Ice creams and sorbets are named after literary characters; as example, Anna Karenina is lemon sorbet with vodka, a concoction that might make you jump in front of a train.
Miramar, 12 Quai du Port, 13002 Marseille. Telephone: 91.91.10.40. Some of the city's best seafood is cooked here. The bouillabaisse is well presented with six different regional fish species. In a chair at the table next to me, a dachshund with pleading dark eyes stared at me while I ate my bouillabaisse, which costs $48 (260F).
Sauveur, 4 et 5 Quai de Rive Neuve, 13001 Marseille. Telephone: 91.33.33.32. The only restaurant to offer a non-smoking section, its specialty, however, is Italian food, and its pizzas are very good. A pizza for one runs about $12 (65F).
La Charpenterie, 22 rue de la Paix, 13001 Marseille. Telephone: 91.54.22.89. The downstairs dining room seats a cozy 16 people at five butcher-block tables lit by candles, an ideal romantic spot. Fixed price menu ranges between $18 (98F) and $29.60 (160F).
La Samaritaine, 2 Quai du Port et 1 rue de la Republique, 13002 Marseille. Telephone: 91.90.44.95. At city's busiest intersection, this brasserie, restaurant and caf glacier is a fun location for people watching while drinking the caf, which costs $2.75 (15F), about double the coffee prices at the port, but the other places don't give you the view, either. La Goulue, 6 Place Daviel, 13002 Marseille. Telephone: 91.91.77.66. Just north of the port near Htel Dieu, a hospital. The restaurant's chef, Cyrille, loves to visit with tourists, discussing his and other restaurants and chatting about his wife's six years of living in the United States. Fixed price at lunch is $16.65 (90F), although you can order a la carte, such as a calzone for $7.77 (42F).
Snack Wimpy Sandwiches, 11 rue Reine Elisabeth, 13002 Marseille. No telephone. One of several small take-out food shops in the port where you can get inexpensive sandwiches such as a croque-monsieur for $1.85 (10F). A croque-monsieur is a hot ham and open-faced cheese sandwich.
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The tourist office can provide a list of more than 60 hotels in Marseille. My choices are those at the Vieux Port with a view of the activity, such as the fish market.
Hotel Pullman Beauvau, 4 rue Beauvau, 13001 Marseille. Telephone: 91.54.91.00. Fax: 91.54.15.76. This remodeled, 18th-century hotel has 72 rooms -- several non-smoking decorated in the Provencal style and furnished in Second Empire pieces. Double with view is $148 (800F).
Residence du Vieux Port, 18 Quai du Port, 13002 Marseille. Telephone: 91.91.91.22. Fax: 91.56.60.88. A double apartment with view is $92.25 (500F).
Grand Hotel de Geneve, 3 bis rue Reine-Elisabeth, 13001 Marseille. Telephone: 91.90.51.42. Fax 91.90.76.24. Double with view is $83.25 (450F).
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Souleiado, 101 rue Paradis, 13006 Marseille. Telephone: 91.37.83.16. The shop carries traditional Provencal clothes and fabrics. A scarf with a simple lavender and white pattern starts at $18.50 (100F) while a shawl with rich splashes of color can cost up to $66.50 (360F).
Felio Chapellerie, 4 Place Gabriel Peri, 13001 Marseille. Telephone 91.90.32.67. An alpaca casquette, a sports cap popular with Marseillais, costs $50.88 (275F).
Atelier Marcel Carbonel, 47 rue Neuve Sainte Catherine, 13007 Marseille. Telephone: 91.54.26.58. Fax: 91.54.89.42. A maker of santons, the clay figurines used in nativity scenes, the artist provides a catalog free on request. Santon is the Provencal word for saints. The city sponsors a santon fair during the final five weeks of every year on the sidewalks of La Canebiere. Santons cost between $3.70 (20F) to $74 (400F).
If you miss the mall scene, there is Centre Bourse, a block east of the port. It has 60 shops and seven restaurants, anchored by Nouvelles Galeries, an upscale department store with a supermarket. Along with a deli, the supermarket offers gift items such as three jars of Provencal honey -- wild flowers, lavender and Provence -- for $11.10 (60F). The mall is a popular local hangout, especially since cafe is $1.10 (6F), the lowest price downtown. A cognac costs $7 (38F). The mall hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and it does not close for two hours at lunch like some businesses and city offices.
