A Year in Grenoble: Marseille

Hi again,

When Lindsay and I bought train tickets to Marseille, it was with the understanding that we'd be soaking up the rays along the Mediterranean... then we checked the weather. Instead of being 80 degrees and sunny as we had envisioned, it rained all day on Friday and Saturday and most of the day on Sunday, but we still had a great time.

The last time I was in Marseille it was a very short trip so I really didn't get to see the "real" city outside of tourist attractions. This weekend we walked around a lot and saw some things that gave me a different opinion of the city. We checked into a hostel that was highly recommended by Lonely Planet and after walking through some sketchy areas we finally found it. It wasn't until we were unpacking that Lindsay came across a little paragraph in the guide book warning of dangers in Marseille. There is a four-block radius southeast of the train station that the book did not advise spending time in. Our hostel was smack dab in the middle of this area. We never had anyone accost us but every time we went area we had to walk past at least 20 cafes full of North African men who would either say something, whistle, block our path, stare at us, or all of the above. It was Morocco all over again, but a tiny bit less intimidating.

After unloading our bags, we headed out to explore. Within an hour or so we came across an extremely drunk homeless man who exposed himself to us. Our day improved after eating bouillabaisse, a fish stew, which is legendary in Marseille, (Lindsay happened to spot a rat in the restaurant next to ours) and then going to the Vieux Port where we sat and watched the sun set over the harbor.

Saturday, we went to the legendary Chateau d'If of Dumas fame (The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo). It was quite a depressing visit, actually. The docent gave a very long explanation of the different famous people who had been in the prison and the ways they were killed. It's amazing how creative the jailers got. The inmates faced stake burnings, strangulations, drownings, starvation, etc., etc. or they spent upwards to thirty years in a stone room with one window and lost their minds. The carvings in the rock were extremely inticate and some date back to the 18th Century. All in all, it was interesting but not worth the 10 euros it cost to take the ferry there and back, especially considering that it was mating season for seagulls and we were getting dive bombed by enormous birds while walking around the island.

Cell from The Man in the Iron Mask

Water surrounding Chateau d'If

The cliffs that killed anyone who managed to escape from the cell, get past the guards, and scale the fortifications.

Cell of Edmond Dantes from the Count of Monte Cristo

After that upifting visit we walked around the fish market around the port. It is quite an experience. The smell is absolutely overpowering and there are hundreds and hundreds of seagulls hanging about waiting for the heads and bones that the fishmongers (who are almost all women) toss away.

We also happened to stumble across a regular market where we bought some gifts and then yet another protest, the preferred national past-time. The video below is hard to understand because the music was blaring, but you can see that it was basically a parade. I estimate that there were well over 3000 people there all handing out flyers and shouting their slogans for retirement, socialism, arachism, students' rights, you name it.

That night we had couscous at a North African restaurant around 9:00. It was so good that we didn't even mind the creepy men there that stared at us as we ate. While we were walking back to our hostel and bypassing the numerous piles of garbage lying in the street, we saw quite a few rats running across our path. I'm just thankful that we were not there during the garbageman strike that happened a while ago. Trash was not picked up for at least a week and you can imagine what a paradise that would be for our furry friends.

Our last day was a fail in terms of travel. We wanted to spend the day in Cassis but we missed the bus in the morning and had to take a later one. It's a long and annoying story but we only managed to spend ten minutes there (most of that in the tourism office) before we had to return. The weather finally cleared up in Marseille so we spent the rest of our day walking and sitting along the port. Not bad, not bad at all.

Notre Dame de la Guard

The Vieux Port where we spent many hours

Columns on one of Marseille's many cathedrals

Fishing boat in the midst of getting repainted

I have a love-hate relationship with Marseille. Despite the crude men and the general dirtiness, it is an extremely culturally rich city. We saw women wearing traditional African tribal dresses, fishermen selling their catches, Moroccan men drinking their mint tea, and kids swimmig in the port (the color of the water and the debris floating in weren't entirely enticing, but to each his own). It was interesting to note the many differences between Grenoble and Marseille, especially since it takes only two hours to travel between the two cities. It really is like entering a foreign country so, as much as I enjoyed myself, I let out a sigh of relief when we were in familiar surroundings again.

Have a good week!

