Bonjour Marseille

Flying into Marseille from Lisbon to meet my family for a week in the south of France ... tired out from a schedule of work and a conference combined with the more serious business of re-connecting with a favourite city ... this view from my window seat of the white limestone calanques of the Marseille coastline and that impossibly blue sea had me wide awake and excited ...

There was barely an hour to unwind and trade stories in this little haven of a hotel just outside the city centre ...

NewHotel Bompard, 2 Rue des Flots Bleus, Marseille

... before an exciting rendezvous - meeting up with a virtual friend, blogger Corey Amaro, from Tongue in Cheek, and her husband (below). I've followed Corey's blog, chronicling her life in a Provençal village and her travels, for about two years now and it's one of the wonders of blogging that it was possible to meet for the first time and feel like an old friend! I think you can see from the pic what lovely people they both turned out to be ...

This restaurant - Chez Aldo - was their recommendation, like all the other bits of advice about where to go/eat/stay in Provence they generously offered. We had these spectacular views of the sun setting over the bay of Marseille from our table - though between talking non-stop and this totally memorable soupe de poissons de roche, eaten with fresh cut cloves of garlic to rub on toasted baguette, topped with aioli, there wasn't much time spent gazing at it ... 

Chez Aldo, 28 Rue Audemar Tibido, Marseilles

With only a morning to explore Marseille the next day, before driving inland, it seemed we could see only a little - but that was not counting on some super friendly taxi drivers who were eager to show us their city and fill us in very knowledgeably on all the history - they turned out to be the best tour guides! 

And so we drove, rather than climbed like penitent pilgrims, up the steep hill to Notre Dame de la Garde which dominates the skyline of Marseille ... 

Seemingly growing out of the limestone rock, this Neo-Byzantine church is topped by a giant golden (copper covered with gold-leaf) statue of the Madonna. Standing 11 metres tall and lit up at night like a beacon, she's la bonne mére, guardian and protectress of the city ... 

... which from this dizzy height spreads out panoramically below and all around ...

Nothing quite prepares you for the interior of the church - I literally gasped when I climbed up from the sparse basilica below into this place, unlike any other cathedral I've seen ...

This is a seafarer's church, clearly. Ever since 1214, when the original basilica was built on this site, sailors have climbed this steep hill to pray for a safe voyage or give thanks on returning. The maritime connections are everywhere, from the model boats hanging from the ceiling, to the anchor and ship motifs, to the ex-votos from people saved from shipwrecks ... 

From all this wonderful candystriped colour, we whizzed back down the hill to the simple, austere Abbaye St Victor whose history goes back to the martyrdom of St Vic in 302 AD ...

... and then over to Marseille's official cathedral, La Major - a relative latecomer, clocking in at 1852 ...

In between we managed to spend an hour wandering on foot through the oldest quarter of Le Panier (below), having absorbed by now from our taxi back-seat history lessons a dizzying array of facts about Marseille's history, from its founding in 600 BC (this making it the oldest city in France) by the Greeks who gave it its original name of Massalia, through Roman wars, Christian popes and martyrs, its leading role in the French Revolution, to occupation by Germany in world war II.

Le Panier, once partly responsible for Marseille's reputation as a seedy, dangerous place, was amongst other things a refuge before the war for resistance fighters, communists and jews until 1943 when the Nazis evacuated 30 000 people from here in one day, before dynamiting and destroying almost the entire quarter. Hard to imagine all of this from the peaceful scenes we encountered walking through here ...

I think we saw quite a lot for a visit of less than 24 hours! Enough to know that this city is definitely worthy of a longer stop-over and to fuel my desire to return one day ...

Lisbon Style: Café life and literary types

A vida é o café ... Lisbon has a coffee culture that (thankfully) seems entirely unaffected by Starbucks' imperialism. When ordering you can forget about the soya or half-fat milk or the shots of vanilla or toffee - in a country this serious about coffee, it's all about the flavour and quality of coffee, not any distracting additions.

But it helps to learn the basics of a complicated lexicon: will your choice be a bica (rich, dark espresso in tiny cup) (or even a dupla-bica for those not faint of heart), carioca (weaker version) pingado (espresso with a few drops of milk), café cheio (espresso with a little extra hot water), garoto (half espresso grounds, half hot milk), galão (equal portions of coffee to milk, served in a glass), and would you prefer escuro or claro?

