boat, celebrating the arrival of the Marys and Lazarus in 40AD. Cassis white wine is excellent with the seafood, particularly the blanc-de-blanc grown to the east, near the ancient fishing port of the same name.
One of the best day trips out of Marseille is to hop on a boat and do the Calanques, One of France’s most beautiful corners, the Massif des Calanques runs 20 kms east of the city, a rugged coast filled with inlets enveloped in steep limestone cliffs. Similar to Norwegian fjords, this geological phenomenon is only found near Marseilles and in Corsica. The Mediterranean waters range in colour from turquoise to cobalt. Plunging sheer white into the deep blue, these constitute the most dramatic bit of coast on the French Mediterranean. They are, though, largely inaccessible by car and hard to get to on foot. Nearby are the Cosquer prehistoric caves.
The main message has to be not to dismiss Marseille because of its rather shady reputation. Crime levels are, in fact, less than those of Paris – and the city’s history, landmarks, throbbing harbour and Provençal cuisine are true magnets.
