The fish market was relatively quiet this morning..so much so, we overslept and had to adapt our plans for the day. Two buses became one train and a thirty minute walk to catch it.
After arriving at La Couronne train station we were confronted with an out of order ticket machine.
“You can do it online” said the friendly Frenchman. I was having a ‘glasses’ day so struggling to see anything close up, so Guy had to negotiate the French website which required date of birth, email, blood group etc 🤣 ‘Not easy’ the man said!
As we stood waiting , everyone still trying to buy tickets, I noticed on the opposite platform it said ‘Direction Marseille’. Ha ha ..nearly all missed the train anyway!
What a lovely experience, so clean and quiet as it breezed along the beautiful coastline. After about forty minutes the graffiti started to appear as we approached Marseille-St-Charles station.
Such a big city with tall blocks of buildings with long narrow shutters all around.
We came across the Porte d’Aix first. A lovely piece of architecture in the form of an arch, marking victories in the Napoleonic wars. Some dodgy characters hanging around though, and all reports say it smells of urine if you get up close!
On to the Vieille Charité or old charity centre, a domed, seventeenth century workhouse that’s now become a cultural centre with the accompanying weird art installations.
Down towards the old port next, we visited the stunning cathedral which had a distinctive striped pattern in the stonework, similar to the ones found in Italy but less ornate.
Flagging already, we need lunch but the fish restaurants facing the old port were out of our price range, so we ended up with a baguette stuffed with chicken and anything else they could think of!
The old port itself is absolutely massive and chock full of boats – it takes a good twenty minutes to walk down each side!
At the top end is a mirrored, flat roofed installation that reflects all the people walking by on the ground. It very disorientating.
Carried on around, and up to the Fort Saint-Nicholas, an imposing 17th century citadelle guarding the entrance to the port. The view from the top was astounding – it really shows the size of it all.
Checked out train times and realised we’d never make the 45 minute trek back to the train station in 35 minutes so we took our time, walking through a few areas that felt more Moroccan than French. Groups of men with their glasses of mint tea and cigarettes, I was transported back to Fez!
Worn out now! 🤣😴 Glad we’ve been – it’s a colourful kind of place. Probably looks amazing at sunset, but once it gets dark, I’d want to get out of there fast!
