The French Riviera is Nice: Marseille

Hola todos,

At long last, the third and final installment is here. So, where were we...

Ah, yes. We moved west along the coast from Hyeres to Marseille, our third and final stop on this trip.  We had a few days to explore and, after resting for a decent chunk of time, intended to get plenty of steps walking around as much of the city as we could.

When we got to Marseille, it was a little drizzly.  But we walked around the downtown, in awe of the beautiful French architecture.

  

And, of course, as we explored, we also got our bearings.  This was a huge basilica across town (we went there a few days later) but it was unreal how well you could see it a couple miles away.

We made our way to Marseille's original port and waterfront to see what was there.  The answer:  another huge church.

  

The scale of this thing was incredible.

The next day on our walking tour, we learned that this church was built to be the first thing that ships coming into the port would see (and thus the size).  The original church was a bit smaller, so it was torn down and replaced with this bigger one.  Some walls of the original church are still standing.

 

We explored the inside, which was decked out with mosaic tiles and artwork (and, as a bonus, helped us escaped the drizzle).

 

 

 

The next morning was our walking tour (I'm nothing if not consistent...), which started in the downtown marina where we began our exploration the day before (also called Vieux, or "old", Port).  We got there with time to spare, but there was a farmer's market set up that we perused for a bit--fresh breads, fruits, and seafood.

  

And we walked up a main boulevard in the downtown area (in search of good coffee, but with the added bonus of getting to see the character of the city during morning commute time).

  

Our walking tour was led by an anthropologist from Argentina who moved to Marseille almost a decade ago, so he had a unique perspective to share and did an incredible job telling Marseille's story over the course of our several hours together.

  

On the walking tour, we got to see some street art that was just incroyable...

...and learned all about Marseille's soap-making history and culture. There's a special Marseille recipe and technique--something to do with the salinity of the ocean water used in part of the soapmaking process--and true savon de Marseille is uncolored and unscented, so it's great even for sensitive skin.

The best "locals know this" thing that we learned on the tour was that the park space next to the cathedral that we had been to the day before had stunning sunsets overlooking the vieux port. That night, we took a picnic dinner to test it out. As advertised, it was beautiful. (And, fortunately, there are very few people who read this blog because otherwise I'd be at risk of letting out Marseille's most stunning secret.) There were locals and tourists walking around, running by, or picnicking themselves, but it wasn't too crowded or loud. We snacked and sipped and watched the cruise ships enter and exit the harbor and other boats cross the horizon.

(No, the pictures do not do it justice. I guess you'll just have to go to Marseille and see it for yourself!)

The next day was our Count of Montecristo day--with a trip to the Chateau d'If! It's a short ferry ride from Marseille (you can actually see the island from the city).

The ferry ride itself was beautiful--the water is a beautiful blue and you can sightsee some of the different parts of the Marseille coastline on the ride to the island.

They have a self-guided tour that takes a couple of hours, so we wandered around the former prison  (yes, it was a real prison!), learning about the stories of the prisoners and Alexander Dumas and the history of Marseille.

Prisoners' names are etched into the wall throughout the prison, sometimes in these beautiful custom designs.

  

The views from the chateau are so beautiful, and the weather was perfect.

After getting back to Marseille and resting for a little bit, we wandered across town to the other side of Marseille. The church we had spotted the other day--the Notre Dame de la Garde--is Marseille's basilica and, due to its hilltop location, has incredible views of the water and city. We took a local bus to get up there and were not disappointed.

We ate lunch just outside the basilica on some benches with this view. Not too shabby!

  

The inside of the basilica was stunning. Just like the other church, the mosaic work on the walls, ceiling, and floors was breathtaking. Unlike the other church, though, this basilica is rather small. (At least by square feet. As you can see, the vaulted ceilings were pretty high up there.)

We went back to the Airbnb to rest our legs and enjoy some air conditioning, but then it was time to head the other direction in Marseille to the fine arts museum--but not to see any art.

Well, we would have gone to see some of the art, except that the museum was closed that day. But that was okay, because the real attraction for us was actually the exterior of the museum.

Um, wow.

 

It was stunning, and it's this lovely public space that leads to a park behind it. So even when the museum is closed, you can still appreciate the beautiful architecture, sculptures, fountains, and green space in the midst of the city.

 

Climbing up the stairs earns you a little treat--that lovely view of the garden and Marseille!

We rested in the park for a little bit, enjoying the calm green and the cooler air until the park shut down. Then we were off to the port for another sunset picnic dinner on the water.

Another peaceful evening, but make sure to bring a light jacket, even in the hot summer months. After the sun set, it got a little chilly!

Our final full day in France was a relaxing one--there was plenty more we could have done, both in and around Marseille, but I wanted to have a relaxing, stress-free end to our time in France. (And it had been a few days since we had been on a beach!) So off to a small local beach we went. And the best part was that it was accessible via the city bus and had a grocery store within walking distance for reprovisioning throughout the day.

