A long time ago, the Greeks were the first people who settled in what we now call Marseille. But this blog is not about what happened in 600 B.C. I just want to write about our one-day Marseille experience.
We departed from Nice at 8:20 am and arrived in Marseille around 11:30. The train ride wasn’t that boring. Aside from my music and book, the scenery was entertaining and makes me want to sing “The Hills are alive with the sound of music…..”. But the cute little french girl got the song.. “Ma Petite Poisson” stuck in my head instead.
Upon arriving at Gare St. Charles, a strong scent of ammonia gave us a hint that Marseille is not as small a city as Nice. Going down to the subway, we stepped on the longest escalator I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was a long ride and I almost got bored. But amazement kept me busy.
loooooong escalator; I literally have had dreams about this. I didn't know it would come true
Best Crab Experience
It’s a big no-no to look for a steak-house in Marseille. We arrived just in time for lunch.We saw this restaurant called Toinou, which is along Canebiere street close to the tourist office. The restaurant caught our attention because it also has a market of shellfish of its own. Whatever it was they were serving, it seemed really fresh. It wasn’t exactly the restaurant listed on my itinerary but I thought I’d do something crazy and take Jon to a seafood restaurant.
unexpected SURPRISE!!!
Don’t waste your time looking for a complicated dish on their menu. All they can promise are raw or poached shellfish for the freshest seafood experience. We were right on time (before 12 noon) so we didn’t have to wait for a table.
I devoured.....and it was good
As you can see, this is the only part of the crab with meat left. With the necessary tools provided, I was able to devour it like a raging island girl. I regretted that our table was outside. It wasn’t a romantic sight. But wow! That crab was all I could think of all day!
After lunch, we went to the tourist office for our schduled city tour that caused us 7 euros each. It was also the time that I found out that all the museums on my list were currently closed! What’s up with that!?
Jon and I recieved a special treatment from a very nice tour guide by translating the historical information in English just for the two of us. I could tell from her hoarsed voice that she was having a hard time. I wanted to give her lozenges so badly.
We couldn’t finish the tour because we had to catch the boat ride going to Chateau d’If. To those who don’t know, Chateau d’If was the setting in Alexander Dumas’ famous novel ”The count of Monte Cristo”. It was not what I imagined from the movie adaptation. Only later did I find out the movie was shot in a different location. I haven’t read the book yet, but I’ll put it in my to-do list.
The Chateau d'If
View of Notre Dame de la Garde from Vieux de Port
We were right on our schedule for the boat ride, but tickets were all sold out for two days! So even though it was not on my list, we went to Notre Dame de la Garde. It is a church located at the highest point in Viex Port of Marseille where you can see the breath-taking panoramic view of Marseille (including Chateau d’If).
View of Notre Dame de la Garde from the Vieux PortView of Notre Dame de la Garde from Vieux de PortWe took bus #60 to go up to the church.the city view
Although my plan didn’t turn out the way I thought, I had a great time in Marseille. We both enjoyed our trip and Jon couldn’t have been more proud of his wife. I mentioned in my last blog what a usual trip of the Andreasens is like. Jon told me later that day, he prayed everything would go smoothly. The prayer worked!!
Even though our tour is just around the little port in the city,our moment was not enough to know all about it. We had to go back for some unfinished business.
Until next time folks! Cheers!
