February 26-27, 2024 – Beautiful Avignon and Marseille!

The last time we posted we were at the Beehive in Montpellier. We were still on the fast track through southern France, so we took the train to Avignon the next day, visited, then took a later afternoon train to Marseille. I know.

We spent enough time in Avignon to get a feel for the town. We left our luggage at a locker at the train station which left us free to enjoy our visit.

Our first visit was to the Palace of the Popes. The Palais des Papes is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was a seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century. Six papal conclaves were held in the Palais, leading to the elections of Benedict XII in 1334, Clement VI in 1342, Innocent VI in 1352, Urban V in 1362, Gregory XI in 1370 and Benedict XIII in 1394. Since 1995, the Palais des Papes has been classified, along with the historic center of Avignon, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for its outstanding architecture and historical importance for the papacy.

I am going to share some pictures of the actual space compared to that displayed on the histopad.

The Avignon Bridge was next. It is a wooden bridge spanning the Rhône between Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and Avignon. It was built between 1177 and 1185. The bridge was destroyed forty years later in 1226 during the Albigensian Crusade when Louis VIII of France laid siege to Avignon. Beginning in 1234 the bridge was rebuilt with 22 stone arches. The stone bridge was about 980 yards long and 16 feet 1 inches wide. The bridge was abandoned in the mid-17th century as the arches tended to collapse each time the Rhône flooded making it very expensive to maintain. Four arches and the gatehouse at the Avignon end of the bridge have survived. The Chapel of Saint Nicholas which sits on the second pier of the bridge, was constructed in the second half of 12th century but has since been substantially altered.

We wandered about town a bit, which was lovely. I’d read about a street that contained water wheels, so I decided to visit it. Quaint.

We took the 4:01 p.m. train to Marseille. We were happy to see the water. I mean, we live on it, but we are always happy to see it in any location! In fact, our hotel was right by the harbor. Yay!

Marseille, like many cities in France, has its own Notre Dame. The full name of it is ‘Notre-Dame de la Garde‘ basilica (a.k.a. La Bonne Mère). I don’t have a great picture of the exterior because I never found the right location for a good shot. But you can see it from far away in the picture above and the picture below.

Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica in the distance on the hill

This might be more history than you want, but I think it is interesting.
From www.marseille-tourisme.com:

“The hill of ‘Garde’ has always been an observation point. At its highest point at 154 meters, it offers a 360 degrees view of the city, the islands, and the sea. In the 15th century, a ruling from Charles II of Naples included it in the way station list. This lookout system improved with centuries and the hill kept a monitoring role until 1978.

Francis I of France ordered the building of a fort in 1524 to protect Marseille from the armies of Charles V led by the Constable of Bourbon, and together with the ‘Château d’If’ (If Castle), they constituted a maritime defense which was lacking in the city. Nowadays, the remains of the fort which were used as the basis for the actual basilica can still be seen, and we can guess the King’s emblem above the northern entrance porch: the salamander.”

But before that . . .

“In 1214, a priest named Pierre built a small chapel and a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary on-site and established the religious calling of the location. Many chapels succeeded one another in the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance until the actual basilica was built. The hill of the ‘Garde’ had three purposes: a look-out post, a military building, and a place of worship and pilgrimage.”

Which brings us to . . .

“In the middle of the 19th century, the sanctuary turned out to be too small for the many pilgrims visiting. Monseigneur de Mazenod decided to build a big basilica called Notre-Dame de la Garde. The first stone was laid on the 11th of September 1853. The architect Henry Espérandieu was entrusted with the work and the consecration was celebrated on the 5th of June 1864.”

The views from the basilica were quite fine.

The hotel we stayed at – Hotel Hermes (which we strongly recommend!) – had some cute stuff on the walls. This was my favorite:

That tin was set in a different wall box decoration similar to this one:

We saw a lot of street art in Marseille! We just kept happening upon them (we weren’t specifically looking) and they were very entertaining!

And the streets themselves were delightful! It’s as though everyone who lives here is a bit of an artist.

We also visited the Cathédrale de la Major. It is a beautiful monument on the waterfront dating back to the 19th century. The Cathedral blends Romanesque and Byzantine styles. It is a massive cathedral spanning 141 meters (462 feet). Its dome towers reach a height of 16 meters (52 feet).

Cathédrale de la Major. It doesn’t actually lean, it is just my bad picture.

It was time for food! We found a nice restaurant with outdoor seating.

Michael’s faces. 🙂 🙂

Michael had a three course meal. I had gnocchi. This was his first course. It consisted of an egg (or two?), onions, and other stuff (maybe some meat?) we don’t recall. What I do recall is wondering why it was served with a fork since the egg was runny. . .

Our main courses were both really good!

We’d read about Vanille Noire and its inky black vanilla ice cream. I couldn’t even finish my meal so ice cream was out for me, but Michael always has room for ice cream! He got one scoop of the black vanilla and one of a raspberry sherbet. They were both good (I always get a lick), but I preferred the raspberry.