Marseilles

Day 30

Today’s plan is to travel to Marseilles. France’s second largest city and oldest, it is most commonly called gritty in the travel media. It’s port has been used by entrepreneurs, pirates, and smugglers for centuries and continues to this day.

We had booked our train the day before to make it as simple as possible when we arrived at the station. We arrived a few minutes early as there’s no point lounging around the station and we went up to the correct platform. A train roared in and is the case in smaller stations there wasn’t an official close by so we asked someone standing beside us if this was the train to Marseillles as you only have scant minutes to board. She replied ‘oui’ and she led the way and we followed.

Mere seconds after the train moved she looked our way, her mouth agape, and said ‘This is the wrong train!’. We were leaving from the Avignon Center station and we were heading to the Avignon TGV (fast train) station ten kilometers away instead of going south for the sixty kms trip to the Mediterranean.

We actually remained surprisingly calm and our new companion was beside herself for steering us, and herself, wrong. Over and over she apologized but other than possibly forfeiting our fare and some of our time I predicted that it would all work out in the end. Anne, calmed down and said in broken English that she would do her best to clear up the mistake when we reached the TGV.

True to her word she led us through the larger station to the information center and after fifteen minutes had worked out a perfect plan with Veronique, the SNCF worker on how we could reach Marseilles at the appointed time by the fast train for only a nominal fee. Our train left almost immediately, I of course asked for photos of both women, who gladly obliged, and off we went onto our next adventure.

The view as you’re exiting the Marseille station is fantastic. It sits on a rise and there’s a marvelous panorama as you descend the long stone stairway. An inspiring start to our visit. The harbor, a short distance from the train station is what you see on most postcards. It’s filled with yachts and sailing craft of all types.

We of course made a wrong turn to start our exploration of this iconic city and walked for several miles looking for the many beaches that dot the coastline. We saw a few but they were in coves and lay beside expensive restaurants and hotels and weren’t the situation that we were looking for. We gave up on that quest and took a bus back to the other side of the harbor to the Panier neighborhood, known for it’s artsy, quirky, shops, and fabulous street art that was everywhere. This art form is what we enjoy most. It’s literally down to earth, colorful, and filled with emotion.

Of course restaurants and brasseries were abundant in this area and we took advantage on several occasions to attach ourselves to a patio and watch the world go by. We met more interesting travellers and locals and took in the Mediterranean climate and vibe.

There was more spectacular architecture including the Cathédrale La Major, Fort Saint-Jean, and the Basilique Notre-Dame. We also spent some time in Mucem which offered inspiring views of the waterfront and many of the major sites from a contemporary setting near the harbor. We only had about seven hours to spend there and we maxed out our allotted time before catching the train back to Avignon Center in the early evening.

We finished the day on the terrace as usual, spent from a hectic day of adventuring.