I’m in Marseille for a few days for a cultural reset before heading off to Turkey for three weeks. I arrived really late last night somewhere around midnight. I can’t really say which time it is as I think the time changed last night so all the clocks were messed up (I changed my watch 4 times!).
My first order of business this morning was to make my to do list which includes amongst other things restocking toiletries and changing my plans for December (Egypt is really really not a good idea even for optimists like me). Besides getting these housekeeping chores done though my priority was to get out to wander and enjoy the old port area which I did.
Old Port
Sunday strollers enjoying a band concert under a reflective performance area (see the reflection above)
Floating restaurant in the harbour with a small water problem
Restaurant specializing in Moroccan food – tanjine anyone?? (not for a while)
A good portion of Marseille’s port area was destroyed during the war and the destroyed buildings were quickly replaced in the 1950s with uninteresting structures. However, the back streets are still in tact and were a rewarding wander. Old Montreal, not surprisingly, came to mind.
Le Panier narrow street above the port
As a means of furthering my orientation after my feet had hit the limit, I took the hop-on-hop-off bus around it’s tour around the old city. This was fun as it took me to spots I wouldn’t have reached by foot and was a nice cruise along the water front corniche.
Cathedral de la Major (giant 19th Century creation)
Harbour islands including the Chateau D’If (a day trip soon)
In trying to restock items I need I quickly discovered that Sunday shopping is a new phenomenon here and very very few stores are actually open and those that are make a big deal of it. I hadn’t factored that into my mental planning! I was able to find everything I need though (even found my special moisturizer which pleased me greatly as I really don’t want to experiment and get a massive case of topical dermatitis yet again).
I did end up doing some other shopping though. I saw a Desigual store from the tour bus and hunted it down afterwards. I’ve been eyeing these colourful creative clothes for a long time since an un-named coworker sported a lovely top. So far on this trip I’ve been relatively restrained in buying things either as souvenirs or that I can’t get at home – today I gave in. Sorry no ugly change room selfies to share of the couple of tops I got.
I rewarded my wanderings with a truly European meal – Italian pizza, Belgian beer, French water in an English pub setting.
