Hi again! Can’t get enough of this beautiful city, huh? I bet
you even want to visit Marseille after reading these blogs. Well, today is your
lucky day, because in this final blog I will plan you a weekend trip to
Marseille! Consider this the first step in your external search for information about Marseille – you are gathering
information from an external source (a friendly internet blog) before making a
decision (Babin & Harris, 2016, p. 259). Bon
Voyage!
Day 1 – The City
So you just woke up in the most beautiful city in the world.
Let’s check it out!
First of all, you MUST visit Le Vieux Port, aka the “Old
Port.” This is Marseille’s city center, featuring a plethora of restaurants,
shops, and activities. If you get up early you can catch a glimpse of the fish
market, starting daily at 8 am. Here you’ll see fishermen crowding the city
square selling the fresh catches of the day. At the port, I recommend stopping
in some tourist shops to pick up some Savon de Marseille – the region’s
handmade soap – and some French cookies at La Cure Gourmande.
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| The iconic metal pavilion in the Port. |
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| C'est moi! On the left side you'll see Notre Dame de la Garde, always watching over the Port. |
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| La Cure Gourmande, and adorable French candy shop just off the Port. |
Next, jump on a bus or in a cab and head up the hill to the
famous Notre Dame de la Garde. This stunning cathedral offers unbelievable
views of the city and breathtaking architecture, and it is the one thing every
Marseille tourist must absolutely experience.
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| Notre Dame de la Garde! |
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| The interior |
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| Check out that view!!!! |
While atop the cathedral, you may have noticed a large stadium. This is Stade Velodrome, the 67,000 seat stadium that is home to France’s top-tier football team, Olympique de Marseille (Stade Velodrome, n.d.). While you might not have time to catch a game here, a tour of the stadium will be a good way to learn about one of the major lifestyles (ways that people spend their time and money) in France – football (Babin & Harris, 2016, p. 121).
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| Stade Velodrome Source: bouygues-construction.com |
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| This stadium is almost as cool as the Big House. Maybe. Source: dailymail.co.uk |
After leaving the stadium, head to dinner in the Castellane
region – a long street featuring many restaurants, marked by a statue that
still remains in its original condition since being built in 1798 (Place
Castellane, n.d.).
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| It always blew my mind that people could just walk past this beautiful, ancient monument every day as if it was no big deal... |
Day 2 – The Sea
First up today is les Calanques, or “the coves”. These coves
are what this region is really known for, so seeing them is a necessity. One of
my favorite ways to experience the Calanques was through a boat tour. These
tours are specifically designed for tourists, so when I decided to take one, it
was a huge social risk, as I was
trying to fit in as a local and knew that my native French friends would
perceive the purchase a bit negatively (Babin & Harris, 2016, p. 253). However,
the boat leaves from the Vieux Port and takes passengers into several of the
coves, offering the absolute best views of the unique formations as well as of
the crystal-clear water.
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| Boats on the Port |
After the boat tour, I also recommend hiking one of the
Calanques. The most popular is the Calanque en Vau, the primary cove in the
National Park of Calanques. There is a lot of hiking involved here, but the
views along the way are breathtaking, and the hike ends at a beach. Plus, there
are opportunities to rest on the side of the cove in the sun or even rent a
kayak.
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| Charming view from my hike at le Calanque en Vau |
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| The beach makes the hike worth it! |
Finally, after a long day of exploring nature, you MUST visit the restaurant that changed my life – the one I have mentioned in all of my blogs so far. The Club House is located right in the Vieux Port and offers an all-you-can-eat buffet of local fish, desserts, cheeses, and wine for only 20 Euros. When deciding on a restaurant, consumers often value price and quality, and I assure you that this restaurant is outstanding on both (Babin & Harris, 2016, p. 260). Here is the Yelp page for the restaurant.
There is of course so much more to do in Marseille – I lived
there for two months and did not see it all. To truly decide what else to
squeeze into your itinerary, I suggest following your experiential decision-making perspective and decide based on what
feels right to you (Babin & Harris, 2016, p. 252). Here are some pictures of
things that I did not mention yet just to get you started:
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| Vallon des Auffes - a tiny fishing town under a bridge in Marseille |
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| Fort St. Jean - a 1660 fort built by King Louis XIV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Saint-Jean_(Marseille)) |
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| Cassis is another small town that is connected to Marseille with beautiful cliffs, perfect for cliff diving! |
Merci beaucoup, readers
– thank you for following along as a I re-live my experience in the most
beautiful city in the world. I love Marseille with all my heart, and I truly
hope that you have the chance to visit one day. Salut, ciao, au revoir, et bonne chance!
