merci, marseille
a short return to france's third largest city
“when we show a friend a city one has already visited, we feel the same pride as when we point out a woman whose lover we have been.”
le vieux-port
marseille is the third largest city in france, following paris & lyon. it's also drastically different from the two, it's a port city located along the mediterranean sea & has been a hub for immigration since it's beginnings. the prison from the book: the count of monte cristo, is located right off the coast. you can take a ferry for a day trip to the fort & then to another small island for a swim in the calanques.
i first visited marseille in june of 2014, we basked under the french sun on the île de frioul, snorkeled in the clear waters of the calanques, & explored the shores finding entire mini ecosystems hidden in tidepools between large rocks. this time around i crashed maria + ronny's weekender, previously hesitant to return. but, it was a blast & being able to escape lyon's overcast was a much needed refresher.
check out some of what we did below!
we kicked off our first day with a light lunch on the balcony of la caravelle, a small resto located along the vieux-port. i ordered the seafood salad with octopus, salmon, and shrimp! the red pepper sauce was an earthy compliment to les fruits de mer! our waiter was exactly what comes to mind when i imagine an attractive young french man (although, maybe his striped shirt was a large factor). we adored him for his enthusiasm & for actively encouraging us to use our french on him.
harbors always bring me back to my childhood, where i went fishing with my father every sunday
searching for sugiton
“we’ll go where the air is pure, where all sounds are soothing, where, no matter how proud one may be, one feels humble and finds oneself small - in short, we’ll go to the sea. i love the sea as one loves a mistress and i long for her when i haven’t seen her for some time”
we spent the day hiking through the national park of marseille to find calanque de sugiton, a cove that was recommended to us by a local we met at lunch. living in boston for the past several years, my opportunities to be outdoors in nature are more rare than what i had grown up with in california. so, despite my impractical footwear, i deeply enjoyed the hike & as you can see, the views were incredible!
behind the scenes: fifty french beach bums staring at us tourists
calanque de sugiton - the perfect local for a mermaid scene, don't you think?
these two taught me how to properly search for & skip rocks
golden hour @ the peak
views from notre dame de la garde
we took a lot of public transportation in marseille, we took them to the outskirts of the city to the national park & after hearing that the hike up to the basilique was steep & painful, we immediately decided to catch a bus up to the top. but, it's funny & i suppose a reflection of the more laid-back lifestyle in marseille, because none of the bus drivers wanted to bother with us paying for our rideS! no complaints here, though :)
we sat along this hill as the sun fell
we had dinner reservations at la nautique, which is a restaurant on a boat docked in the harbor. we ordered a bottle of wine & three courses each - obviously left in a food coma. ronny & maria had never tried bone marrow before so that was a must! everything on the menu looked appetizing so narrowing down our choices was a long & difficult battle. but we eventually made our decisions (& agreed to share!)
what we ordered
Me
- os à moelle, fleur de sel et pain grillé (bone marrow with salt + grilled bread with cranberries)
- daurade royale entière au romarin à le plancha, sauce vierge aux olives (whole sea bream with rosemary)
- afé gourmand (array of mini desserts + espresso)
maria
- pavé de saumon fumé, pancake aux fine herbes, crème fouettée au wasabi et citron confit (smoked salmon with herb pancakes, wasabi cream and candied lemon)
- rossini de thon, sirop de balsamique et crumble aux quatre épices (tuna steak with balsamic syrup and allspice crumble)
- nems de banane coco/cannelle flambés au rhum, caramel au beurre salé (banana/coconut/cinnamon fried rolls flambéed in rhum with salted caramel)
ronny
- poêlée de poulpes à l persillade (fried octopus with parsley)
- porc ibérique caramélisé au miel, confiture d'oignons et jus au cacao amer (pork with caramelized honey, onion jam & juice of bitter cacao)
- moelleux au chocolat noir (chocolate cake with melted center)
mucem
during my previous trip to marseille, i spotted this beautifulyl designed building on the way to the islands from the ferry. we hadn't visited then, so i made it my top priority for this trip! there are three sites, we visited two: this modern building that holds exhibitions on mediterranean arts & the fort st. jean which has gorgeous panoramic views of the sea, courtyards & raised gardens.
la major, a couple minutes from the MuCEM
“when i think of you my heart beats fast, the blood burns in my veins and i can hardly breathe.”
the book store was filled with great books of all genres, but i spent a good half hour just perusing the art section. this one by marion fayolle is on my shopping list!
“never did a man deeply in love allow the clocks to go on peacefully.”