Marseilles: Adventurers Guide

Our half-day tour of Marseilles quickly took us through the history of the city, as we drove towards it. The first thing we learned was that it's the oldest city in France, dating back to the sixth century BC and much of its trade over the years has come through its impressive port. As we made our way from that port, we were also told about the Marseilles of more recent times. Only a decade ago, it was known as a major stop in the illegal drug trade and the city was falling into disrepair. A lot of money from the European Union, and a fast train service linking Marseilles with much of the rest of France (and even London through the Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel) has helped to change all that.

Today it's a thriving place, with much of city life centered around the beautiful Vieux Port (Old Port). As well as being a picture postcard, with hundreds of yachts docked here, it's also home to a daily fish market, with a series of restaurants and shops lining the harbor. City Hall is also here, dating from the 17th century, complete with a bust of King Louis XIV, best known for his extravagant palace Versailles, near Paris.

Vieux Port is a pleasant walk and allows you to mingle with local residents, but it's important to keep your wits about you, as there are unfortunately pickpockets at work, as there are in many parts of Europe. On our tour, one woman told us she had only put her camera down for a second, but that's all it took for it to disappear.

Despite the beauty of the Vieux Port area, you have to do some work to get the best views of Marseilles. If you look upwards from the harbor, you'll see a church, complete with a huge golden statue of the Virgin Mary, dominating the landscape. Set on top of a hill at the highest point of Marseilles, the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica replaced a fort, which had previously been on this spot, with a chapel. Consecrated in 1864, it was another sixty seven years before the statue was added on to the church, in front of crowds estimated at 300,000 people. The statistics are truly staggering - at nearly 30 feet tall, a total of nearly 30,000 sheets of gold leaf were required to gild the statue.