No matter are you film lover or not, you certainly saw titles like Count Monte Cristo, Taxi or Mr. Bean. And watching them you could see streets of Marseille, one of the most picturesque cities in France.
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As it the case with many Mediterranean cities, Marseille is built on many cultures that shaped its life through centuries. That second largest city in France is situated on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and as the capital of Provence region and the largest port in the country it is well-connected with other European countries and Africa. Exactly that mix of different cultures makes it a vivid, warm and relaxed town.
Marseilles is divided in several areas with the Vieux Port (The Old Port) being the centre around which the town arised. This is the perfect place for slow walk among old streets full of sea smells and sounds, small shops and restaurants with seafood. While you are walking along the shore, you won't see big yachts, but small fishing boats. One of the spots you shouldn't miss here is an old ship named Le Marseillois: she tells her sea stories from the past through the restaurant she is now converted to.
On your way along the stone-paved streets, don't look just at the historical buildings, people are what makes Marseille such a special city. A true Mediterranean spirit is on every corner: shop owners will call you inside with a smile, seniors will fiercely argue about wrong chess move just to drink a sip of wine with a smile just a minute after fight, old lady will look at you when are passing by her window, and little kid will get you a ball to play with him although he never saw you in his life. Marseille will be the European culture centre in 2013 and it can easily be the European city of smile.
If you manage somehow, with a lot of gestures and smiles, to leave the small family cafe you sit in (with a wonderful coffee and a hot, mutant-size hot croissant with chocolate), it's time to visit the south side of the Old Port. Louis XIV started to build here in 17th centuries but that area is completely rebuilt. In some 20 minutes you'll get to the Pharo Park, Basilique St-Victor ad Fort St-Nicolas.
Notre-Dame de la Garde, a fantastic old basilica, is visible from just every corner. It is situated on the top of the Garde Hill and it offers a spectacular view on the large part of Marseilles, its ports, streets and numerous hills. It will take you some time to climb up, but when you get there you'll forget your weary legs.
Marseille is not the typical city for visiting: "go here, here and here" is not a good strategy for this Mediterranean jewel. It's full of museums, cathedrals and basilicas, but it's also full of paint shops and small cafes that smell so deliciously. We can't describe the whole town in this article and you can't see it all in a few days. But don't worry: when we said to the old man in the street that we saw just two museums in one day, he answered with a laugh: "Never mind, you'll be back again anyway!" And handed over another giant croissant which definitively confirmed his statement. ■
