A Day in Marseille

So the Danish girls that I met last week decided to go down to Marseille for a day trip.  We took the bus from Aix which was surprisingly cheap and took about twenty minutes to get to the city.  The pictures I posted are of a church that faces the port, the port, and an arch that sits in the middle of the city.  

Marseille is a very interesting city.  
Because it is a port city, there is more diversity than in Aix.  The majority of the people are immigrants and therefore very dark haired and dark skinned.  Also, travel guides warn visitors to stay away from certain areas of the city due to the fact that many of the neighborhoods are impoverished and therefore dangerous for women and men traveling alone or in small groups.  Unfortunately, our bus stop was right next to one of these areas so we spent the first twenty minutes trying to get out of a somewhat dilapidated area of the city.

Nearer the old port there are plenty of beautiful areas.  We made it down in time to see the vendors selling their fresh fish and eel along the harbor.  We also trekked up to the top of a hill that overlooks the city.  Sitting on the hill is a beautiful black and white marble church (pictures are further down in the blog) that was built to bring safety to the sailors who sailed in and out of the port.  It was the perfect day for sight-seeing, although a little chilly when the sun went behind the clouds.

Overall we had a great time shopping, walking, and taking pictures of the city, but by the end of the day, we were all very happy to get back to the tranquillity of Aix after the bumping and jostling of the crowds in Marseille.