There are places that know how to enchant at first sight, that know how to surprise and conquer, that know how to make us fall in love without even having to explain it. There are others, however, that must be understood, explored, heard as they generously tell their stories. That they need people to take off their tourist clothes and put on explorer clothes, because only then will they be able to immerse themselves in the traditions and contradictions, cultures and stories of certain destinations.
And this is what Marseille asks, to be looked at, observed and experienced. The city of the sun and the sea., that of the 11 neighborhoods and the almost 900.000 inhabitants, who are not only French, but come from all over the world. Who choose to live in this fascinating and seductive place that over the centuries has become a crossroads of stories, cultures and populations.
Marseille is the capital of Provence, it is the oldest city in France. However, Marseille, c'est pas la France, say those who know it well, those who have always lived here and those who have chosen it to start over. Yes, because Marseille It is the least French city from the entire country, but he is the one who, more than all, knows how to enter the heart.
Welcome to Marseille
The large peripheral buildings and concrete agglomerations found before entering the heart of the city make it immediately clear that Marseille has nothing to do with the perfect elegance that characterizes other cities in France. There isn't that romantic atmosphere. and suggestive that has made the Ville Lumière famous throughout the world, there are no towns crossed by canals, nor those that seem straight out of fairy tale books. But there is much more.
There are the people who welcome you and introduce you to their life, the one marked by simple and equally lively rhythms, there are the stories that have their roots in distant centuries and that are revealed between the streets, the streets, the port and the fishing boats. There is coastal roads that wind past the historic center and open onto magical and evocative landscapes, to cornices filled with sun during the summer months.
Marseille is so rich and varied that it cannot be explained, only experienced. His own cultural heritage is unique combining ancient and modern, past and present, history and religion, imperial and Roman architecture.
No, Marseille is not France because it is also Italy, Spain and Portugal, Tunisia and Turkey. Because over the years it has become the meeting point of populations, cultures and traditions. Because its centuries-old history as a port city has welcomed and found many other stories from all over the world.
And here it is easy, while chatting with the locals or sitting at the table in one of the many restaurants in the city, forget that you are in the field of the Champagne hills, the Loire castles, the Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge. Because everyone here turns citizens of Marseilleand in doing so they become inhabitants of the world.
In the heart of Marseille
Don't expect big tourist attractions in Marseille because the city doesn't want to become anything. a trap for travelers. She is like that naked and raw, beautiful and complicated. It is the city of concrete expanses and the port, of international and characteristic restaurants.
It is the city of the majestic Major Cathedral that dominates the sea and of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde that watches over the entire territory from above, it is the city of the ancient and evocative neighborhood of Le Panier and the magical Auffes valle, the small fishing paradise of the 7th district.
Its heart, needless to say, is the old port, the one where the Phoenicians landed to begin their history. Here begins Marseille, from here the streets lead to the historic center, the great museum of European and Mediterranean civilizations, the fish market, the characteristic and international restaurants, the Ferris wheel and the narrow streets. that rise and fall and allow us to admire its most authentic side.
