One of the first things we did was visit (meaning hike up to) the Notre Dame de la Garde. Rachel recommended it for the views and the extravagant decor. What she didn't tell us was that you had to hike up a hill to reach the city's highest point (once again, not a huge fan of hills. But nothing can be worse can climbing up to Machu Picchu, which was much longer and much higher).
Mission accomplished! We have reached the church - now on to more steps to get to the top.
When we finally got to the top, there was a sense of accomplishment. This sense was so great, that we ended up just staying in the Notre Dame for a couple hours. We had the sun, a nice breeze, leftover croissants, nice seats...
A view from Notre Dame de la Garde. The islands in the back are supposedly the same islands from Count of Monte Cristo, one of my favorite books of all time (in fact, I'm sure that one of the islands was named Monte Cristo). I didn't enough money or interest to visit them but it's cool to see a part of the setting from your favorite novel (of course, my imagination rocks more).
One thing that was surprising about Marseille was the number of religious buildings. Spain is known for its Catholicism, but I never really associated Catholicism with France (I think of postmodern thinkers, good pastries, chopped off heads, etc.). We visited another place of worship (not the Cathedral of Marseille but the Abbey of St. Victor), which was much more humble in appearance. I think I like that better, sitting next to stones and listening to the the monks sing behind the walls, whose voices echo throughout the place. The Notre Dame was way too ornate for my taste. I couldn't stop looking at all the gold and pretty colors.
Another place we visited was a park (Jardin du Pharo). It was another place with nice views of the city, but closer to the water and not so high up. Near the gardens were the Palais du Pharo (built by Napoleon III) and a marine biology school.
Water! Unfortunately, we couldn't go to the beach (it rained on the day we were supposed to go) so this was as close I got to the water. We were joined in the park by old men who liked to just sit and stare at the sea.
Going to Marseille was one of the more unique experiences traveling because of the language. This was the first time I traveled to a city outside of Spain and the first time I traveled to a place in which I couldn't understand anything. Unlike Barcelona, where most people spoke English, Marseille didn't seem to have a strong English presence despite the tourists. Arabic had a much stronger presence in the city, especially where we stayed (our hostel was located in the Arabic section of Marseille). We always started the day with seeing a little Arabic.
Marseille has a diverse community - walking down the street, you can hear at least 5 different languages. People in Madrid like to say that they live in a diverse community, but I don't agree since groups of people are separated from other groups. In Marseille, partly because of its smaller size, you can't help but interact and live with people from different backgrounds (unless you live in the hills, where the wealthy people in Marseille live. But they are alone on their nice, high hills).
Marseille is not as cosmopolitan as Barcelona, where most Barcelonians could speak at least 3 languages, but it is charming in its own way. It's much more "gritty" than the other cities I've been to (that was the only word I could come up with, since my English vocabulary is shrinking). It wasn't as awe-inspiring or as beautiful as other cities, but I liked its diversity.
Susan
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