Articles
Marseille
Situated 31 km (19 miles) south of Aix-en-Provence, 188 km (117 miles) west of Nice and 772 km (483 miles) south of Paris.
Very much dragged through the mud, Marseille is frequently afforded a wide berth by travellers in search of a Provencal idyll. It is their loss, for they leave out its cubistic clutters of white stone coming up over a picturesque seaport, bathed in light of dazzling clearness and capped by epic neo-Byzantine church buildings. Its neighbourhoods swarm with multi-ethnic living, it has souk comparable African marketplaces that fume lusciously of spices and coffee beans, its mazy Old Town is coloured in wide strokes of saffron, cinnamon, and robin's egg blue. Spirited and partial to large-minded gestures, Marseille comprises a dynamic urban center, as sophisticated nowadays as when the Phoenicians first established the city, and with all the exoticness of the worldwide merchant marine port it's constituted for 2,600 years. Essential to the Crusades in the Middle Ages and all important to Louis XIV as a militaristic port, Marseille boomed whilst being France's shop front to the world and the boom continues to this day.
The core of Marseille is concentrated close to the Vieux Port immortalized in all its brackish appeal in the 1961 Leslie Caron motion picture version of Fanny. With car hire Marseille explore the hills to the south of the port which are topped with huge monuments, such as Notre-Dame de la Garde and Fort St-Jean. Northward lies the bedraggled hilltop Old Town called Le Panier. Due east of the port you will discover the North African neighbourhood and, to the left, the celebrated thoroughfare titled La Canebiere. To the south of the city, the clifftop waterfront main road extends to hidden and coloured ports and coves.
Among many museums dedicated to Marseille's story as a shipping port, the Musee de la Marine (Maritime Museum) centers on the 17th century to now. It is wholly about boats: there are steamboats and sailing boats and schooners in miniature, in addition to a accumulation of paintings and photographic prints of the port in action.
The contemporary, spacious Musee d'Histoire de Marseille (Marseille History Museum) sorts out Massalia's history by putting on their hoarded wealth of archeological discoveries in informative exhibits. There is a genuine Greek-era wooden ship in an air-tight sealed exhibit case.
The Jardin des Vestiges (Garden of Remains), right behind the Marseille History Museum, stands on the site of Marseille's classical waterfront and includes remains of the Greek fortifications and loading docks. It was chanced upon in 1967 whilst a series of road works where in place next to the Bourse (Stock Exchange).
The possibilities are endless with car hire Marseille and you can really explore this city and region for less than you think. So arm yourself with a Marseille Poche (a glossy monthly events guide for Marseille) and you will find countless attractions to keep you on your feet in Marseille. The closest airport is Marseille Airport within striking distance of the city centre.
