Seagull Love

Last week was probably the coolest week for me since I arrived here.  France didn't get cooler, but my brother and his wife visited for a couple of days, and they are pretty cool people.  It was so great to see them for a couple of reasons.  One, my brother speaks French, which is infinitely useful in a French-speaking country.  Two, I love my brother and sister in law, and any occasion that we can get together is fun.  I actually don't get to see them that often, even when I'm home in the US, so this was a rare treat for me.  And three, he's into the food here as much as I am.  Actually, probably more, so between the three of us, we made a petty good effort at eating up the remaining pastries in France.

We drove to Marseille and I have to give props to my sister-in-law for the way she handled driving through France in general, and Marseille in particular.  Driving in Europe is it's own adventure, and she handled it like a pro.  We made it into the center of town with no death involved, which is the way I like it.

I'd been to Marseille once before, so this was a fun chance to explore things a little more in depth.  We dropped the car at the rental place, since the touristy (what, it's a word) part of Marseille is best traveled by foot and metro.  Driving is just ridiculous because traffic is terrible, and EVERYONE jaywalks, and since you can't just run the pedestrians down like you want to, they end up getting to their destinations faster than you ever will in your car.

We stayed at a cool '60's feeling hotel called the Hotel Alize, right by the port.  This is the way to do it, people.  It made a great home base for us to drop off things throughout the day, or swing by for a quick break.  Phone battery dying?  No problem!  Let's cool off and look at pictures in the meantime!  (Oh yeah, have I mentioned that the temperature is in the 80's and 90's now?  I love it, but it does tend to sap your energy when you're walking around all day in it).  The stairs were crooked and the elevator made you feel like you were about to plummet to your death, if you didn't suffocate inside first, but I believe that is just what gives a building "character".

The boardwalk had changed a bit from when I was here the last time!  The fishermen were still there selling their morning catch by the waterfront, but the red shoe and ferris wheel were gone (but I liked that giant shoe..), and instead, there was this mirrored ceiling art!  It took a bit to grow on me, but once I saw it from this side with the ocean reflected in it, I was a fan.

We spent a total of two days in Marseille together, and the one thing my brother definitely wanted to do was visit the Chateau d'If.  It's a fortress that was turned into a prison that was turned into a tourist attraction, thanks mostly to the popularity of the book The Count of Monte Cristo.  This was my favorite book growing up, which becomes a less special piece of information when you consider the fact that basically everybody loves this book.  It became a popular tourist attraction before 1900!  Getting a trip out to see this place was a lot bigger of an issue back then.  We just rode a cute little boat out.  It was called the Edward Dantes.  Har.  Har.

It also happens to be an extremely photogenic prison.  I took about eleventy billion pictures of rocks there.

As you can see, the prison still has its dangers.




This would also be a great name for a band..

Things, they were different back then...
JK!  Just an unfortunately placed decorative pot

If you ever visit, make sure you climb to the very top tower, up the dangerous, non-code-approved spiral staircase.  There's a good view, but the really interesting thing about it is that the floor of the tower is built slightly conical, so it rises up in the center, and when you stand directly on the center and speak, it echoes back to you in a cool way.  I don't know what purpose this serves, because you don't sound any different to the people around you, but it must have been built that way intentionally.  Maybe the sentries got bored from time to time?

After another cute little boat ride, we were back in Marseille.  The port area, as I've mentioned, has a lot to see within an easy walk of each other.  At the end of the port area, at the entrance to the sea, there is an old fort: Fort Saint-Jean, which was built in the 1600's.  It's fun just to walk around the fort itself, since it's such an interesting place, and has sculptures and gardens and fun spaces for hanging out in.  However, if that's not enough for you, it's also been turned into a museum along with the uber-modern Mucem (technically, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations), which it's connected to with a skybridge.  Although we looked around the fort and Mucem for a while, we never actually went in to the museum area.  I usually prefer the buildings to the art inside anyway.  


I love the juxtaposition of the ancient stone building next to the uber modern straight lines and geometric building.

I love how you can see the Cathedral de la Major above
the Mucem.  Every inch of this building was
carefully thought out!

Cool tunnel at Fort Saint-Jean

Fort Saint-Jean

A bonus of having family visiting: all my pictures don't
have to be selfies! 

The patio at the Mucem

We never made it up to see Notre-Dame de la Garde, a prominent and easily recognizable landmark that sits on top of a hill overlooking Marseille.  We did visit the Cathedral de la Major, however, and that just might be my new favorite French cathedral.  It was massive, and very beautiful.

It was just a quick trip, but I enjoyed the chance to spend more time in this interesting and fascinating city!  Gorgeous on one street, grunge on the next, old old buildings everwhere!  You never know what you're going to get with Marseille!

I love the street art!