Marseille

Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris.As far as tourism goes, Marseille is one of the most visited cities in France.  Marseille was historically the most important trade center in the region and functioned as the main trade port of the French Empire. Marseille is France’s largest city on the Mediterranean coast and largest commercial port as well as a leading cruise port and freight port. Although I am not a huge fan of large cities, Marseille is a beautiful city.  The port was my favorite part of the visit. The Mediterranean Sea was absolutely breath-taking. There were so many fisherman trying to sell their fresh “catch of the day”.  Marseille is a city that has its own unique culture and is proud of its differences from the rest of France. Today it is a regional center for culture and entertainment with an important opera house, historical and maritime museums, five art galleries and numerous cinemas, clubs, bars and restaurants. As we all toured Marseille I noticed the city’s sense of hustle and bustle. The streets were flooded with civilians and tourists even in the fall! Marseille is the southern metropolis of France.  

While in Marseille I was able to visit Notre Dame de la Garde. If you look closely, you can see Notre-Dame de la Garde in the photo above ( the highest point in the photo). Notre-Dame de la Garde is a Catholic Basilica in Marseille. This church was built by the architect Henri-Jacques Esperandieu.

The chateau-d’If is a fortress that later became a prison located on the island of If. If is the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago. The infamous chateau d’If was one of the settings of Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo. The isolation and dangerous offshore currents of the Chateau d’If made it the perfect spot for prison. Currently, the chateau ceased as being a prison and was opened to the public on Sept. 23 1890. Thanks to Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo, the chateau is now a tourism hotspot.

One of the most exciting parts of my visit to this beautiful city was the crepe I ate. This had to be the largest crepe I’ve ever consumed in one sitting. I was in awe at its vastness. Absolutely great. The woman who made it could barely even pick it up. As soon as I saw how huge the crepe was I immediately became excited. I know this sounds crazy but if you know me, you know how much I love to eat, especially crepes. This crepe made me so happy because in France, especially in the south “well done” is not a thing, well it is but it’s not. I decided to take the plunge and order duck, well done of course. What I got was not nearly well done, in fact I think mine was more rare than the others who order medium well. I ended up not eating the duck and giving it to a friend to eat and she gave me some fries. So the moment I bought this crepe I was back happy again.