There is the most fabulous museum in Marseille, Musem the museum of European and Mediterranean civilisations . It comprises of two buildings separated by a bridge. The views are nothing short of spectacular. There is also a rooftop terrace overlooking the ocean with lounge chairs for visitors to relax. When we visited they were showing, amongst many other exhibits, an exhibition called Bonnes mères, an exploration of motherhood over four thousand years. The museum is a must-visit in my opinion.

There is a little “train” (not really a train, it travels along the road) from outside the Town Hall up to the Notre Dame de la Garde which is the breathtaking cathedral situated on top of a hill topped by the bright gold statue of the Good Mother. Again, the views are amazing as is the architecture. You must be appropriately dressed to enter the cathedral so shoulders and knees covered. Do take a few euros in cash if you would like to buy a candle to light for someone. There is no charge to enter. There is a beautiful gift shop if you like religious statues and rosaries. The train ride is great fun, I thoroughly recommend this excursion, there were some small children sitting behind us pretending they were on a rollercoaster every time we went downhill. Just after we disembarked back at The Old Port the train broke down blocking an entire street of motorists which caused absolute chaos.

The view from Notre Dame de la Garde, the stunning gilded ceilings, visitors can buy a candle and say a prayer

We also visited beautiul Marseille cathedral, again free to enter, and took a walk to the Le Panier, a bustling district decorated by what my daughter calls street art and I call graffiti. There are lots of inexpensive gift shops here as well as bars and cafes. We stopped off and had a delicious iced tea and a browse around the quirky shops. My daughter had seen various vintage clothing shops on TikTok so we trudged to a couple of these but everything was ridiculously overpriced. There are a great many homeless people in Marseille which is very sad to see, whole families on blankets begging. Young children and babies out in the blazing sun, many who don’t appear to be with their actual parents, they are everywhere you go.

Street art in the Le Panier district

Marseille Cathedral, if you look carefully you can see a homeless woman huddling by the entrance gate

My son wanted to go to the beach, this is an outing I could gladly have missed but he had been so good about coming along to all the museums and churches so off we went. We left the hotel at around 4pm and it was still sweltering. As we approached the beach, the plage des Catalans, a fight broke out between two teenage girls, a very nasty physical fight and they both had to be restrained. The beach was heaving with people but we stayed an hour or so. I would definitely suggest keeping your eye on your valuables here.

I didn’t do any shopping in Marseille with the exception of a tin of beautifully scented soaps, a gift for my neighbour who had kindly watered my garden in my absence. I bought these from a shop called Mado along the seafront. We packed a lot into our few days in Marseille. It was a wonderful trip which we all really enjoyed.

Thank you for reading

Samantha