The water was blue, even though it was close to the city's harbor. (No dirty New York Hudson over here!) It was a little cold but ultimately refreshing as we got hot throughout the afternoon. I think we were there from like 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. just chilling. It was parfait.

Once we were ready to change out of our salty, sandy clothes, we went back to the Airbnb, but not for long--we wanted to see one last sunset at our new go-to spot: it was time for a picnic dinner and gorgeous views.

  

We had yet another lovely and relaxing evening watching the sun set and the locals walk by and the ships sail off. Truly the perfect end to not just an incredible day, but also a perfect trip.

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Marseille was a refreshing city adventure in the midst of days filled with beach time, adding some travel to our vacation. But I think it's fair to say that Nice was tough place to start because it so totally captured our hearts--very little would have been able to top that.

This girls' trip was 10 out of 10--the locations, the food and drink, the weather, and the company all combined into a truly special time with my mom that neither of us will ever forget. I am so grateful that we were both able to find the time and space to take this trip!

The next travels are never too far away. I'm saving up (both money and vacation time) for some exciting adventures soon to come. Stay tuned!

Bisous, et à la prochaine--

Tina the Exploradora

The French Riviera is Nice: Hyères, There, and Everywhere

Hola todos,

After sorrowfully saying goodbye (or, rather, au revoir) to Nice, we got on our train to Hyères (pronounced, as best as we can tell, "yair" but you swallow the "r"). Hyères is a small little coastal town (one of many in the region!) that basically starts the French Riviera from the west. When we were planning out our trip, we thought it would be nice to get a small town pause in the exploring hustle and bustle (read: forced rest for Tina).

But we actually spent our time in Nice at a decent pace, including lots of time at the beach, and we loved Nice so much that I was worried we had set ourselves up for disappointment in Hyères.

As it turns out, I needn't have worried at all.

* * *

From Nice, we had a train and a transfer, and then a short city bus ride to where our Airbnb was. Since we were staying on the far east side of Hyères, near the marina and the water, we didn't get to see any of the downtown area of Hyères on our way in from the train station.

It took us a couple of hours to get to Hyères, so by the time we were situated and ready to hit the beach, it was the late afternoon. We were in beach withdrawal, so we stopped by a grocery store for an easy dinner and made our way to the beach for as long as we could hold out that evening.

The beaches were sand, which provided a new hurdle we hadn't had to face yet on this trip. (Windy beach + sand + food (or really anything else) = lots of strategic towel anchors and tucking deep into bags!) Our little area of beach was in a protected cove, so there weren't waves, misting, or spraying to deal with. The weather was a little cooler and the water was much colder than Nice, but we tucked into our books and listened to the water and generally just had a relaxing evening.

As Hyères is a small town and we were there at the end of the summer season, there were very few people around the beach. The marina was a bit more lively at night after folks came in and docked their boats. On our walk back from the beach to our Airbnb, we passed a few restaurants on the marina, including one that advertised a local band performance the next evening. We didn't want to overcommit our schedules, but we added that to the list of things we could do the next day.

Our second (and only entire) day in Hyères, we took it easy--we spent the entire day on the beach (or, really, the small patch of sand next to the other small patch of sand we had been at the day before) and only interrupted the beach time to walk to the local grocery store for lunch and hydration. We slept, read and chatted; the weather wasn't too hot, but when we wanted to cool down the (very cold) water was right there. There were a few fish swimming around (and nibbling ankles if you entered the water). In a word: perfect.

After a full beach day, we felt refreshed and interested in a little night out in Hyères--some local wine and food, some music, and views of the marina sounded like a good way to spend our final night there. So we got cleaned up, put on cute outfits, and went to that restaurant we had passed the night before.

When we got there, it was pretty dead (which didn't surprise us: it was a weekday evening and almost the off-season) so we managed to get a table with a nice view.

But, as it turned out, we were just there too early for the French--lots of the tables had reservations and filled up within the hour!

We ordered some regional wine (the restaurant was affiliated with a winery) and some pâté (definitely not my thing but definitely my mom's!) and just enjoyed the people-watching and the views and, when the show started, the music.

 

The band was great and played mostly American rock hits--so we could sing along! We stayed out later than we thought we would because we were having such a good time. Comparing notes later, we agree that this was one of our favorite memories of the trip.

The next morning, it was sprinkling as we left Hyères. We grabbed our coffees and croissants and caught the next train out to Marseilles, our next and last stop. The stopover in Hyères was short (fewer than 48 hours) but provided us the rest and calm and scaled-back tourism that we hoped it would. We were ready to tackle another city and get our step counts back up!

Besos,

Tina the Exploradora