This is our first official day of being tourists in Marseilles. Wes and I decided to take a less strenuous day by going on the 3 hour shore cruise from the Marseille Vieux Port to Port-Miou. To get on the cruise we had to be down to the port by 9:15 (cruise started at 9:30). After the last couple of days of leisure starts this did seem a bit rushed – but really was not. We made our own breakfast in the room which we have decided to do with bread, jam and peanut butter and a banana. Not necessarily the greatest perhaps, but meals here seem to be pricey.
The walk down the street was really an eye opener. Yesterday I mentioned how dirty the street was with garbage all over the place. Over the night someone must have swept the street since this morning is looks tidy and clean. I wonder if the residence are slobs and it requires cleaning every night or if yesterday was just an unusual occurrence for some reason.
We got onto the boat ready for the cruise. As we headed out of the harbour we sailed between the two forts. Fort Saint-Jean and Fort Saint-Nicolas were built in 1660 by Louis XIV on opposite sides of the entrance to the Old Port. Commenting on their construction, Louis XIV said, "We noticed that the inhabitants of Marseille were extremely fond of nice fortresses. We wanted to have our own at the entrance to this great port." In fact, the two new forts were built in response to a local uprising against the governor, rather than for the defence of the city: their cannons pointed inwards towards the town, not outwards towards the sea. Fort Saint-Nicolas is still used today by the French Navy.
As we left the mouth of the harbour we looked to our left to see The Palais du Pharo which is located on the west coast of Marseilles , overlooking the Vieux Port. It has a panoramic view overlooking the Vieux Port and the new port of Marseille. It now belongs to the city of Marseille, which makes it available to the public and private sectors. It was built under Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in 1855 for the Empress Eugenie .
As we looked back over the new port (where the cruise ships dock) we could see the Marseille Cathedral which is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a national monument of France. It has been a basilica minor since 1896.
The next view we noted as we looked outwards is The Château d'If . This is a fortress (later a prison) located on the island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille in southeastern France. It is famous for being one of the settings of Alexandre Dumas' adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo.
The château is a square, three-story building 28 m long on each side, flanked by three towers with large gun embrasures. The remainder of the island, which only measures 30,000 square meters, is heavily fortified; high ramparts with gun platforms surmount the island's cliffs. The Château was built in 1524-31 on the orders of King Francis I as a defense against attacks from the sea. However, its construction was extremely controversial. When Marseille was annexed to France in 1481, it retained the right to provide for its own defence. The castle was therefore seen by many of the local inhabitants as an unwanted imposition of central authority.
As we proceeded up the shoreline we were enjoying great views of the city and the developments along the shoreline. We could see where the beaches of Marseille but were not close enough to determine how sandy or inviting they may have been. Today’s temperature is really good – warm sunshine with a brisk cooling breeze. It was very pleasant sitting on the top section of the boat.
La Baie des Singes restaurant came into view as we slowed to pass between the shoreline and an island. This is a recommended place to have dinner by the Lonely Planet but it is about 18 km from town in an isolated point of land so not likely to be on our list for this trip. As we sailed around the point and found the south side of the shoreline we came across a lot more wind and wave action. As we sat on the top we started to get sprayed with water – soaked in some cases. It took some effort to stand up but we all figured we needed to manage to get below or accept being soaked totally. We had a good laugh about the funny way we managed to walk holding onto each other and anything else fixed to the boat but we did all manage.
The commentary on the boat was all in French but we were given the commentary translated in English in a small booklet. However we could not seem to match the commentary to the appropriate item so I finally just sat back and enjoyed the views. Wes was able to get more from the commentary than me.
As for the views, once we rounded the point was interesting geography. We were reminded a lot of the Greek Island and Greece but that is not surprising since we are in the Mediterranean. The tour took us into several coves with small fishing villages and small beaches with the occasional bather. High above us on the cliff face there was a path that had been built and we spotted several hikers walking along. We are told that with a car these areas are easy to reach and provide beautiful views.
On the cruise we met a couple – Emily and Trevor - who are on a bit of a holiday from England. Trevor is from Australia so this opened up lots of things to talk about and they had suggestions about ways to save money on food etc in London. We spent a great deal of time sharing stories of travel and talking about future plans and goals. We enjoyed their company during the cruise and found ourselves chatting for quite awhile on the dock once we returned. They were heading off for the metro and bus to head back to where we had just been by boat to do some of the walking but we wanted to visit a few of the in town sites so parted ways.