Sorry for my long absence, but the past week has been crazy. On Saturday at 6:30 am I left for Marseille for what was supposed to be a day trip with 7 other people. I was nervous to see what the city was like because it seems like everyone thinks there are sleazy people waiting to grope and rob you in the streets. This was definitely not the case; in fact, I liked it so much that my friend and I decided to stay another day.

So...what did we do? The first thing we did when we got off the train was to go to the old port, which is probably the most famous part of the city. The daily fish market was going on and the port was bustling with tourists and natives. I have to say, the seafood was as fresh as you could possibly get; there were some fish that were still alive in the crates so the fishmongers whacked their heads agianst the side of the table a couple of times and they were good to go. Also featured were starfish, mussels, rays, eels, and squid (I can't figure out how one would cook a starfish or a ray). We tried to get tickets to visit Chateau D'If (the setting for The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask)at the port but the jail was closed, sadly.

Instead, someone suggested that we visit the cathedral just outside the city. In the attempt to save money, we decided to walk there...bad, bad decision. Walking at a brisk pace it took over an hour and a half to get there. I estimated it was about 3 and a half miles uphill, not including the never-ending staircase of hell one had to climb to get to the top of the mount. The cathedral wasn't really worth three hours of our precious time, but it was pretty (see pics below).

After all that physical exersion, we decided to head to the beach. Best decision of the day! The weather was probably 80-85 degrees without a cloud in sight. It would have been perfect if it had not been for the wind. Ten minutes in I already had a thick layer of sand all over my clothes, body and hair and I'm still getting sand out of my ears today.

By this point the others had to head back to G-Town so my friend and I set out in search of a room. I was in favor of a hostel, but she thought that it was too dangerous so we settled on a reasonably priced hotel near the old port. It was on the fifth floor, which was great because we could see all the way to the Mediteranean. After checking out the room, we looked for some authentic Southern French cookin', but it was more difficult then we expected because we'd find a building and it would be a bar, walk another 50 feet-bar, another 50 feet-bar...you get the picture. This went on for about half an hour before we finally found someplace serving something other than beer that was not over 50 dollars a meal. I had salmon (see pic below) which was excellent and my friend had a seafood pasta which she liked as well; however, the seafood did not like her because she threw it all up that night.

We headed back to the hotel at 10:00 because we were so exausted from the walking. I had literally nothing with me for staying overnight: no makeup, no pajamas, no toothbrush. My friend, however, brought stuff with her because she had anticipated staying an extra day; she very sweetly offered her toothbrush, but I draw the line in terms of sharing.

The next day we woke up at 9 or so and headed out to find the bus for Cassis, a village near Marseille. We asked for directions at the concierge desk and were told that the bus stop was on a certain street by the newspaper booth, flower shop, and telephone booth. When we got to that street there were no less than five of each of those, so we asked five passerbyers for directions and got five different answers. We looked for 45 minutes before I walked up to a woman selling flowers, and without me saying anything she said, "You're looking for the bus to Cassis, aren't you?" I said that I was and she pointed across the street and explained that it was between the garbage can and the phone booth. There was no sign saying that that was the bus stop and no time table, so if you didn't know specifically were the bus stopped, you would've never found it. After an hour and a half wait, we finally got on the bus. The view on the way was gorgeous and the town itself was spectacular. The big draw to Cassis, besides the beaches, are the calanques. I'm not exactly sure what that translates to, but they were huge cliffs that dropped straight into the sea. We hiked out to them, but it was best to have hiking boots (I was wearing Converse and my friend was wearing flipflops) and our tummies were grumbling, so we headed back into town. We ate at a cute little cafe right alongside the harbor (see salad pic) and then happened across a pottery show where I bought four handmade coasters. There was also a store which sold 100% concentrate perfumes from Provence. I got lavander as a gift and, wow, it is strong; you only need a squirt to smell like an entire field of flowers.

Th next activity of the day was to go on a boat tour of the calanques. It was amazing to see them from the water because you can see things that you can't from land, like the naked sunbathers which we wouldn't have had the opportunity to see otherwise. Anyway, I went a little crazy with the pictures because it was so picturesque.

We took the bus back to Marseille and then walked to the train station. I ended up at the house at 11:30 pm on Sunday. Total miles walked=at least 15. Yeah, my feet are not happy with me, but it was worth it. How many places have 85 degree days in mid-October? I would so go back again, but for a longer period because there is so much to see.