This morning we are off on the 8AM train to Marseille. Excited to be going somewhere I have actually heard of! It is so hard to figure out purchasing train tickets here. Online they are so expensive, but if you go into the ticket office they help you, we found out because we are returning on the same day 1 ticket is 35 Euro return and the second ticket is 5 Euro return, so last week we purchased these tickets for today and we are off. It is just a little over an hour if you get on the train that only makes 4 stops, there is a 2 hour milk run option which we avoided.
Easy train ride to Marseille, we had been here when we first came to Provence to change trains to Avignon from Nice so we knew it was a nice train station. Nice train station but lots and lots of steps to get down to the street outside towards the tourist info centre.
Marseille is a big city on the Mediterranean founded by the Greeks in 600BC and now has a population of about 1 million people. It is the oldest city in France.
It is about a 1KM walk from the train station down to the Vieux Port where the Tourist information centre is located. This was first on our list today to get a map. We have a list of things we want to do and got lots of details from Tourist info. We purchased tickets for the Tourist Train here as well, first time we have done this even though we have seen these trains in other cities we have visited, but this city is just too big to do everything on foot. Tickets were 10 Euro each. Our plan is to get on the first train at 10AM hoping to avoid some of the crowds that we expect later in the day. Down to the waterfront we go and we were both . Very happy to see the sea again. Fish market is first on the list, this happens daily but maybe it is the time of year, or maybe just not as big as we thought it was going to be, but it was a little disappointing. Maybe 10 fisherman at the fish market which is right at the waterfront from their trucks and coolers set up.
Next off we walk to the start of the tourist train. We make it in lots of time, and this was a fantastic idea. We could never have seen all of the things we did on foot. The train was not full at this point. The big difference from the hop on hop off bus is the train does not stop except for at one point, hop on hop off you can get off as often as you like and then get back on. It has been a while since we did hop on hop off, and sometimes we have waited a long time for the next bus, so decided this little train would work for us today.
The tourist train took us along the coast and we had beautiful views of Island just off the shore as well as a beautiful walkway called Corniche that runs along the coast for about 4 km. Had we more time here we would have definitely spent some time walking along this beautiful walkway.
One big reason for the train is the next stop at Notre Dame de la Garde. This is the one stop that the train makes that allows you to get out. The stop is for 20 minutes, but you can get on any train you like that comes by if you want more than 20 minutes. I think we spent about 40 minutes walking around, it really was spectacular. This basilica is 500 feet above sea level and would have been quite the climb to get up by foot. Amazing 360 degree views from here all around and the inside of the basilica is just as spectacular. The basilica is visible from everywhere in the city, and is said to watch over sailors, fisherman and Marseille residents, the “Good Mother”. Lots of the decorations inside were naval based, lots of boat themes, which of course Andre loved. We could have spent a long time in here visiting. It was surprisingly small inside, it looked so big outside. I can't imagine how busy it must be once tour buses start arriving, there were none with us today and lots of parking available in the parking lot, we were so glad we did this early.
Back on the train for the descent back into the city and it was steep! There used to be a funicular here to get up but it closed in 1967, it would have been so steep!
Back into town and off we go visiting some of the things we saw on our little train ride. First off was some bunkers that we just happened across when we were looking for the entrance to Fort St Jean. These bunkers were a little hard to visit, it is now dedicated to information about the rounding up and deportation of the Jews from Marseille and their family stories. These are always difficult to read but cannot be forgotten. The resistance stories were remarkable, so many ended up losing their lives.
Cut the bunker tour a little short and moved on to Fort St Jean. I think this is the first fort we have visited this trip. Some great views from the fort and lots of space to wander that didn't have any admission fee. They have some nice pedways that lead you over busy traffic and on to visit the La Major Cathedral. A visit around this beautiful church and then we are off into La Panier, which is old town in Marseille.
If you like steps you would love La Panier. Wow, crazy up and down steps everywhere, it was really hilly. Lots of tiny cobblestone streets for pedestrians only, and lots of street paintings and art. We found a nice square and had lunch in La Panier for a break. It was cheaper to have a glass of wine than a soda, so wine it was for me, and Andre had pastis, which is Pernod and water, even cheaper than wine. A good lunch and a much needed break.
Our lunch break was in the square where the Vielle Charite is located, so we are off there next for a visit. Like the bunkers we visited earlier this is also no charge, but you do have to pass through security and open any bags. We are also not allowed to bring water in, but they have free lockers to put things in that you don't want to carry around. In the 17th century Vielle Charite was used for vagrants and orphans, now it has 5 little museum displays and as well seemed to have some rooms used for a school. The museum displays were quite quick, and quite humorous as every time you entered one of the 5 rooms you had to show that you had a free ticket. Also you can take pictures but flash and no videos was told to us at each stop. The exhibits were really good. It was a nice break from walking steps in La Panier.
Back into the steps of old town and try to follow the little map we have to explore further. Pretty much need to forget about any map and just wander. The problem is if you go down you may be going back up again in about 2 minutes, we tried to avoid this as much as possible, but it was tricky. Good thing is La Panier isn't really all that big, but you sure would be in shape if you lived at the top!
Worked our way back down to the Old Port with lots of visiting outside of beautiful old buildings. The pedestrian traffic on the old port now is much busier that earlier today. All of the restaurants seem to be open, and there are lots of them. It was much prettier now than it was earlier today when there was nothing open. We still didn't find it as pretty as the port in Nice, but still nice.
We don't have time to make the next train so wandered streets to kill an hour for the next train. Happened across a real local market, it was on 2 streets and crazy busy. Lots and lots of people here from the middle east, and the prices were incredible, somewhere we would have definitely shopped for fruit and vegetables.
Slow walk back up to the train station and found a way in that didn't involve all those steps that we walked down earlier this morning. The one hour train ride got us back to Avignon just after 6PM and lucked out that the free little bus that runs by our place was just outside the train station, so for the first time we hopped on the free bus. Picked up a baguette, not hungry at all so we figure it will be bread and cheese for supper. A quiet night, after showers we are both done for the day.
We liked Marseille and were glad we were able to spend the day here. It is a little rough around the edges compared to other places we have visited in France so far, a little like we thought Naples was in Italy, but we really enjoyed Naples and Marseille.
Steps 24,000 or 15km
At the train station, the basilica with 360 views of the city from the top of the train station steps
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