Copyright 1993, Alan L. Bailey
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The Airbus 320 was cruising above France's central massif and a lady from Avignon, sitting in my aisle's window seat, was pointing out the Alps -- how on a clear day in late November the snow-peaked mountains extend forever -- when the pilot announced the plane would begin its descent to the Marseille airport. The weather, he said, was 45 degrees with strong winds gusting to 35 mph from the north that had provided a tailwind, so the Airbus would be landing about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. My aisle companion uttered an exasperating sigh, not for the early landing, but the wind, explaining, 'It's the mistral. You really never get use to it.''
And for the first four days of my eight-day trip to Marseille to research a novel, the mistral roared down the Rhone Valley, producing a dry cold that chills to the bone for a wintry welcome to the south of France, but clearing the skies to display magnificent panoramas from Marseille's highest spot: the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde that sits on top of a 525-foot limestone crag. On the fifth day, the mistral ceased and the ferry service, postponed by the wind, resumed to Chateau d'If, the 16th-century island prison fortress in the bay made famous by Alexandre Dumas in 'The Count of Monte Christo.' At the Chateau's parapets, I saw another Marseille, now with heavy brown smog burying the industrial northern districts and drifting to the southern, affluent residential arrondissements. The clear skies brought by the mystical mistral were gone. By midday, thick smog covered this Mediterranean city of a million people, reminding me that Marseille, while it can sparkle briefly around its Vieux Port (old port), is an industrial seaport that is not aging gracefully.
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The Vieux Port founded by the Greeks 2,600 years ago, remains the heart of Marseille with its fish market at Quai des Belges beginning just after sunrise daily and with the 1,200 pleasure and fishing boats moored in the harbor, still guarded by 17th-century bastions, Fort Saint Nicholas on the south, a French Foreign Legion post, and Fort Saint Jean on the north, now city offices. The three quays around the U-shaped Vieux Port are broad esplanades attracting strollers and dog-walkers. At night sodium-vapor lights cast a well-lit orange tint over the port. The quays are washed every morning so the old port, despite the heavy pedestrian and poodle traffic, stays remarkably clean.
In the 19th century Marseille embarked on a building program that enhanced its maritime lifeline and created the city's magnificent architecture. Construction started on the modern port around the bend at Fort Saint Jean and now stretches north for 12 miles along the coast. During the Second Empire, work began the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica and La Major Cathedral, both in the ornate Romanesque-Byzantine style; the Longchamp Palace with its colonnades and fountains, and the Pharo Palace, former residence of Empress Eug nie, wife of Napoleon III, with a commanding view of both the old and modern ports.
The Cathedral, a few blocks north of the Vieux Port along the Quai de la Tourette, was the largest church -- 460 feet long and 230 feet high under its dome -- built in Europe in the 19th century, completed in 1892 after 40 years of construction. The twin-tower entrance showcases its 'Romanesque' influence while the rear cascades into a series of Byzantine domes. The Cathedral is open from 9 a.m. to noon, 2-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday and closed on Monday. Admission is free.
Marseille's signature is firmly written at Notre Dame de la Garde, the city's highest location. On top of the 151-foot tall belfry is a bronze statue gilded in gold leaf of the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus with outstretched arms as if to protect the city. At night floodlights shine on the 31-foot tall statue. Inside the church, ship models hang from the ceilings as offerings from seafarers. The interior is layered in gray and maroon marble with mosaics on gold and blue backgrounds. From the parvis, the panorama takes in Marseille basin from the Mediterranean Sea to the west, the Estaque chain to the north, the Etoile chain to the northeast, the mountains of Garlaban and Saint Cyr to the east and southeast and the Marseilleveyre massif to the south. The church is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. It's about a 45-minute walk, mostly uphill from the port, or take Bus Number 60 that runs between Cours Ballard, adjacent to the port, and the Basilica. The bus ticket is $1.48 (8F; rate for story 1F = $0.185), the price of one bus, metro or tram ticket good for 70 minutes of travel on the city's transportation system.
Longchamp Palace, at the intersection of Montricher, Philippon and Longchamp boulevards, disguises a water tower within its fountains, and on either side of the colonnades are museums. On the left, the Museum of Fine Arts houses paintings by Rubens and others in the Flemish schools as well as those in the French, Italian and Provencal schools. Several 17th-century sculptures by Pierre Puget, a native of Marseille, are exhibited, but unfortunately pushed into corners. The Museum of Natural History, on the right, contains examples of the flora and fauna of the Provence, including 2,918 species of multi-colored butterflies collected by Louis Bigot. Both museums are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except the Natural History Museum is closed on Monday. Admission is $1.85 (10F) each. Metro: Cinq Avenues Longchamp.
