A Visit with Mathilde in Marseille!

Four days after my trip to Lyon, I headed to Marseille to see Mathilde, the French exchange student who stayed at our house last summer. I was looking forward to seeing her and also to see some sunshine! I got to the airport around 6h45 for my 8h15 flight. However, upon arrival, I was told that the flight was delayed for an unspecified amount of time. I took this to be about 30 minutes to an hour so I sat on the floor (there are no seats by the departure signs) to wait. Two hours later, still with no news from RyanAir, I went to the desk to ask what was up. To make a long story short, I was at the airport for 9 hours waiting for my flight. The plane in Marseille had a technical problem and couldn’t be flown, so the only solution was to fly a new plane down to Marseille from Dublin, then have the flight leave right away from Marseille to Nantes and back again. I got there eventually but unfortunately I lost a day with Mathilde because of it. By the time I got there, I was tired and it was dark, so we decided to stay in with her family and cute little nephew.

The next day, we went for a hike. It was absolutely magnificent. The landscapes around Marseille are breathtaking. I was completely not expecting it to be that nice since many people had told me that Marseille was ugly. We hiked for about 3 hours through the mountains that run along the ocean. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures of the hike:

We took a break halfway to eat a little picnic lunch that Mathilde’s dad prepared. We were supposed to have ham sandwiches but he forgot the ham J.

Our goal was to reach this little tiny beach along the coast. There were people in bathing suits and some even in the water. It was still too cold for me to be able to do that! The natural beaches in Marseille are like in New England – decent sized rocks. Not so comfortable to walk on…. After this, we hiked the 1.5 hours back to the car, drove through the city a little bit to show me what it is like, then we headed back to their house.

The next day, Mathilde and I woke up to rain in the city of sun. We were a little disappointed because it limited what we could do, but it was a great excuse to go shopping downtown and explore the actual city! The shopping was a success – we both got shoes. No girl ever has enough! I also got a souvenir for my mom – I’ll let her live in suspense for that one! After walking all over the city shopping, I then understood why people didn’t like Marseille. It is the 2^nd dirtiest city behind Naples for a reason. The buildings look like they were built in the 60s and 70s and aren’t very attractive. I was surprised because Marseille is the oldest city in France (inhabited for almost 30,000 years!). In pictures further down, you will see what I mean. Even so, there were some areas that were nice like this picture of an old fountain (Palais Longchamp) in Marseille:

That night, her family took me to the opposite side of Marseille to the man-made sand beaches where all the tourists go in the summer. It was a really pretty to walk along the beach while the sun was setting. We also found a rabbit! Mathilde’s dad is quite a goof so he went into a nearby restaurant to ask the kitchen for a carrott to give to the rabbit J.

During my last day in Marseille, Mathilde and her mom showed me all the sights. We started by going up to the Byzantine basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, which is a church high on a hill that over looks the city. It was a beautiful view of the city and of the Mediterranean. The church is known as the protector of those out at sea, so inside there are paintings of sailors and fisherman, as well as mini boats hanging from the ceiling!

Mathilde and me at the church.

A view of Marseille. If you click on this picture and make it bigger, you will be able to see what I mean about the buildings.

The 'steeple' of the church.

After that, we went around to see two other old churches (St. Victor and St. Laurent), the old section of Marseille (Le Panier), La Vielle Charite (an old hospice building), a few parks, ate a few navettes (small hard biscuit in the shape of a boat, flavored with orange blossoms), and saw the filming of the most popular French soap opera (Plus Belle La Vie).

This is Vieux Port with Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde in the background. It is a pretty view.

A random picture of Mathilde’s house.

After exploring the city, Mathilde and her parents took me to the airport to head back to Nantes. They bought me some navettes and a French novel to read to keep me occupied on the plane. Fortunately, the plane was exactly on time! I needed a good night’s sleep, especially since I left for Prague 24 hours later!

It was great getting to meet Mathilde’s family and to see her and where she lives. It definitely gives a better picture of someone when you see where they come from. Hopefully I will get to go back and see her again sometime in the future!