We greeted the day from 71 Boulevard Charles Livon at the New Hotel of Marseille, with an excellent view of the Mediterranean. Marseille is the second largest (pop 852,395) and oldest city in France. Founded in 600 BC birthplace of my favorite soccer star and headbutter, Zinedine Zindane. Known as “the pink city” it is home to The Marseille-Fos port, the largest port in France, it is a major industrial and international trade hub. Its location has made it a haven for immigrants over the years creating a diverse melting pot of French, Armenians, Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, Arabs, Jews, Russians and North Africans.
After touring the castle, we ferried over to The Phare de Sainte Marie lighthouse. It stands 70 feet high and made of natural-finished local limestone. It was built in 1855 to mark the harbor of Marseille. It is now inactive, but quite picturesque in the daytime.
La Vieille Charité, an architecturally significant building designed by the Puget brothers. The structure is made out of the pink and white stones that give Marseille its nickname. “The central baroque chapel is situated in a courtyard lined with arcaded galleries. Originally built as an alms house, it is now home to an archeological museum and a gallery of African and Asian art, as well as bookshops and a café.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Vieille_Charit%C3%A9) La Vieille Charité was designed by my new favorite architect Pierre Puget, who, if you remember, also designed the retable we saw in the Toulon Cathedral. Marseille was his birthplace, and even has a park named for him.
 |
| Santons |
Marseille is has much to offer in the area of arts and culture. The city is famous for its santons, small hand-crafted figurines made for the Provençal Christmas Nativity scene which attracts collectors from all over the world. On the contemporary side, Marseille has served as the setting to many films including The Bourne Identity, The Transporter, and Love Actually. The city is also known as the birthplace of the hip hop phenomenon in France. Groups such as Fonky Family, 3ème Oeil, and Psy4 de la rime and IAM all originated in Marseille. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to immerse ourselves in French rap, and we were quite fortunate, as IAM happened to be playing at Le Dôme de Marseille, an indoor amphitheater, which hosts all of the major musical acts that come through the city.
Amped from the show, we headed back to the hotel to eat at the on site restaurant, Victor Café. It is an ultramodern space, complete with art gallery. Chef Jerome Pollo prepared us a meal of pollo Demi Pigeon « miéral » rôti sur toast d’abats, légumes d’automne (roasted pigeon with giblet toast and autumn vegetables). When I think of pigeons, I think of dirty urban birds, so I had to tell myself that these were delicious “free range” pigeons, that were nothing like their Paris cousins.
With renewed strength we hopped back on the road, taking the long scenic route to Béziers.
http://www.bibalex.org/medcity/Marseilles.htm
http://www.wacra.org/provence.htm
http://www.victorcafemarseille.com/
