Marseille!

Marseille is beautiful. The old part of town is centered around the central "Vieux Port", which is about as meditteranean as you can imagine. All terracotta and beige buildings, and crystal blue water. And lots and lots of sunshine! The hostel we were staying in was very cute too - several stories of spartan but quaint (and big!) rooms, with little shuttered windows overlooking a central courtyard. Complete with terracotta roofs.
The first day there we started by walking down to the port and strolling around the banks. There was the equivalent of a car boot sale going on at the time, and there was all kinds of bizarre stuff for sale. The best thing I saw was an old diving suit from the 50's or something, one of those big cage helmet things. So we wandered around, looking at seafood markets, flower stalls, and all that water! At the end of the western side of the port is an old fort tower, which is a pretty impressive backdrop when you look at the town from the water. We then just strolled through old streets, all very crowded (with close built buildings and parked cars - never with people), with cute painted wooden shutters, and charismatic cobbled walkways. The ambiance of the place was just so lovely, warm and relaxed, with an idea of unpretentious artiness. A full day of wandering wore us out though - I wasnt used to the heat! The second day there was set off to the port again, but this time to the eastern side. Walking up through an old part of town that had antique markets on (selling everything from silverware, old paintings, 70's lime green furniture, food, books, and even an orange rhino), and here though the buildings were different - more structured and organised - they were equally charming as the haphazard western side. From here we started a slow weave-and-climb up streets and staircases up to the "Notredame de la guard", basically a catholic church at the top of a hill overlooking the city. Beautiful views from up there, out to the Chateau D'if, which is an island prison which Alexander Dumas used as his setting for " The Count of Monte Christo".
Once we had rested and satisfied our need for panoramic shots, we started wandering down the opposite side of the hill, and rather than winding roads and staircases, there was a small footpath that weaved down through a landscaped garden, eventually joining narrow streets at the bottom of the hill that we followed through very quiet parts of town, all the way down to the beach. Along the coast line there's a promenade walkway, which we followed back along to the port. The photographs below are a few snapshots of what we saw along the way.
That afternoon, we headed up to the north part of town where the Botanic Gardens are. The north part of town is not nearly as attractive as the Southern old section that centers around the port. The north is very commercial and residential, in an apartment block kind of way. So we walked for about a half hour through unattractive suburbia, to find smack bang in the middle the most amazing front entrance to the gardens. An enormous semicircle of stone, filled with carvings, grand staircases, fountains and lush grass. I really must recommend you look at my photos on facebook - they're just too annoying and time consuming to upload onto the blog. But the front there really was spectacular. In the gardens we sat and watched french people - roller blading, riding bikes, or just sitting and chatting with icecreams. It was a lovely and relaxing way to spend the afternoon. And eventually we wandered back down to our hostel.
The following day our flight was quite early, so no time for sightseeing. Basically the weekend, although it involved a lot of walking, was really relaxing - all just wandering, taking photos, and enjoying the sunshine.