Barely had we seen off the last visitors, when new ones where already here. This time it was the turn of my brother Janne and his girlfriend Katja to grace the Cote d’Azur with their presence. They were planning to do a bit of inter-railing, and started their journey here.
It so happens that the Cannes film festival was on as well, so a visit to gliz and glamour of the Croisette naturally imposed... Mathilde had managed to acquire some tickets to the Quinzaine des Realisateurs – the Director’s fortnight. It’s a bit less glamorous than the official selection, although it is also frequented by the odd celebrity (last year, Francis Ford Coppola presented his latest movie there, and this year Mick Jagger paid a visit). We opted for a Danish movie called Alting bliver godt igen (Everything Will Be Fine). Before the movie, we had a nice sandwich, enjoying the sunshine on the beach. The movie itself was pretty good, with a plot very similar to Scorsese’s Shutter Island, actually. But in a bit more everyday format. An entertaining one and a half hours, all in all. After the movie, we had to rush back to the train station to catch our train, so no time for celebrity-spotting, then…
On Wednesday, my brother and Katja were heading towards Provence, from where they were planning to carry on to Barcelona. So I decided to join them for the day to Marseille, which is conveniently on the way. The plan (rather ambitious, considering that 4 members of my family were involved ;-) was to leave from my flat at 9 o’clock. In the end, we left Cagnes at 9:30, pretty good going actually. Thankfully, the grey skies of the Alpes Maritimes turned to blue skies and sunshine by the time we arrived in Marseille.
Having parked, we made our way to the old port, which is naturally the focal point of Marseille. The plan was to have lunch, and then head for a boat trip to the Calanques. Keen to tick off yet another tourist cliché/must-do-experience, we decided to go for a Bouillabaisse, a true Marseilles culinary institution. Since we were in a bit of a hurry to catch our tour, we ended up having our Bouillabaisse in the 1st place serving it we found on the port. It was quite a chic place, and the prices were, shall we say, rather heavy on the wallet. But, we didn’t complain, since I think we were really treated to the real thing. Bouillabaisse is a kind of fish soup made of various fishes and shellfish, with plenty of spices. What makes it different from normal fish soup is the fact that it’s kind of served in two parts. First, you have the broth (without the fish meat) together with bread croutons, garlic and mayonnaise. And then you have the fish meat with potatoes and vegetables. It’s a veritable feast that I can whole-heartedly recommend to anybody. And a very filling meal as well – none of us even fancied a dessert…
Having filled our stomachs, it was time to visit “hit the sea”. Our boat tour took us out of the old port (giving us very nice views over the old port and of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, the famous church overlooking the port), past the equally reputable Chateau d’If (it is a prison fortress located on an island, made famous by Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Christo). From there, we headed west towards Cassis, to discover the famous Calanques. The word Calanque has its origins in Corsican, and means inlet. Basically the calanques are a series of bays dotting the coastline between Marseille and Cassis, overlooked by some imposing cliffs. Our tour took in 12 in total, of very differing shapes and sizes. Some of them house very picturesque beaches, others house cozy looking restaurants. The last one in fact houses the pleasure port of Cassis.
All in all, it made for a very nice couple of hours on the boat, especially since the weather was perfect for this kind of trip. Although, it has to be said, the waves were quite menacing going back to Marseille. Good thing none of us were prone to sea-sickness. I did see a few people “re-decorate” the boat, and quite a few people ending up soaking wet, refusing to leave their prime spots on the deck. But people took it all with good humour.
The way back to Cagnes turned out to be a bit painful. After some all-too hurried goodbyes to Janne and Katja, wishing them luck for their inter-railing adventure, I ran back to the train station to catch my train, and did arrive at the station in time. But alas, for some reason the damn ticketing machine wouldn’t sell me a ticket for that particular train. So I ended up taking the next one, which was in, 2 hours…. Good thing I brought a good book, eh? ;-) Anyway, all in all, it had been a very nice day out with the family.
It so happens that the Cannes film festival was on as well, so a visit to gliz and glamour of the Croisette naturally imposed... Mathilde had managed to acquire some tickets to the Quinzaine des Realisateurs – the Director’s fortnight. It’s a bit less glamorous than the official selection, although it is also frequented by the odd celebrity (last year, Francis Ford Coppola presented his latest movie there, and this year Mick Jagger paid a visit). We opted for a Danish movie called Alting bliver godt igen (Everything Will Be Fine). Before the movie, we had a nice sandwich, enjoying the sunshine on the beach. The movie itself was pretty good, with a plot very similar to Scorsese’s Shutter Island, actually. But in a bit more everyday format. An entertaining one and a half hours, all in all. After the movie, we had to rush back to the train station to catch our train, so no time for celebrity-spotting, then…On Wednesday, my brother and Katja were heading towards Provence, from where they were planning to carry on to Barcelona. So I decided to join them for the day to Marseille, which is conveniently on the way. The plan (rather ambitious, considering that 4 members of my family were involved ;-) was to leave from my flat at 9 o’clock. In the end, we left Cagnes at 9:30, pretty good going actually. Thankfully, the grey skies of the Alpes Maritimes turned to blue skies and sunshine by the time we arrived in Marseille.
Having parked, we made our way to the old port, which is naturally the focal point of Marseille. The plan was to have lunch, and then head for a boat trip to the Calanques. Keen to tick off yet another tourist cliché/must-do-experience, we decided to go for a Bouillabaisse, a true Marseilles culinary institution. Since we were in a bit of a hurry to catch our tour, we ended up having our Bouillabaisse in the 1st place serving it we found on the port. It was quite a chic place, and the prices were, shall we say, rather heavy on the wallet. But, we didn’t complain, since I think we were really treated to the real thing. Bouillabaisse is a kind of fish soup made of various fishes and shellfish, with plenty of spices. What makes it different from normal fish soup is the fact that it’s kind of served in two parts. First, you have the broth (without the fish meat) together with bread croutons, garlic and mayonnaise. And then you have the fish meat with potatoes and vegetables. It’s a veritable feast that I can whole-heartedly recommend to anybody. And a very filling meal as well – none of us even fancied a dessert… 
Having filled our stomachs, it was time to visit “hit the sea”. Our boat tour took us out of the old port (giving us very nice views over the old port and of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, the famous church overlooking the port), past the equally reputable Chateau d’If (it is a prison fortress located on an island, made famous by Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Christo). From there, we headed west towards Cassis, to discover the famous Calanques. The word Calanque has its origins in Corsican, and means inlet. Basically the calanques are a series of bays dotting the coastline between Marseille and Cassis, overlooked by some imposing cliffs. Our tour took in 12 in total, of very differing shapes and sizes. Some of them house very picturesque beaches, others house cozy looking restaurants. The last one in fact houses the pleasure port of Cassis.
All in all, it made for a very nice couple of hours on the boat, especially since the weather was perfect for this kind of trip. Although, it has to be said, the waves were quite menacing going back to Marseille. Good thing none of us were prone to sea-sickness. I did see a few people “re-decorate” the boat, and quite a few people ending up soaking wet, refusing to leave their prime spots on the deck. But people took it all with good humour.The way back to Cagnes turned out to be a bit painful. After some all-too hurried goodbyes to Janne and Katja, wishing them luck for their inter-railing adventure, I ran back to the train station to catch my train, and did arrive at the station in time. But alas, for some reason the damn ticketing machine wouldn’t sell me a ticket for that particular train. So I ended up taking the next one, which was in, 2 hours…. Good thing I brought a good book, eh? ;-) Anyway, all in all, it had been a very nice day out with the family.
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