I Must Say, Marseille

FamilyTravel

Aug 3

If you're going to get your passport stolen in Nice, you at least get to take a scenic, three-hour train ride west to beautiful Marseille! *glass is always half full, am I right?* Even though Marseille is France's second largest city, it gave off the perfect Mediterranean vibe. Calm, cool, collected and gorgeous. Our main focus was to get that passport, but we managed to spend a lot of time exploring around the Vieux Port (Old Port). Everything you need is right there! Local markets, people watching, cafes, museums, metro station, shopping, the Miroir Ombriére (reflective structure), Fort Saint-Jean and all the boats you imagine yourself sailing away on.

The two biggest [sight-seeing] highlights of the trip were the Calanques National Park and the Notre Dame - de La Garde. Both incredibly breathtaking and hard to give credit to with photos. There are different ways you can experience the Calanques. If you plan ahead and plan correctly, you can hike along those coves and swim or if you're like us and planned to see them last minute, catch a boat tour (still pretty amazing).

C A L A N Q U E S • The Calanques are limestone inlets created over 12,000 years ago that connects Marseille to Cassis. France officially declared this area a national park in April 2012. I wish my photos could give them the recognition they deserve! If only you could see them from an aerial view to get the full effect (hey, Google Images). I've never seen anything like 'em...

I wanted nothing more than to jump off our boat and into that blue water!

N O T R E - D A M E D E L A G A R D E • Sitting at the highest point of the city is the beautiful and grand basilica. It's got the best view in town, inside and out. It was the perfect panoramic view of the city for our last few hours in Marseille before our 14+ hour night bus to Rome (Yes, those exist and yes we took it. Yikes!)