Marseille has nine other museums. The most interesting, I thought, is the city's Museum of History at Centre Bourse, a shopping mall one block east of the Vieux Port. In 1967 when work on the mall's foundation revealed ruins dating from the Greek and Roman times, construction was halted to allow archaeologists to excavate the site. In 1974 they found a hull section of a Roman galley that has since been 'freeze-dried' and is maintained in a climate-controlled room at the museum. Pottery and other artifacts uncovered during the archaeological dig are displayed. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to noon and 2-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. It is closed on Sunday and Monday. Admission is $1.85 (10F). Metro: Vieux Port.
A few blocks south of the Vieux Port on rue Sainte is Saint Victor Abbey, founded in the 5th century. The twin towers with parapets, built in the 11th and 13th centuries, give the church a fortress appearance. The crypts contain the original abbey's chapel and catacombs with dozens of 3th- and 4th-century sarcophagi exhibited. The abbey is open from 8 a.m. to noon, 2-8 p.m. daily. Admission to the nave is free, but $1.85 (10F) to the underground crypt.
During World War II in 1943, the Germans dynamited much of the city's medieval quarter north of the Vieux Port because of Resistance activities. What is left of these narrow, warren-like streets can still be seen between Place des Moulins and the Vieille Charite, a 18th-century hospice. The restored hospice has three levels surrounding a courtyard with a dome chapel. It now houses an arts center and city museum offices. The Vieille Charite is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday and Saturday. Architect Fernand Pouillon designed the old town's post-war buildings and his stacked cube-like apartments along Quai du Port, for example, contrast sharply with the remaining 17th-century facade on the quay, Hotel de Ville (City Hall).
Chateau d'If, the 16th-century prison fortress in the bay, features the ground-floor cell with a tunnel that Edmond Dantes, the future Count of Monte Christo, dug allowing him to visit fellow prisoner Abbe Faria, from whom he received the Monte Christo fortune that enabled Dantes to carry out his revenge. A 'touristy' experience since Dantes existed only in the imagination of Dumas and his readers. So who dug the tunnel? Maybe the Huguenots since mostly these Protestants were imprisoned there during France's religious strife. Admission to the prison is $4.63 (25F). The ferry departs the docks at Quai des Belges, next to the fish market, daily every 90 minutes, starting at 9 a.m., weather permitting, and ending about 4 p.m. Since the fortress does not have a wind-sheltered docking facility, the shuttle boat, which also serves the community at Frioul, will not stop at d'If on windy days. The round-trip to d'If is $6.48 (35F), or $10.18 (55F) to both d'If and Frioul.
About four miles south of the Vieux Port, off Avenue du Prado, is Parc Borely, a lovely park with a small lake ideal for leisurely strolls. The park contains a horseracing track, admission $4.63 (25F), and the city's botanical gardens, admission $1.85 (10F). The gardens grow the plants and trees of the Provence, making it a good place to go to identify the Provencal flora, such as the popular platane d'orient tree, often called by English-speakers the plane tree. The park opens after sunrise and closes at 9 p.m. daily. From the port to the park, take Bus Number 83. The bus travels along Marseille's southern coastal road, Corniche President Kennedy, site of many villas overlooking the sea.
Marseille's Office of Tourism provides private, English-speaking guides. The cost is $92.50 (500F) for a half-day, or $166.50 (900F) for a 9-hour day, with an additional $12 (65F) language supplement. During the summer, group tours are available. Contact: Office of Tourism, 4 La Canebiere, 13001 Marseille. Telephone: 91.54.91.11. Fax: 91.33.05.03.
In sightseeing, remember that Marseille is a city subject to the same crime problems of other urban centers with high unemployment. I stopped at the U.S. Consulate, 9 rue Armeny, next to the Prefecture, and asked about crimes against Americans. A spokesman said the chief complaint was purse-snatching by France's infamous le picketpocket. I journeyed throughout Marseille during the daylight without problems, but I stayed in the well lit, populated Vieux Port area at night, mainly because the metro stops running at 9 p.m.
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The best of Marseille lies in its restaurants, more than a 100 of which are in the Vieux Port area. Most are located in a 16-block pedestrian zone south of the port, locally called Place Thiars, bounded by Quai de Rive Neuve, Cours Ballard, Rue Sainte and Rue Fort Notre Dame. It's popular with Marseillais since an underground parking garage is located here at Cours d'Estienne d'Orves. On just one street in Place Thiars, Rue Saint Saens, I counted 18 restaurants. Most offer their version of the famous dish of Marseille, bouillabaisse. Most waiters are friendly and speak English. And be forewarned of the French custom of taking their dogs with them into the restaurant for dinner. My favorite restaurants were:
Les Arcenaulx, 25 Cours d'Estienne d'Orves, 13001 Marseille, Telephone: 91.54.77.06. Excellent traditional Provencal food is served in limestone rooms with exposed wooden beams and classical music in the background. Each table has a tablecloth with a different Provencal design. You enter the dining rooms through a library-bookstore that stays open while the restaurant is serving. Fixed price menus range between $33 (180F) to $43 (225F). |
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