“Why Marseille?” asked a friend.

“It’s where I’m going to board a cruise.”

“Ahh, that makes sense,”

I suppose it’s not a common tourist location, but rather Paris or Chamonix, but I did really like Marseille. It’s not a small city, but actually the second largest, next to Paris. In France, Marseille is seen as a more “dangerous” place due to drug-related and petty crime. When I was there? There was not a moment where I felt unsafe. I got in Ubers, walked alone and even in the dark (not my choice; the plane landed later in the night and before going to the hotel, I needed to find an ATM to pay my poor Uber driver as I thought my card was connected to the Uber app, and yet it wasn’t.) Some passers, drinking outside a bar saw me confused and semi-lost and were willing to help me.

Are the French really mean?

I personally did not see any of this. In fact, I thought there were all very friendly and kind. I didn’t talk to a bunch of people, but when I got to the hotel, which I’ll speak about in a minute- the person at the front desk was kind and gentle. The hotel had a bar and the server brought my food to me and he did go digging to find the specific Quiche that I wanted. The hotel workers in the morning asked if I slept well and all of the Uber drivers were very nice to me. One of them knew there was a race happening in Marseille, and told me that it’s difficult to get to the point I wanted because of all the road closures, but he did get as close as he could until I offered to get out and walk the rest of the way. There was a woman in the park who said hello to me as her dog approached me and when I was leaving the hotel and needed tape for my luggage tag, the person at the front desk gave me tape and then asked if I needed help taping the tag onto my suitcase. My last Uber driver, Isabella was extremely kind and made sure I knew where I was going when getting to the Cruise as it was my first time on MSC in Marseille. All this is to say- I didn’t perceive anyone to be “mean” or “rude” like the stereotype says. Having said that- I’m a 5 ft 100lb woman, I don’t look nearly 27 (more like a teenager to my dismay) and I did make an effort to speak French, there were only a few times that I had to speak in English because of my limitation of the language, lol!

WHERE TO STAY IN MARSEILLE: MEININGER HOTEL

On Sunday, I stayed at the MEININGER Hotel in Marseille. It’s truly a lovely place, although the photos online make it look more like a hostel, but I can guarantee you that it’s cozy, quaint and spacious. The people at the front desk were very kind and accommodating.

The hotel had a kitchen space for cooking, as well as free breakfast and outside patio. There was a bar with drinks and small meals (a la carte) as well as to-go sandwiches for the road (also a la carte). There was game room, vending machines and a few other amenities as well.

The room itself was nice, there were multiple types of charging ports- US included, a pretty spacious bathroom, TV and then all your other essentials as well. You do have to put your room card in a slot once you get into the room for the electricity to turn on. Something that I believe is pretty typical in European countries, but not as much in the US.

Overall, I was very pleased with the hotel experience here.

EXPLORING MARSEILLE:

I knew I wasn’t going to be in Marseille very long, less than 24 hours, in fact and I wanted to do everything I possibly could in my short time there. I was pretty ambitious, let me say and my itinerary from 10am to around 1-2pm was…

• Porte d’Aix- landmark
• Église Saint Vincent de Paul- church
• Palais Longchamps (possibly my favorite!)- park/garden
• Parc Borely- park/garden
• La Corniche- coastal roads/beaches
• Notre Dame de la garde- basilica
• Basilique du Sacre- basilica
• Cathedrale de la Major – cathedral
• Le Panier- historical shopping/restaurant center

Porte d’Aix

And did I do it all? With a lot of hustle, I sure did! Thankfully, many of these landmarks were either walkable or a short 10-15 minute Uber drive which sure helped. The first was the Porte D’Aix monument and only about 10 minutes or so (walking) from the hotel. The Porte D’Aix represents the entry to the city. It was inspired by the triumphal arches of the Roman Empire, a design by Michel-Robert Penchaud, a French architect from 1772-1833.

Église Saint Vincent de Paul

Next up was the Église Saint Vincent de Paul, otherwise known as the Church of the Reformed. It was about a 15 minute walk from the Porte d’Aix and on my way to the next destination (but about a 4 minute drive). Now because the only reason I was in Marseille was for the cruise and the cruise started Sunday at 2pm, while I did enjoy the churches, many of them were either closed (coming too early) or were open but in service, and I didn’t really feel comfortable taking pictures during a sermon. It feels almost disrespectful for me, which may have been how I was able to really zoom through all of these places so quickly. Having said that, it was around 10am I believe when I had visited this church and it was closed- but the exterior was stunning, and since it was on the way to my next destination, it wasn’t really out of my way either and glad I stopped by.

They really don’t make US buildings like this, huh? Such gorgeous and delicate work. And here we are spending 5 years making a new highway…

Palais Longchamps (possibly my favorite!)

