First Foray in France

After a wonderful time in Spain it was time to go to France. Time to mark another country off my list. I have to say though, being in France at this time is near the equivalent of post-9/11 America. But we didn't hit any speed bumps heading into France, just a single file line and cursory check and we were off. We made it Marseille, France in the early evening around 4:15 or so. We got our rooms and were free to explore on our own until dinner at 8pm.

Monumental Staircase at Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles rail station

We decided to wander around and check out the monumental staircase outside of the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles railway station which is right outside of our hotel. From there, a small group of five of us decided to see a few sights we wanted to view. The first such one was the Bibliothèque de l'Alcazar by architects Adrien Fainsilber and Didier Rogeon. It is a beautiful modern library (opened in 2004) that is in the space of an old theater dating back to 1857. It had a large open center atrium space with central skylights. The program was located around this space. It seemed to have pretty good circulation. It was a nice start to seeing architecture in France.

Bibliothèque de l'Alcazar interior

Following the library we made our way down to Vieux Port which is the old port of Marseille dating back to 600 BC. It is the main popular destination in Marseille. Even though it was night there was a lot to see. We just explored the area a bit before making our way back to the hotel for dinner and preparing ourselves for the day to come.

Ferris Wheel at Vieux Port

The next day, actually today at the time of this writing which is miracle in itself but I digress, we started with Cité Radieuse de Marseille by architect Le Corbusier. It is a housing complex design developed by Corbu. It is currently undergoing a restoration having originally been completed in 1952. We've learned about this building quite a bit in school. Upon seeing though, I wasn't greatly impressed. Le Corbusier's Five Points were clearly evident though. Also, there wasn't much we could see because it is mostly private residences. That changed when a group of four of us split off to explore and this nice woman asked us in Frenglish if we would like to see an apartment. We jumped at the opportunity. Seeing the apartment completely changed my attitude of the building. It was narrow but it was two stories and stretch the width of the building. Most of the unit was original too. It was a wonderful space and I am so grateful that she let four foreign strangers into her apartment for a tour. Merci beaucoup! 

Cité Radieuse de Marseille

Interior of one of the apartments

Once we finished that the housing complex, we made our way to Vieux Port for lunch and then made our way to the Villa Méditerranée by architect Stefano Boeri. It is an exhibition/conference/multipurpose building located on the waterfront. There are a lot of beautiful spaces on the interior with a giant cantilever punctuating the exterior. It was a beautiful building all around but seemed very empty. I'd say that the space, when not in use, is most likely misused. But in the end it is good architecture.

Villa Méditerranée

Following that building, we went to the see the CMA CGM Tower by architect Zaha Hadid. It is the tallest building in the city. It is a very interesting facade that curves as it goes up. We could not enter the building. And apparently we weren't allowed to be on the sidewalks outside the building either as our entire group was yelled at at least once. One security guard even had the nerve to tell us to take pictures in the street. It was infuriating really. I believe they were in the wrong. But it's whatever because we all got our pictures anyway.

CMA CGM Tower

After the fiasco we endured, we were on our own. A group of five of us trekked up to the top of the huge outcrop by the old port. It was harrowing bus ride up skinny side streets to get there. I was sure we were gonna crash into someone but somehow we didn't. At the top is Notre-Dame de la Garde which is a Roman Catholic basilica. The locals view it as the watchful protector of Marseille and refer to it as the Good Mother. It is a small but beautiful neo-Byzantine style church. 360 degree views are possible from the site with the major vistas being the Mediterranean Sea, Marseille, and the mountain range behind the city. It was an overcast day so we couldn't see the sun but the sunset produced some nice colors against the clouds. It was a wonderful end to the day and our first travels across Europe.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Overlooking Marseille

Descending the hill was less treacherous but anxious all the same. We ate at a cheap but very delicious Middle Eastern restaurant and decided to call it a night. We leave tomorrow at 8am and it is finally time. This was our last real stop of this travel trip. We will be in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland at the Steger Center by this time tomorrow. We have a couple stops along the way to break up the six hour plus bus ride but other than that it is home free. It be nice to unwind, unpack, and relax. I've loved this travel so far but I am so looking forward to Riva at this point. Au revoir!