In June 2017 I went with Alejandro to Portugal. Then we went to Marseille for two days, to get to know the south of France. Marseille is a city full of contrasts, with both beautiful and ugly areas, but very interesting and full of life!
Facts about the city:
Marseille is the second largest city in France with a population of 1,604,550. Marseille is the oldest city in France and was created over 2,600 years ago.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is set in the Old Port and on the Château d’If, in Marseille.
After our trip to Portugal, we took advantage of the fact that we had to change flights somewhere and we decided to stay in Marseille, in the south of France, for two days. The city was beautiful but a bit dangerous and ugly in some areas.
When we got there, we couldn’t find anyone to give us the keys of our apartment. We had to wait for a while but finally someone came. On the outside the building looked terrible but the apartment was super beautiful and cozy. I really liked it! The name of the apartment is Grand Studio Vieux Port and it’s located in 4eme étage 24 Rue Pavillon, Marseille.
In Marseille we visited the Vieux Port, the maritime port with a lot of yachts and boats, and a giant wheel behind. The Old Port was renovated in 2013. It is still the beating heart of Marseille and the U-shaped port is lined by restaurants and cafés, and is a social focus of the city. In 2013, the area was semi-pedestrianized as part of a big redevelopment project designed by the British architect Norman Foster.
We went to Abbaye Saint Victor. In 1794 the abbey was stripped of its treasures. The relics were burned, the gold and silver objects were melted down to make coins and the building itself became a warehouse, prison and barracks. All that now remains of the abbey is the church of St. Victor, dedicated by Pope Benedict IX in 1040 and rebuilt in 1200. The abbey was again used for worship under the First Empire and restored in the 19th century. The church was made into a minor basilica in 1934 by Pope Pius XI.
We saw the graffiti the lead to La Vielle Charité, a former almshouse, now functioning as a museum and cultural center. Constructed between 1671 and 1749 in the Baroque style to the designs of the architect Pierre Puget, it comprises four ranges of arcaded galleries in three storeys surrounding a space with a central chapel surmounted by an ovoid dome.
We passed in front of the Cathédrale de Marseille. It was built on an enormous scale in Byzantine-Roman style. It is 142 meters long, and the main cupola is 70 meters high. With a capacity of 3,000 seats, it is one of the largest cathedrals in France. Then we went down to the modern part of the city where there’s a big sign with the name of the city. I enjoyed exploring the narrow streets that reminded me of Porto.
We took a bus to visit Parc Borély. The park was created in the 17th century by a French ship owner and merchant, Joseph Borely. From 1880 until 1915, the park was the site of a botanical garden, which moved to a different site adjoining the park. In 2002, a promenade of two hectares was laid out between the park and sea. Very beautiful.
Then we took another one to visit the Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde, the city’s best-known symbol. It was built on the foundations of an ancient fort at the highest natural point in Marseille, 149 m high. It’s on the top of a giant hill and the views from up there are amazing, it’s really worth the climb.
The construction of the basilica began in 1852 and lasted for 21 years. The basilica consists of a lower church or crypt in the Romanesque style, carved from the rock, and an upper church of Neo-Byzantine style decorated with mosaics. A square 41 m bell tower topped by a 12.5 m belfry supports a monumental 11.2 m statue of the Madonna and Child made of copper gilded with gold leaf.
In the last day we went to see the Palais Longchamp before going to the airport and we were lucky to have met a Venezuelan girl in a coffee place that kept our luggage there while we were out. This is a monument that houses the city’s musée des beaux-arts and natural history museum.
We sat in the surrounding park (the Parc Longchamp), chatting for a long time. It was really nice. We spent these two weeks alone, always together, and we never had a fight. It was a good test to our relationship 🙂 We didn’t have the chance to visit Château d’If, Palais du Pharo, Les Calanques or the beaches, but we live in Malta, we have nice beaches here too.
Wanderlust World 