This was possibly my favorite and I did also walk here. I didn’t mind the walk, (4 mins walk) it was good to get some steps in (I actually ended the day with 24,000 steps… my average is like 5-8k a day haha!) But glad I did it anyways, plus it saves on ride share money! This park was massive, like HUGE and the best part? Totally free. There were a couple sections of Palais Longchamps, the front with the gardens, and then a funny zoo in the back. In 1855 to 1987, Palais Longchamps hosted the first provincial zoo in France. While the zoo is no longer in business, the enclosures remain, with quirky-looking animal sculptures, now renamed the “funny zoo.”

In addition to the stunning garden, it also houses both the Musée des beaux-arts and the Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Marseille. (Arts and natural history). Given the time and likely due to it being 10am on a Sunday, I wasn’t able to see these, but I encourage you to check out a fellow blogger’s blog for some insider photos of these museums here!

Parc Borely:

I did take an Uber to my next place because it was a little farther and like I said, was on a crunch for time here! This park is a public park and once again- free. It is classified by the Ministry of Culture as one of the Remarkable Gardens of France and when I arrived there were many joggers and bikers here. It’s a beautiful place to get up in the morning and get those endorphins running!

The park itself is divided into five different sections; The French Part, English Part, Rose Garden, Racecourse and Botanical (Asian Garden). In the garden, also sits Château Borély, a museum that was reopened in 2013. This museum houses both the fashion department of over 10,000 pieces and the Department of Earthenware and Decorative Arts of contemporary pieces including ceramics, glasses, etc. You can find out more about the museum here.

La Corniche:

La Corniche is a seaside roadway in Marseille that offers some gorgeous and peaceful views whether it be a place to sit and soak in the calming waters and bright sun or a place to jog, watching the sunset over the horizon. It’s laden with beaches and small stores/cafes along the way.

Notre Dame de la Garde:

Throughout this trip, I continuously kicked myself for having the only free day being on a Sunday. The reason? Many of the sites in Marseille are related to churches, cathedrals and basilicas. As I had to board the ship around 2pm, the bulk of my time exploring Marseille was during church services, meaning many of the interior rooms that I may have been able to visit at another time were not available on the day I had gone, either way- I did enjoy what I did see.

The Notre-Dame de la Garde is the most visited sight in Marseille, sitting 505 feet above ground, or at least the tallest point is. You can walk and enjoy the view, as I did, or take a touristic train (number 60) up the hill.

The hill in which it sits on is called the The hill of the ‘Garde.’ And in 1214, Pierre, a priest, had built a small chapel and sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary. While it worked for a time, it wasn’t until the mid 19th century that it was clear it was far too small for the amount of pilgrims visiting. It was here when Monseigneur de Mazenod had decided to build the Notre-Dame de la Garde on this very hill. The first stone was laid on the 11th of September 1853 and it now continues to be common tourist site for many.

Inside, the basilica holds two permanent exhibitions spread over two floors, with over 2,000 documents, photos and objects, some of which date back to as early as the 1200s.

Basilique du Sacre-Cœur-de-Jesus

There is surprisingly little about this Basilica and there was a service going on inside, so I did not take photos of the Basilica in order to respect the worship service. However, I did go here and wanted to share at least the outside photo!

Cathedrale de la Major

With time running out before returning to the hotel and needing to check out, I was grateful that this Cathedral along with my last stop were within walking distance (like 4 minutes!) The Cathedrale de la Major had both stunning internal and external architecture. It is a Roman Catholic cathedral and a national monument of France and has been a basilica since 1896, yet it was built in 1893. The total length of the Cathedral is 479 ft, the main dome is almost 230 ft high and 59 ft in diameter.

I did not go in all of churches, so maybe if I had, I would say differently- but from my time- I would honestly say that I thought this Cathedrale was my favorite.

Le Panier

Lastly, Le Panier is a small neighborhood in France with restaurants in the town square with smaller stores down narrow roads coming from the town square. I thought it was a great touch to end my time in Marseille and felt it to have such a sweet feel.

Do I recommend Marseille, France?

I thought it was a gorgeous pitstop and unlike what I’ve heard, I found it to be friendly, safe and welcoming. There was so much to do and I wish I had more time to really explore the city, and immerse myself in their culture, food and daily living. Perhaps I will return one day. There were many tourists and others in the area, I saw kids, couples, etc. There were (like any city) people on the streets asking for money, but it never felt pushy. I hope this post can help you decide if this is somewhere you’d like to visit. And if you ever need someone to help you book the best fights, find the safest hotels, secure the activities that fit what you’re looking for and get the BEST deals, you know where to find me!

Cheers friends and travelers!
~ Backroad Butterflies ~

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