Give me a gritty port city and I am a happy woman. Havana, Cuba and Naples, Italy are among some of my favorite places in the world, so I wasn't surprised to find Marseille charming when others recommended I skip it and go straight to Provence's lavender fields. I wouldn't normally gush when a place fits in so perfectly with my own personal ideal since I do recognize that not everyone has the same tastes. However, in this case, I really think Marseille is worth seeing if you like good food and happen to be traveling with a small child. It is a city that has the right amount and diversity of sights to see with someone who has graduated from the stroller set (the hills might make it a little more challenging with a stroller, but still doable). Here's a glimpse of what made our stay in Marseilles so fun:
- After our mesmerizing three-hour train ride from Paris to Marseille (hooray for train travel!), we jumped on a cruise out to see the Calanques. The Calanques are deep narrow inlets surrounded by huge limestone cliffs. You can hike the Calanques as well, but sitting on a boat and enjoying the fresh saltwater breeze was a very pleasant way to see them for the first time.
- We strolled the hilltop Le Panier district in the early evening, waiting for Pizzaria Chez Etienne (emphatically recommended by all the guides we consulted) to open for dinner service at 7:30pm. We found plenty of small shops and plazas to keep us busy. We climbed the steps up to this neighborhood again several more times during our stay, both to further explore the winding streets and to hit a few more spots that appealed to us. The ice cream at Le Glacier du Roi is reason enough to venture up to Le Panier. Between the three of us, we tried vanilla, strawberry, peach, passion fruit and navetissimo. All of them were impressive, but if you can only try one, go for navetissimo. Its orange-flower-flavor is based on the boat-shaped Navette cookies that are typical of Marseille. I recommend eating an actual navette, or many, as well, but while you can bring a box of those home with you, the navetissimo ice cream is a have-it-in-Le-Panier-only experience.
The pizza and supions (breaded, fried squid) at Pizzaria Chez Etienne were delicious, by the way. The service, however, was nothing to write home about. Get there as early as possible to snag a table since there's no phone to make reservations and they're quite happy to turn hungry tourists away.
- We rode the little train up to the Byzantine church Notre Dame de la Garde on Sunday, an experience that offered us more stunning views of the Calanques, the water and Marseille in all its glory. The train stops at Notre Dame and you can see the church and enjoy the sweeping views at your leisure. Trains going back down to the port come by once every twenty minutes.
- You have your pick of tagine dishes in Marseille's several North African restaurants. We went for La Kahena, a Tunisian place on Rue de la Republique right on the Vieux Port. Malanga Papa and I ordered a fish tagine, being in a port town and all, but I daresay Malanga Girl's meatballs were the star of the meal. Was that ras-el-hanout in them or was it the mix of lamb and other meats that made them so memorable? Mmmm!
- On Monday, I went for a nice run along the Vieux Port and up to the Jardin du Pharo. I'm still fairly new at this running thing, but the warm sunshine, new scenery and fresh sea smell kept me from thinking of my aching knees for once. I think this was my best run so far since I took up running a few weeks ago. It was also nice to have the Jardin du Pharo to myself at 8am, and to discover it's not really worth making a special trip just to see the big green lawn they call a "garden." I'm not sure what goes on in the Palais du Pharo, however, so that might be worth considering.
- I stopped at Pain de l'Opera for croissants and pain au chocolat before going back to wake Malanga Family for the day's outing. We took the bus to Aix-en-Provence right from the St. Charles train station. Buses leave every 10 minutes, cost 4,90 Euros for adults, are free for children and the ride lasts about 35 minutes. We spent a very pleasant day in the old part of Aix, including a lunch made from the amazing selection of sausages, cheese and bread at the farmers' market in one of the plazas there. Along the way, some soaps and sundry gifts were picked up, as well as coffee and ice cream. Really, just about any time of day in almost any place in the world is good for a coffee/ice cream stop.
- Monday evening found us back in Marseille for our reservation at Chez Madie Les Galinettes to eat bouillabaise. You have to make your reservation 48 hours in advance, but happily, there's no attitude served alongside the delicious fish & broth. The staff was amazingly pleasant and they even gave Malanga Girl a little gift package full of coloring supplies, candy and plastic jewelry. Malanga Papa and I have discussed returning to Marseille on the TGV (high-speed train) just to have bouillabaise again.
- On our last day in town, we were finally able to visit La Vieille Charite, an extremely well-done museum that displays Egyptian mummies, Greco-Roman pottery, bright Mexican masks and other cultural artifacts in a beautiful space right in the heart of Le Panier. We were lured by the promise of cat mummies, as promised by a New York Times article, and these did not disappoint. Going to the museum was also a chance to have more ice cream at Le Glacier du Roi before we headed back to the train station and to Paris.
- Throughout our stay, Malanga Papa and I drank lots of a local artisanal beer called La Cagole. We highly recommend it (and I'm not even a beer drinker)!
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