On Wednesday morning we took a train from Montpellier to Marseille. It’s absurd because of the four or five times that I’ve been to Provence and the Cote d’Azur, I’ve never stopped in or visited Marseille, the 2nd largest city in France with quite a reputation. I was expecting a large, chaotic city that would be somewhat hard to navigate through … but was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the afternoon there. First we walked through the old port and then broke off to explore a couple of the older neighborhoods.It’s obvious that Marseille is a large city, but it’s really manageable to visit because it’s broken up into distinctly different quarters. It’s the North African immigrant capital of France, and depending on what quarter you’re in, it’s easy to feel like you’re in Maroc, Algeria, etc. We walked through an area that was full of African markets & shops, which was pretty cool. Then we met up with Andrea’s Chilean friend Milena, who’s an assistant in the nearby town of Toulon. After a lunch of baguette sandwiches we toured the Palais de Longchamps – palace and park built on a hill, with a huge fountain as the centerpiece, overlooking part of the city. I’m sure that Marseille’s got a vivid nightlife, but we left around 7 to go back to Toulon to spend the night at Milena’s (she has a room in the apartment of a French woman). That night happened to be the Champion’s League Final between Chelsea and Manchester United, so we picked up fresh pizza and beer and watched it at home. None of us were too excited about the outcome – never fun to end a game in a shoot-out, and I was kinda leaning towards Chelsea anyway. And Ronaldo, you better be thanking your lucky stars right now.
Le Palais de Longchamps a Marseille
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To the owner of this blog, how far youve come?You were a great blogger.
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