9-8
We arrived later than planned, but early enough to check in and rush to the port in a vain attempt to get tickets for the boat and sail over to Chateau D'If. I'd already pre-booked the museum, but it turned out that it's closed until Tuesday. So we'd rushed for nothing. Instead,
we made our way to the fine arts museum inside Palais Longchamps (1869) and which has a stunning fountain and façade. We also had a look around Le Panier, a vibrant and colourful neighbourhood, where you can find La Vieille Charité (1679-1707), a former almshouse, which has Italian baroque architecture and a decidedly obscure ovoid dome. There's also lots of street art adorning the walls. We had a drink where the waiter turned out to be rather a fool, but thankfully, we could just move on and not have to put up with him anymore. Dinner was at a Tunisian restaurant in the old port area.
10-8
We began sweating quite early and it felt hotter than yesterday. We spent more time in the old port beginning with the COMEC, museum of civilisation, which covers folk art and culture; at the moment, they have an exhibition about music Islamic countries, i.e. Iraq, Syria and Kuwait. There was also an exhibit about fashion, which we found interesting before we went on our way. Next, it was time to visit The La Joliette shopping area. We strolled around converted 19th warehouse (Les Docks Village) and then to a viewing platform at Les Terraces mall. Babe bought some navettes, a sweet local speciality. Now it was time for us to go on a mission to try some bouillabaise.
It's not cheap mind you and the initial idea was to go to Chez FonFon where a scene from The French Connection (1971) had been filmed, but it wasn't to be. After much effort in the blazing soon, a bus ride, a walk and then turning up sweating profusely only to be turned away, it left a bitter taste in the mouth and was not helped along by the next bistro only offering us tapas. So we got the bus back and, starving and tired of being on a wild goose chase, we found L'Hippocamp, a place where we could try this fish soup at 54 Euros pp, no joke; this is the one made in Marseille made you. It was delicious, but it took a long time before we were fed (in 3 stages) and we left after 3pm. Our last mission of the day was a trek up hill to the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde (1864), an imposing permanent fixture on the Marseille skyline, which, unsurprisingly, has commanding views. The interior was beautiful but more unassuming. Dinner was at a kosher falafel place near the opera.
11-8
Today's mini adventure began with a long wait in the blazing sun to get tickets for the boat to Chateau D'If, which is situated on an island, a short boat ride away from the mainland; this time we were going to see the place that inspired Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) to write The Count of Monte Cristo (1844). The boat ride there took 20 mins - but on the way back we stopped and it took at least twice as long. It's a remarkable location with gorgeous water and a temporary feeling of isolation, which would have been quite different for prisoners who were stuck here for much longer periods of time. We saw displays on Dumas and 'graffitti' from prisoners on the walls as well as the cells themselves.
See Arles
Dinner back in Marseilles was at Le Souk, a Moroccan restaurant at the Old Port. We both tried their chicken tajine with preserved lemons.
12-8
See Aix-en-Provence
We got back into Marseille at 7ish and had our third Indian at Ashoka, close to the old port.; we both had tantalisingly tasty thalis.
13-8
We had a little shopping to do - first to the Docks for a toilet stop, then to Les Terraces for babe, who needed some shoes that were more agreeable to her feet, to Monoprix for more socks for us (as washing clothes is so expensive, we realised it was much cheaper to get a few extras here and there) and at Le Picnic for lunch (which we'd consume on the train later). We'd checked out early, caught the cab at 12.30 and the train to Nice at 13.28.