Marseille

When we were deciding whether or not to move to Paris last year, one of the biggest items on the pro-moving side was travelling.  We already knew that we'd like to travel as much as possible in the first few years of being married and being located in the middle of western Europe would make that at lot easier and cheaper.  It was because of all of this theoretical travel that we started this blog.

Finally, after living here for 7 months, we finally started travelling in April...or at least I did.

Since my coworkers won't be coming to our wedding (it's a long way to go...I wouldn't go if someone wasn't making me), we decided to have an impromptu European bachelor trip to Marseille.

I will apologize a bit in advance.  Since this was a trip that was less about being a tourist and more about...well...drinking, I didn't take my SLR.  Where applicable, please excuse the potato-quality pictures.

Travelling by train in Europe is, without doubt, the best mode of transportation known to man.  You show up 15 minutes before your train leaves, bring whatever you want with you (within reason of course), and get to enjoy watching the countryside fly by at 300 km/h.  For anywhere within 800 km or-so of Paris, I wouldn't travel any other way.

Delicious sea creatures

We arrived in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday April 11th to a beautiful day.  Temperatures in the mid-20s in April is still a novelty that I'm not really sure will ever wear off.  Being right on the sea means that the seafood is quite excellent.  So we started our day with some moules (mussels) beside the harbour.  It was easily some of the best seafood I've had in my life.  The beer wasn't too shabby either.

A small section of preserved Roman wall with
the Porte d'Aix in the background.

Marseille is quite an interesting place, historically.  Once you start to peel back the layers, you can see it has been an important place for as long as there has been history.  Cave paintings in the nearby Cosquer Cave date back to at least 20,000 BCE.  It was an important Greek outpost that was home to Pythagoras (yes, THAT Pythagoras) and later became an important Roman trading port.  It was a hotbed of dissent in the years leading up to the French Revolution.  The song sung by the revolutionary volunteers as they marched from Marseille to Paris, La Marseillaise, is the French national anthem.  On top of all of that, Marseille was also the site of several bombings and battles in World War II.

 Cathédrale La Major (exterior)

After that we spent the afternoon exploring north of Marseille's old port.  With some rather lucky stumbling around we happened upon Marseille's second-most famous church, Cathédrale La Major.  It's a fantastic mix of Roman and Byzantine design resulting in a rather breathtaking collection of masonry.

 Cathédrale La Major (interior)

 Cathédrale La Major (interior)

After seeing some of the local sights, we went in search of dinner and nightlife.  This involved a fantastic restaurant named Mario's (which surprisingly featured a few Nintendo-themed dishes in what looked like a normal little Italian place) and a solid Irish pub staffed by real Irishmen.

Notre-Dame de la Garde (exterior)

On Sunday morning we, appropriately, went to a church (for a visit at least).  Marseille is home to the stunning Notre-Dame de la Garde perched atop a 500 foot-tall spire of rock next to the old port.  Thankfully you can take the bus.

Notre-Dame de la Garde (interior)

The interior is much more Byzantine than the Cathedral in the main part of town and is quite impressive.

The basilica was also the site of some fairly furious fighting while the Allies were liberating Marseille.  The scars are still visible on the side of the building.

But easily one of the best parts of being up a Notre-Dame de la Garde is the view.  I'll just let it speak for itself.

The old port and harbour

Marseille

Marseille was a great place to start this European Odyssey (even if it was just me...).  Expect to see a lot more in the next few weeks...