Our Day in Marseille, France

 Our day in Marseille started out very early. 

Before we get to the day, I'll share with you the view from our room. Rachel had the room next door and based on the orientation or windows faced each other so we could speak to each other through the window. This was just a small part of the artwork in the "courtyard" my room faced. A nod to the town by the sea.

We had schedule a private walking tour of a town just outside of Marseille, Aix-en-Provence. Our guide drove us to the town and let's just say it was what I imagined my first taxi ride in New York would be (which it did not turn out to be how I'd imagine). Lot's of speed, lots of riding others bumpers, lots of taking turns at high rates of speed, all while she provided us the history of Marseille. We eventually learned our guide was from Paris and had learned to drive at a young age, so she had a driver's license. However she never used it until she came to Marseille (now we get it). 

We did learn that there were two parts to Marseille, the old part which mostly survived the war and the new part. What you are seeing on our drive is the new parts of Marseille, including the port. We noticed a number of super yachts in port and learned that during the offseason, many of the super yachts are in Marseille for renovation or repair.

We arrived in Aix-en-Provence very early for France. Our guide was kind enough to bring us to her favorite coffee and pastry shop so we could get pain au chocolat and coffee.

We learned that Aix-en-Provence is the home of the artist Cezanne. In fact, there will br a festival this summer honoring him - and his work. We also learned that the town is known for its fountains. Fountains where a meeting area for residents of the town and it was also a sign of wealth.

This is exactly how I pictured a small town in France. And then it hits you, these buildings survived wars and have been here for hundreds of years. You simply do not see this architecure in the US (well very few places). We walked all over the city, learning about the architecture and why the back of the homes were less ornate than the front, how "gardens"were former stables, and how a "hotel" doesn't really mean hotel the same way we think about it. A hotel is a building with people - so essentially any building could really be a hotel. Here is just a glimpse of what we saw.

We learned about the window tax imposed on the residents of these buildings, which was very expensive. So, homeowners began to remove windows, replace them with stone and paint the stone to match the windows and the shutters that remained. 

I love a good market and we di one upon one during our walk. Our guide said since it was Monday it was not a "complete" market. There were only a few vendors, but what they had looked fantastic.

We visited the shops and had to have a macaroon (of course). 

Marseille (and the region) are famous for their olive oil soap. We learned how to tell if the soap was authentic or not. And we couldn't pass up smelling the barrels full of lavender.

We finished our walking tour and made our way back to Marseille. Here were some of the images I captures from our ride back.

Once back in Marseille, Rochel and I took a walk around the old port area. The old port was just around the corner from our hotel and is the center of the city, nestled between the old and the new. The images you are seeing are the parts that survived the war.

We found a church, but were unable to go inside. 

We stopped for a bite to eat to get out of the rain, which was good because by the time we finished our meal, the sun had come out. In case you are wondering, the spread is herbs and I had muscles for lunch.

We headed back to the area around our hotel.

I became enamored with this carousel (and it was not the only one we'd see on our trip).

We walked more (a theme of this trip), found a wine shop to buy a bottle for our next adventure and headed to an area recommended by the local wine shop owner for food. We found a "wine by the glass" shop tucked in amongst food stalls and enjoyed some bubbly and red before calling it a night.

We wanted to get to bed a little earlier given our previous day's travel and we knew we needed rest for the journey we were taking the next day. Yes, we were on the move again!

I loved the rich history of the places we got to see in France. But Rachel and I agreed, if we were to do this again, we'd not go to Marseille. We'd go a bit further up the coast to Nice or Cannes. However, I will not soon forget the Champagne I had here (or the macaroon or pain au chocolat or muscles).