The city's ritzy shopping district is along rue Saint Ferreol, a pedestrian concourse stretching south nine blocks from Centre Bourse, across La Canebiere to the Prefecture. The largest department store is Galeries Lafayette, 40 rue Saint Ferreol, 13001 Marseille. Telephone: 91.54.92.20. Galeries Lafayette was the only place in Marseille I did a double-take on a price tag. A genuine New York Yankees, Made in the USA, Official Major League Baseball, long-sleeve sweatshirt, was priced at $126.75 (685F), double the cost of a Boston Celtics basketball sweatshirt next to it.
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The Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra and the Marseille Opera have regular seasons beginning in the fall at the Municipal Opera, 2 rue Moliere. If you plan to attend any Opera or concerts, I should mention that a 10-foot black iron grill fence surrounds the Art Deco-style, 1,800-seat Municipal Opera because the neighborhood has deteriorated into Marseille's red light district. When I attended a performance in late November (1992), the street mix of elegantly attired symphony patrons at the Opera and the scantily dressed hookers -- even with a chill index below freezing -- at the Hotel Relax and the Sex Shop.
Ticket prices for the performances range between $11 to $53 (60F to 290F) by mail from Marseille Concerts, 56 rue Paradis, 13006 Marseille, telephone 91.55.04.36 or fax 91.55.05.26.
From mid-June to mid-July every year along Cours Belsunce, taraiettes fair (Foire l'ail et aux taraiettes). A Provencal (langue d'oc) word, taraiettes are miniature pottery toys such as a clay nightingale containing soapy water in which a child would blow through the tail, creating a whistle and bubbles.
Every July at Parc Borely the Marseille newspaper, Le Provencal, sponsors contests to determine to the Provencal boules champion (Concours de Petanque de Provencal et de la Marseillaise). In September 1993 at the Odeon, 162 La Canebiere, the 10th annual International Festival of Women in Film (Festival Internationale de Cinema au Feminin) is tentatively scheduled.
The city's office of culture publishes an excellent 178-page pocket guide to Marseille's theaters, cinemas and cultural places. The guide (Guide des lieux culturels de Marseille) is free by requesting it: Office de la Culture Marseille, 38 rue Saint Ferreol, 13001 Marseille; telephone 91.33.33.79 or fax 91.54.28.84.
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For More Information about Marseille
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(Note: The following addresses are repeated.)
Marseille Office of Tourism, 4 La Canebiere, 13001 Marseille.
Telephone: 91.54.91.11 or fax: 91.33.05.03.
Office de la Culture Marseille, 38 rue Saint Ferreol, 13001
Marseille; telephone 91.33.33.79 or fax 91.54.28.84.
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Getting there, getting around and weather
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Marseille, with a population of 1,071,000 people, is France's third largest city after Paris and Lyons. It's located on the Mediterranean Sea. You can get there by air from the United States via connecting international flights with British Airways or Air France at Heathrow Airport in London, or connecting flights may be secured with Air France or Air Inter at airports in Paris. There are no direct flights between airports in the United States and Marseille.
By train, the high-speed Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) has daily service between Paris and Marseille, and between Nice and Marseille.
By road, Marseille is the end of Autoroute 7, one of France's main north-south freeways. East-west freeways also connect Marseille with the Nice and the Cote d'Azur.
Taxi fares are negotiable and some taxis do not have meters. Generally the 20-minute ride from the airport to the Vieux Port is $32 (about 175F). The shuttle bus from airport to Saint Charles train station is $7 (38F). A taxi from Saint Charles train station to the Vieux Port is $6.50 (about 35F).
One ticket for bus, metro or tram is good for 70 minutes, including stop-and-go travelling. As an example, you can take a bus, get off to shop at a store and then take the metro to another location so long as it's within the 70-minute time limit. One ticket is $1.50 (8F). A carnet of six tickets can be bought for $6.65 (36F). I would not recommend renting a car in Marseille because traffic jams are frequent and parking is almost non-existent.
Weather in Marseille: In the winter, the high is 50 degrees, and the low is 35 degrees with eight rainy days. The mistral frequently occurs from November to March and can produce wind gusts in excess of 50 mph, dropping the wind chill index to zero. In the spring, the high is 71; the low is 52 with eight rainy days. In the summer, the high is 84; the low is 63 with two rainy days. In the fall, the high is 58; the low is 43 with nine rainy days. (All temperatures are in Fahrenheit degrees and are averages.)
Alan L. Bailey -- abailey@lonestar.utsa.edu
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