We visited Marseille 11 years ago for a few days before starting a cruise on the Rhône. It was a short visit, but we really enjoyed it and have been saying since then that we’d like to go back. Last time we stayed in the Vieux Port area by the huge marina. This time we decided to try a different neighborhood - the Noailles, which has a more urban feel and a strong North African presence. We arrived pretty worn out the first night and were very happy to discover a small Iraqui restaurant that offered takeout. It struck me that our little 4-5 block area had a mix of takeout, mid-range, and pretty upscale dining available, all scattered side by side with most of them offering outdoor dining as well as indoors.
Our apartment was in a beautiful old building, now gone a bit seedy, but the apartment itself was lovely (the family -size birdcage chair was a little weird though).
View from the window:
Our first day, we were both a little under the weather, but figured we could manage a visit to the MUCEM museum (Museum of Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean). The location at the waterfront was breezy and beautiful on a hot day. The core structure is surrounded by a "concrete lace" that creates interesting views from inside the building, especially on the rooftop terrace.
The promotional materials say that "Mucem is unique in that it traces, analyzes and sheds light on the ancient foundations of this basin of civilization, and the tensions that run through it right up to the present day. To provide a forum for exchange on Mediterranean issues." It was unusually frank about the history of French colonialization of North Africa and the imposition of European civilization on the people living there. This appalling illustration from an 1830 publication, "Conquest and Civilisation" was a carefully planned piece of propaganda, attempting to claim France's inheritance of Greek and Roman culture as the basis for their superiority (while of course neglecting to mention the advanced culture of the Islamic world of the time). The discussion of the piece also noted that the flow of the image in the sky went from left to right, emphasizing that it was the opposite of the direction in which Arabic is written. The fort in the background is meant to emphasize the power of the French military and the "inevitability" of the conquest, while Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic offers an olive branch. Unlike many other museums I've visited, the irony was emphasized rather than obscured.
We also visited an exhibit on political art which included graffiti
And this stark piece
The last exhibit we visited was about fashion designer Mossi Traore, a Malian French artist who grew up on the outskirts of Paris and draws on Mediterranean cultures, sports (especially futbol), and Bollywood.
I loved how entranced this young girl was with the video about his work.
In a lot of French museums, “People with Reduced Mobility (PMR’s)” get in free, along with a companion As a tourist, I didn’t have the official PMR card, but several of the museums let us in free anyway since I was using a rollator. However, Linda must have dropped her ticket early on so we had to talk our way into some of the exhibits. As I sat down at our rooftop table, I looked down and noticed this
What were the odds several hours later in a different spot on a windy terrace?