Our first adenture was to locate the Abbey of St. Victor. The Abbey of St. Victor is a late Roman former monastic foundation in Marseille, named after the local soldier saint and martyr, Victor of Marseilles. In about 415, John Cassian founded two monasteries of St. Victor at Marseille, one for men (the later Abbey of St. Victor), the other for women. In the eighth or ninth centuries both monasteries were destroyed by the Saracens when the then abbess Saint Eusebia was martyred with 39 nuns. The nunnery was never re-established. No rebuilding took place until the first half of the eleventh century when through the efforts of the then abbot, Saint Wiffred, the men's monastery was at last rebuilt.
The trek is taking us steady uphill through narrow winding streets that are very interesting themselves but we are starting to feel a bit under-whelmed with these views since we have seen so many. Much of the old towns in Europe have narrow, old and multi-story buildings. They are very picturesque but soon you really do not notice them. At the highest point in the city we climbed the stairs to enter the courtyard of the Notre-Dame de la Garde.
Notre-Dame de la Garde is a basilica located in Marseille, France. This ornate Neo-Byzantine church is situated at the highest natural point in Marseille, a 162 m (532 ft) limestone outcrop on the south side of the Old Port. In Marseilles, Notre-Dame de la Garde is traditionally regarded by the population as the guardian and the protectress of the city.
A minor basilica of the Catholic church, it is situated on a limestone peak on the walls and foundations of an old fort. Built by architect Henri-Jacques Espérandieu in the Neo-Byzantine style, the basilica was consecrated on 5 June 1864. It replaced a church of the same name built in 1214 and reconstructed in the 15th century. The basilica was built on the foundations of a 16th-century fort constructed by Francis I of France to resist the 1536 siege of the city by the Emperor Charles V. The basilica is made up of two parts: a lower church, or crypt, dug out of the rock and in the Romanesque style, and an upper church of Neo-Byzantine style decorated with mosaics. A square bell-tower of 41m (135 feet) is surmounted by a belfry of 12.5m (42 feet) which itself supports a monumental, 11.2m (27 feet) tall statue of the Madonna and Child made out of copper gilded with gold leaf.
The stone used for the construction of the basilica, in particular the green limestone originating in the area surrounding Florence, was discovered to be sensitive to atmospheric corrosion. An extensive restoration took place from 2001 to 2008. This included work on the mosaics, damaged by candle smoke, and also by the impact of bullets during the Liberation of France at the end of World War II.
This is the first Cathedral I have ever visited where there is a drawbridge at the entrance. If that is closed the Cathedral becomes a fortress and I am not sure if it really was used as such. However this is evidence of the existence of the old fort’s foundation upon which the cathedral was built.
The views from all sides (with out even climbing to the towers) was breathtaking. A full 360 degree view was possible and we enjoyed looking for the landmarks we have identified so far. After touring the inside of the basilica and the lower Crypt (also a church) we headed back down the steps to return to the old city center. We have one more sight we wish to view today and it is on our way back to the hotel.
The Porte d'Aix (also known as the Porte Royale) is a triumphal arch in Marseille marking the old entry point to the city on the road from Aix-en-Provence. The classical design by Michel-Robert Penchaud was inspired by the triumphal arches of the Roman Empire. The Porte d’Aix was initially conceived in 1784 to honour Louis XIV and to commemorate the Peace of Paris (1783) that ended the American war of independence. Following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1814-15, the project was resumed in 1823, now to commemorate French victories in the Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823, notably at the Battle of Trocadero, August 31, 1823. It was eventually completed in 1839, with a more general theme of victory. In 1784 the city of Marseille decided to use the profits generated by the sales of the royal shipyards to erect a royal triumphal arch in the place d'Aix.
We continued back to the hotel arriving by 4 pm and both ready to take a break and rest. Before the day ended I headed across the street to the railway station to enquire about a day journey to Nice for tomorrow. We will get up early, take the train to Nice and explore the city and return in the late afternoon. There is so much to see in this area it was tough to decide to go to Nice but we have heard so much about the area we decided we need to have a look.
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