The Purple Mango Pandemonium

Musings of an unapologetic, natural, smart, left-handed woman navigating this thing called life.

Marseille: Sea, Sun & a few Sights

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My sisters have fond memories of Marseille, France from our last visit there in 1989. It was therefore natural that on this sibling trip to Europe we will spend a few days there. It is even more anticipated as it had been cold and rainy all week in Berlin and Antwerp.  The plan was to be tourists in Marseille. We do have family here too and we hope to see them too.

Hello 80F sun and clear skies!

Planning which activities to do in Marseille wasn’t easy. A lot of websites really tried my French. The few opinion pages that were in English were very discouraging. Everyone kept talking about how dangerous the city was (you know because of all those immigrants and radical Muslims), how dirty it was, and how overall unpleasant experiences were. Nice, Canne, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence were recommended as sites to visit in the South of France instead.

Oh well, I guess we won’t run into too many English speaking (?American) tourists then.

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Marseille, the second largest city in France, is a city of immigrants. The third largest Jewish population in Europe, one quarter of it’s population is of North African ancestry.  It is also thought to be the oldest city in France. Habitations going back to 6000 BC have been found here.
The city Μασσαλία (Massalia) was founded by the Greeks in 600 BC as a trading port. As a Greek colony it lost “its independence” to Rome (Julius Caesar) in 49 BC and become known as Massilia.  Marseille became Christian during it’s Roman time. It is said that it was Mary Magdalene and her brother Lazarus who evangelised Marseille. I remember when we visited Marseille as children, we went to a church  (in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer) where we saw her relics.
Marseille remained a trading port after the fall of the Roman empire. In medieval times, it was devastated by the Black Plague during wich over half its population died.  Plague epidemics continued here through the 18th century but the city eventually became an important military one as well and remained prominent through the first half of the 20th century.
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Rue de la République: a very important street in Marseille that connects the south and north districts and is at the centre of the Euroméditerranée project.

Jardin des Vestiges: This is a garden in the center of Marseille that includes archaeological remains from the Greek period of Marseille history. The remains were discovered on site in the 1960s during the construction of the shopping mall next door. Most of the relics are in the History Museum. Cats are sewn strewn around on the excavations here.  It reminded me of Torre Argentina in Rome.

Saint-Cannat Church:  Located at the end of Rue de la République, this church was built in the 1500s. Its façade is from the 1800s. There are precious works of art inside. I will admit I didn’t go in for a couple reasons. One, I would have had to drag my sisters in behind me and two, gypsies seemed to have made the entrance their home.  These weren’t ordinary gypsies. 

In the front of the photo are the tourist trains – Les Petits Trains.

Fort Saint-Nicolas: One of two forts that flanks the entrance to the Old Port. The other is Fort Saint-Jean.  One would think they are supposed to protect the city but rather they were built by Louis XIV in the 1660s as a response to a local uprising.  The canons face towards the city!

Replica of Michelangelo’s David Statue: The statue is at the corner of Promenade Georges Pompidou and Avenue du Prado. It’s been here since 1903.

Monument aux Rapatriés d’Afrique du Nord: Dedicated to repatriates returning from North Africa.

Monument aux Morts de l’Arme d’Orient: Dedicated to the French Army of the Orient.

Marseille Cathedral (Cathédrale de la Major): A national monument of France, this Roman Catholic cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese o Marseille. It was built in the lat 1800s completed in 1896.

Four des Navettes: Original shop of the Marseille’s iconic boat-shaped orange flower scented Navette biscuits, created in 1781. On the most important day of the calendar, February 2nd, the biscuits are blessed as part of Candlemas celebrations.

Link to shop

Palais du Pharo: Bequeathed by Napolean III’s wife to Marseille in 1883 it was built as a royal residence a few decades prior but was never actually used as such.

Chateau d’If & Frioul Islands: from a distance

Chateau d’If: up close

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THE PURPLE MANGO PANDEMONIUM

A lover of mangoes. A woman - smart, without pretense, lefthanded, Afropolitan - navigating this thing called life. An unapologetic believer in social justice and karma. Choosing to radiate positive energy and be true to myself. Here, my musings.

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