Afternoon in Marseilles

Aniko and Philippe had decided to go Marseilles this weekend, since Aniko is going back to the UK soon. So we decided to drive down to meet them for the Saturday. So we got up early in the morning, jumped into our Polo, and off we went down the A8, all the way down to Marseilles.













Marseilles is the 2nd-largest city in France, with a spirit and attitude to match. It was founded in the 6th century BC by the Greeks (as Massalia). Marseilles is first and foremost a port, so it was natural to start our visit in the Vieux port (the old port). It was a very lively place indeed, with cyclists (there was some kind of a big event coming up), Argentinean rugby fans (they were playing Georgia that night, if memory serves me) and of course the fishermen selling their catch, in their loud, flamboyant way. It also affords a very nice panorama of the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (the famous church looking over the city perched on its hill).



Having visited the Abbey of Saint-Victor (one of the oldest and most important religious sites in France), we headed back down to the port to meet up with Philippe and Aniko. The initial plan was to have a Bouillabaisse, a real Marseilles institution (a kind of soup made of fish, shellfish and veggie), but were a bit put off by the prices (obviously tourism is alive and well in Marseilles, in spite of its somewhat scruffy reputation). So we decided to have Grand Cru Pastis instead (another Marseillais institution) - much better choice I think :-)

After this we walked around the old town (which is called the "Panier"), and of course went up to the famous Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde (taking the tuf-tuf train), from where we had some great views over the city.



A very nice day was rounded off by a great dinner off Cannabis street (or was it Canebière or something like that?) - a great feast of oysters, crayfish and other strange critters (not usually my sort of thing - but hey this was after all Marseilles).