It's all in the hands: Lisboetas doing life in cafés

Ever since Portugal's colonies turned out to be some of the finest coffee-producing regions of the world, café (coffee) and café life have been ingrained in Portuguese culture. From the 18th century when downtown Lisbon was rebuilt after a devastating earthquake, cafés became meeting places for artists, intellectuals, politicians. It's impossible today to walk down a street without coming across a handful at least.

One of Lisbon's best known cafés is A Brasileira (above) in downtown Chiado, right here in the Largo do Chiado ...

The interior of A Brasileira is all old-style grandeur - oak-panelling, mirrored walls and chandeliers ...

... and out on the sidewalk poet Fernando Pessoa who used to hang out here with other literary types, now sits here for eternity, immortalized in this bronze statue, an empty chair thoughtfully next to him, so that anyone can join him for a chat ...

No surprise then to find that bookshops are also seemingly on every corner in this part of town ...

Livraria Bertrand, Rua Garrett, outdoor stalls

Livraria Camões, Rua da Misericórdia.


... while at one of my favourite shops around here, A Vida Portuguesa, it's all about retro chic - iconic Portuguese products to evoke nostalgia in a gorgeous converted stone warehouse ...

Rua Anchieta, Chiado

On summers' nights the area hums with life ...

I watched one night as people start dancing spontaneously in the street, unable to keep still  to the sounds of these musicians (from Angola, Cape Verde, São Tomé?) ...

Even Fernando P. seemed to be getting into the spirit of things ...

... and on another, I followed the sounds of a piano to this square where an open-air stage had been set up for a performance of dance and music ...

You've got to love a city where poetry speaks around unexpected corners ...

A wall in Alfama (above) with verse from Pablo Neruda (La Cancion Desesperada): 'Cemetery of kisses, there is still fire in your tombs, still the grapes burn, pecked at by birds.' Below, a bench in Calçada de São Francisco with inscription 'We are the place that we need'.

I have withdrawal pains as my time here draws to an end ... I'm leaving with too many

Lisbon Style: eating out

Eating out is one of the most fun ways of exploring a city or just getting to know it better. In Lisbon the only hard part is making a choice. If you have money to blow you can go traditional/palatial with Tavares (going since 1784) or über-trendy with Bica do Sapato (co-owned by John Malkovich and Catherine Deneuve). I haven't been to either of these, but I've had the best time lately investigating a variety of eateries with great food at reasonable prices ...

Amo.te Chiado, Calçada Nova de São Francisco

Some things I've noticed ... Although Lisbonites are hugely sociable, they also completely get the value of reading while you eat ...

Babel, Av. Antonio Augusto de Aguiar

... not to mention appreciating the necessity of good ice-cream to life. At Santini (the creation of an Italian immigrant to Portugal) in the Chiado, the queues snake out the door most days, but the gelato is absolutely worth the wait  ...

Santini, Rua do Carmo 

An eye for style is always evident, whether one is eating inside ...

Envy, Rua do Carmo

or out - perhaps with an ancient ruin thrown in for free ...

Outdoors at Amo.te Chiado (left) and Envy (right) with a view to the ruins of the Convento do Carmo

Pharmacia is located in the same lovely old building that houses a Pharmacy Museum, and takes inspiration from that, with an interior and decor inspired by classic old pharmacies ...

Sound gimmicky? I thought it might be until the thought perished as I tasted their food - modern Portuguese cuisine served in five small courses, including two surprise dishes, all of which were ruinously delicious.

Pharmacia, Rua Marechal Saldhanha.    Photo credits Isabella B. with thanks!

And altogether different again, at 'Lost In' you make yourself comfortable on a wide, sprawling terrace with incredible views over the city, on sofas and day-beds strewn with colourful, comfy cushions ...

You can spend all day reading here if you like ...

Lost in, Rua D. Pedro V, Principe Real


Lost in Lisbon is what I'm loving to be right now.

Lisbon Style: the Metro

You thought Lisbon was all about ancient history and ruins? You would be quite wrong there.

Take the metro for instance ...

(Yes, this is an underground station). It's the shiniest and cleanest I've ever seen - spacious, fast and blissfully uncrowded. See how it shines!

Who takes photos of the underground?

Me. Sorry, I live in London where it wouldn't occur to me to photograph my daily tube voyages unless I wanted to depress myself even more.

The stations here are all beautifully decorated, each one different. I've been getting strange looks from people - the mad blonde estrangeira who squeals with delight, snapping through closing carriage doors ...

Some say way too much money was invested under the ground when Portugal joined the EU ...

... I say - if only the London underground looked like this.