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After living five months in Grenoble we make our first overnight trip out of town on the Easter weekend. We take a SNCF to Valence TGV and change to the TGV train to Marseille.
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The TGV is late but we still have some daylight left when in Marseille.
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The railway station is situated on top of the hill from where we have a great view over the town with Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde in the background.
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These monumental steps lead down to the city.
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After checking in at our airbnb accommodation by Le Vieux-Port, we head out for dinner. Some restaurants next to the Port seem very popular, but we pick the place with no customers.
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Service in this place is enthusiastic and fluent in English. It seems that the server himself is the chef since he pretty much tells us what to order. We have a seafood platter for starters and then monkfish and seabream for mains. The wine is Chateau Val d'Arenc 2013 from Bandol.
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The next morning starts sunny and bright. Tomi gets us some breakfast from the nearby boulangerie and we spend a while learning to operate the Nespresso machine.
Since we know this may be our only beautiful day in Marseille, we plan a hiking trip to Parc National des Calanques, and particularly Calanque de Sugiton.
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We take the bus No. 21 to Luminy next to the university (what an awesome campus location they have!) and start the hike with a number of other parties (not shown here, since we think that this pine forest is much more scenic)
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We walk up to the viewing point (shown on the top of the hill on right)
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From there we have an awesome, but dizzying view down to a small boat harbor, ...
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... and to the calanques.
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Then we start a long descent down to the beach.
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The viewing point where we just were is somewhere up there ...
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These rock walls offer an awesome playground for climbers.
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And we see quite a few of them.
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After a steep descent we reach the sea level.
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Most people come down here with picnic baskets, but some also take a dip in the sea.
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After having our lunch sandwiches we start the climb up. We are happy we started relatively early since now quite a number of people are coming down; tens and tens of groups with their lunch boxes and baguettes come by. It must be pretty crowded down at the seaside in the afternoon.
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We take a higher route back, first to the direction of Col de la Gardiole.
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Then towards Mont Puget (elev. 563m).
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A view back from where we came from.
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A view forward where we are heading to.
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University campus in Luminy and city of Marseille in the background.
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Before having dinner we visit the brewery Biere de la Plaine. They make very good American style IPA.
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The head brewer himself behind the bar.
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The Ferris wheel at Le Vieux-Port.
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It takes us a while to find a dinner place, since nothing in Le Vieux-Port looks appealing. Finally we choose Kahena, a Tunisian restaurant. The place is crowded and busy. Only later we realize it is listed in Lonely Planet.
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We order a mixed grill and chicken couscous, and Tunisian red wine but we get a Moroccan. We also repeatedly ask for water from several servers, and after a long wait get two jars.
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As much as we enjoyed the sun and the blue sky on our first day in Marseille, we are met with clouds and rain the next morning. It is amazing how dramatically the weather can change just overnight.
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Le Vieux-Port and Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde.
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Le MuCEM - Le Musee des civilisations de l'Europe et de la Mediterranee.
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We plan to visit LE MuCEM, but after seeing the crowd we reconsider --- walking in the drizzle seems much more appealing.
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We find a charming Japanese restaurant (also listed in Lonely Planet) TaKo-SaN. We order an okonomyaki and a tako set with green tea, which looks like and tastes like nettle soup.
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A strange installation of art opposite to TaKo-SaN.
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Next we head to the railway station to check if they have left luggage --- yes they have.
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Next we head to an architectural tour. The Stade Velodrome originally built in 1938, and reconfigured in 1998, will be completely renovated for the 2016 Euro cup.
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Our rchitecture tour continues to La Cite radieuse by Le Corbusier.
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It is not only an apartment building, but an estate constisting of apartments, a school, shops, a hotel and restaurants. All in one building.
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Having seen its better days, it is still quite a remarkable sight. We could live there. And people still do.
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The tour in the building is free, but we are allowed access only on three floors plus the viewing deck on the top.
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and the apartment entrances, all in the original colors and condition.
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The show flat on the top floor.
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The show flat --- we own one of those Le Corbusier recliners, in black leather and chrome.
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The Stade Velodrome from another angle. It is an impressive building, and will host up to 67,000 spectators.
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A view towards the university and the calanques in the South.
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The bar at La Cite radieuse. We are the only customers sitting inside. It is like everywhere else; being smokers, the French like outdoor seating in any weather.
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We have beers and then go on. Following the GPS in Tomi's phone (since we are out of Lonely Planet map zone) we find ourselves to the seaside.
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Le Chateau Borely, hosting the Museum of Decorative Arts and Fashion.
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We skip the museum and head directly where we are planning to go, The Red Lion.
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Again, there's no one inside. The pub's TV reception is not working, so we have our Kilkennnys while following the ATP Swiss head-on between Federer and Wawrinka on our cell phones. Then we catch the bus to the town.
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For dinner we choose Miramar, a restaurant listed in Lonely Planet and also recommended in The Guardian as the best bouillabaisse restaurant in Marseille. The place is full as expected, but even without a reservation we get a nice table upstairs. We order bouillabaisse for two (63e/pax). First we get some appetizers.
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Then the broth with bread, and later the seafood in the same broth. The food is good and a lot, but the flavors are a bit one-dimensional. The bill makes a whopping 198 euros with wine.
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On our last day in Marseille we walk a lot, again. First we climb to Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde.
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We are not the only ones.
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The Stade Velodrome from yet another angle, viewed from Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde.
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This view from the top looks two-dimensional, like a wallpaper.
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We take a garden path down from the hill.
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We end up on the west coast, and soon find a lovely place at the seafront for lunch, an Italian cafe Zia Concetta.
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We follow the waterfront to Le Vieux-Port. Le Maregraphe measures the sea level changes. It was built in 1883.
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Square du Lieutenant Danjaume.
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Anse des Catalans. People are actually playing in the water even if the air temperature is not that high.
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A view from Jardin du Pharo to Fort Saint-Jean.
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A thunderstorm lingers in the distance but is approaching.
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The rain only reaches us when we are going to the railway station looking for a place to have a meal before boarding the train.
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Marseille Saint-Charles had a brilliant idea of having a piano available for anyone to play. This talented backpacker spends quite a while playing attracting quite an audience.
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