Babin, B. J., & Harris, E. G. (2016). CB7. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Place Castellane. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29,
2017, from http://www.marseilletourisme.fr/les-monuments/place-castellane/
Stade Velodrome. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29,
2017, from http://www.stadiumguide.com/velodrome/
*All photos are my own unless otherwise cited!
Hello Again :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved your last article even if I understand how difficult it is to summarize such a nice city in just few lines.
Thanks a lot for mentionning the Olympique de Marseille and its beautiful Stadium : Le Stade Velodrome (aka Le Vel').
I think Marseille is wonderful city for its cosmopolitan character. At the corner of South Europe and North Africa, I don't think there is another city in Europe which is such a melting pot of microculture (Babin,2016).
I think you saw that both by the diversity of people you encountered bot also through the diversity of food you tried.
Marseille is, according to me, the best example of acculturation. Acculturation because you got people from all over North Africa who learnt the french culture and how to behave like most french do. However, the French also learnt the immigrants culture and integrated them into the community (Babin,2016).
They all learnt how to live together and how to make Marseille a city with a mix of cultures like nowhere else. Sports and Food are to me the best thing to reunite people towards a same goal and a same passion and this is what is happening in Marseille, if you agree ahah.
Anyway I loved your blog, I hope you had many wonderful moment in France and as I already told you, I encourage you to go in Bordeaux, the French Paradise (to me ;-) ).
Let me know if you plan to go there or in Paris, I'll give some good advices.
Sources :
Babin, B. J., & Harris, E. G. (2016). CB7. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
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ReplyDeleteHi Kendra!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing! I have never been to Europe before but definitely plan to sometime in my life. You have definitely convinced me to stop by Marseille! When you mentioned that there was a huge social risk you took while trying to fit in, I definitely think that shows how bold you are (Babin & Harris, 2016, p. 253). Also, when you mentioned that it always blew your mind that people could just walk past the beautiful ancient monument as if it was a no big deal, I would say that is an example of you making a social comparison, a nautrally occuring mental personal comparison of the self with a target individual within the environment, which I also do everytime there is a tour groups on our campus (Babin & Harris, 2016, p. 245).Sometimes, people forget to look around and enjoy the view of their day to day, and this reminds me to do that more!
Babin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). In CB 7 (7th ed., pp. 253, 245). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Hi Kendra!
ReplyDeleteI love to travel and explore new places, and the southern coast of France has been on my bucket list for a while. Thus, I really enjoyed reading your blog posts about Marseille. I have been to Paris before, but have never had the chance to visit the other parts of France such as the Côte d'Azur or Provence, and Marseille seems like the perfect place to experience what life on the French Riviera is like.
I guess my desire to visit Marseille and the south of France stems from my emotional involvement (Babin, & Harris, 2016, pp. 95) with travel: I love to explore new places and immerse myself in fresh experiences, and Marseille due to its metropolitan identity, and cultural confluence seems like just the place to do that. Furthermore, there is the aspect of hedonic motivation (Babin, & Harris, 2016, pp. 93) connected to Marseille that attracts me to it. I first learnt of the French Riviera – known for its fascinating history, pristine beauty, and the abundance of luxury – courtesy of James Bond. James Bond has a deep connection to the southern coast of France, and several scenes from various Bond movies have been shot in the area. Since childhood I have been a huge fan of James Bond, and he is part of an aspirational group (Babin, & Harris, 2016, pp. 158) of fictional characters that I admire, and thus, I too have wanted to go to the French Coast for a long time. Your blog has only made me want to go to Marseille and other cities nearby more…
Reference:
Babin, B. J., & Harris, E. G. (2016). Consumer Behavior (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Hi Kendra! I love you you gave a weekend itinerary for this last post. As much as I would love to spend a whole week in a place, this does not happen too often. I am currently planning a trip to Thailand after graduation and have been scouring backpacking itineraries on blogs to make sure I have a plan to see all the highlights. I love getting recommendations from locals, or at least someone who has thoroughly explored the place, when I visit someplace new because it gives the recommendation a lot more credibility and trustworthiness (Babin, & Harris, 2016, p. 75). I totally understand trying to avoid being a tourist when you are living in that place, but it sounds like the tour of the Calanques was worth it! Your blog has definitely put Marseille on my bucket list, and whenever I make it there I definitely want to take that boat tour. Thanks for the recommendations!
ReplyDeleteReference:
Babin, B.J., & Harris, E.G. (2016). Consumer Behavior (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.