One Deille in Marseille
Firstly... sorry about the title.
I'm back - teehee! Here is my one-day guide to visiting the city, based on a WhatsApp I sent to someone who asked for 'commendations and then never went. It ain't tried and tested so may be too ambitious on a hot summer's day... sozzles!
1) Arrive at Gare St-Charles.
2) Walk from the station down the Grand Escalier to Noailles, where there's a big, hectic fruit 'n' veg market.
3) Head to your right, to the Vieux Port (the waterfront). It's a bit confusing 'cos this is not a tourist attraction per sé (as in there is no activity to do or obvious place to unnecessarily spend money - just this here mirror ceiling thing) but it's the centre of the city where all the gatherings are. If you go on a Saturday there'll be Gilets Jaunes and usually people protesting about the current political situation in Algeria [politics accurate (if betrayingly vague) at time of publishing].
4) Head to the left-hand side of the port and walk 40ish minutes up to the Notre Dame de la Garde - a magnificent church which proffers a wonderful panorama of the city. You can come up the hill from one side and go back down the other. I dare you.
Then this is where the guide becomes one of those books where you have to roll dice at the end of each chapter to make 'your own' story! Cold/mild weather: please proceed to step 5a. Hot weather, skip ahead to 5b!
5a) If you are feeling ambitious and vulturing for some culturing, you can schlepp back over to the other side of the port (right-hand side when walking towards the water). Here you will find the MuCEM - Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations. I advise skipping this if you are running out of time or overheating... However, I thought I'd include it as it is famous and moderately interesting.
5b) Time to hit the beach, you lucky thing! I loved the Malmousque / Fausse Monnaie area, where it's rocky but more peaceful than the sandy beaches, and good for swimming. Then you get a really gorgeous walk back along the coastline towards the centre. It's quite a busy road, but the architecture is super varied on one side of you, and you can see the sea on the other!
6) Make your way along Marseille's narrow, road-work-and-rat-infested streets, up a steep hill to the Cours Julien. This is a darling little neighbourhood boasting cafes and bars galore. My personal 'commendation is that you grab a slice (or two) of pizza from a van (there is one by the metro stop) or from La Pizz'A (rumoured to serve Marseille's most superior slice) for your dins. For lunch I would hope you had had the initiative / culinary know-how to purchase a baguette, a tomato and perhaps a tin of green beans. It's cheap, it's vegan, it's deelishious. But obviously you could buy a regular sarnie from any Boulangerie.
7) Weather permitting, you may wish to treat yourself to a tinny, or perhaps excellent-value bottle of red wine purchased from the nearby supermarket... then sit yourself down on your God-given buttocks somewhere around the cours' fountains. Failing that, you may enter the heart of C.J., where the Champs du Mars serves €1 pastis (a traditional local aniseed liqueur - initially repulsive, but by the 4th glass oddly refreshing), or La Passerelle - a wine cave that serves an excellent €3 glass of kir (absolutely impossible to pronounce - never once did they understand me first time). From a chair in the middle of the pavement, you can relax in front of the cave, inhaling second-hand smoke and watching the world go by (in these moments, I like to think of myself as a stationary flâneuse). The owner of the bar also looks suspiciously like David Bowie (and my first boyfriend :D). The Champs entices a crowd of young 20- and 30-somethings, while the Passerelle attracts an older, more laid-back bunch. Beware men tried to nick my phone on at least 5 occasions in the C.J. but they gave it back every time when they realised my screen was cracked. Just something to bear in mind. A safety measure of sorts. Throw your phone on the ground :D .... throw! IT!!!!!
8) Finish your day off in the Babyclub - which I have never been to but have heard good things about. I'm warning you now: if you just wander into any other club at random, the chances of being met with reggaeton are tragically high.
I'm back - teehee! Here is my one-day guide to visiting the city, based on a WhatsApp I sent to someone who asked for 'commendations and then never went. It ain't tried and tested so may be too ambitious on a hot summer's day... sozzles!
1) Arrive at Gare St-Charles. 2) Walk from the station down the Grand Escalier to Noailles, where there's a big, hectic fruit 'n' veg market.
3) Head to your right, to the Vieux Port (the waterfront). It's a bit confusing 'cos this is not a tourist attraction per sé (as in there is no activity to do or obvious place to unnecessarily spend money - just this here mirror ceiling thing) but it's the centre of the city where all the gatherings are. If you go on a Saturday there'll be Gilets Jaunes and usually people protesting about the current political situation in Algeria [politics accurate (if betrayingly vague) at time of publishing].
4) Head to the left-hand side of the port and walk 40ish minutes up to the Notre Dame de la Garde - a magnificent church which proffers a wonderful panorama of the city. You can come up the hill from one side and go back down the other. I dare you. 
Then this is where the guide becomes one of those books where you have to roll dice at the end of each chapter to make 'your own' story! Cold/mild weather: please proceed to step 5a. Hot weather, skip ahead to 5b!
5a) If you are feeling ambitious and vulturing for some culturing, you can schlepp back over to the other side of the port (right-hand side when walking towards the water). Here you will find the MuCEM - Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations. I advise skipping this if you are running out of time or overheating... However, I thought I'd include it as it is famous and moderately interesting. 
5b) Time to hit the beach, you lucky thing! I loved the Malmousque / Fausse Monnaie area, where it's rocky but more peaceful than the sandy beaches, and good for swimming. Then you get a really gorgeous walk back along the coastline towards the centre. It's quite a busy road, but the architecture is super varied on one side of you, and you can see the sea on the other!
6) Make your way along Marseille's narrow, road-work-and-rat-infested streets, up a steep hill to the Cours Julien. This is a darling little neighbourhood boasting cafes and bars galore. My personal 'commendation is that you grab a slice (or two) of pizza from a van (there is one by the metro stop) or from La Pizz'A (rumoured to serve Marseille's most superior slice) for your dins. For lunch I would hope you had had the initiative / culinary know-how to purchase a baguette, a tomato and perhaps a tin of green beans. It's cheap, it's vegan, it's deelishious. But obviously you could buy a regular sarnie from any Boulangerie.
8) Finish your day off in the Babyclub - which I have never been to but have heard good things about. I'm warning you now: if you just wander into any other club at random, the chances of being met with reggaeton are tragically high.
If you've got another day I would highly recommend a trip to the Calanques, a row of picturesque coves easily accessible from the city by bus.
Bon voyage!
Bon voyage!
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