Staring at the Sky, Staring at the Sun
Marseille
For being France’s second largest city, Marseille doesn’t feel entirely French. It’s much more cross-cultural than most of the rest of the country due to its history as a major port city and its proximity to North Africa. It reminds me of some of the borderlands of the American southwest - but with different cultures blurring together. It’s an extremely diverse city with an edge to it.
The historic port is beautiful. A nicer waterfront than some of the other cities on the Côte d’Azur, but as a city it doesn’t have the same charm as, say, Nice or Montpellier, nor the beautiful beaches of Cannes or Antibes. Beyond the port is a modern city—the result of Marseille having been badly damaged during WWII, first by the Italians and Germans, and later by the British and finally the Americans. The streets are clean, but there’s more graffiti than I can recall seeing anywhere else in France.
For me, the highlight was a boat tour of the Calanques—ragged and tall limestone inlets that run along the coast between Marseille and Cassis. We took the tourist boat with a couple hundred other people, but if you’re willing to pay more, there are private boats to charter and I think that would be magical. Still, for 24 euros, I enjoyed our little cruise.
Marseille isn’t a major tourist hub, which means that restaurants in the touristed areas tend to be better than you’d expect as they depend on locals for business much of the year. We happily cleaned our plates at Le Souk which is right on the old port and serves Moroccan cous cous and tajines. The following night, we eventually found our way to Sépia which is on a tiny road at the top of a park that’s locked after dark. Any frustration was quickly forgotten when we saw the view and experienced the warm welcome of the staff. Highly recommended.
A few other restaurants I was interested in, but we didn’t have time for:
Une Table au Sud Michelin recommended, right on the old port with a view of the striking basilica. The chef trained at Le Bristol in Paris. Prices were a bit high.
L’epuisette - Another Michelin recommendation with a view of the water. Prices also high for a one-star restaurant.
La Boite a Sardines - casual seafood lunch.
Further reading: