Trying to reach Madeira Island from Bucharest can be a real challenge. So be it, we chose, in the end, to go there via Marseille. Another city from my extended bucket list. Not something very hot, though, but since the opportunity came up, I gave it the go. One day and a half looked very good for a complete first impression. Now, we arrived early morning before going to Funchal – in fact Machico – and the plane to Portugal was scheduled in 11 hours. Some time to savor the mighty and colorful French city. A bit of Le Panier, some panoramic view of the port, a local boulangerie for a nice brunch and… well, time flies, you know? The Marseille by day is very attractive. You have a lot to see and the combined history with its landscape augment an image that should be analyzed by the place. I can say it is very much worth it.
In Marseille, you can’t pay by card in the city center. In 2022!
One thing though that shocked me was that, even though we picked a terrace near the port, basically in the heart of the city, the service was rubbish: ordered two americano and two lemonades and received one espresso and one… Schweppes! But it was stated that it is, in fact, lemonade. OK, took those, wanted to leave asap. Asked for the check: “No card!” Wait, what? In Marseille, in 2022? In the heart of the city??? Cannot pay by card?! Well, not, and we got a look like we were criminals. Went to find an ATM, extracted some euros, paid quickly and got the hell out of there. One bad experience indeed, very less expected. Now, that cannot influence the whole picture, but it was, indeed, something heavy on our hearts. I don’t like being treated like that when I am spending my own money to enjoy things, places.
Transportation and luggage storage at top level!
Regardless, we have only a couple of days to discover more of Marseille and we walk, as said, through the city center, around the port and obtain the best we can from Le Panier, the top neighborhood of the French city. Marseille is unique in its way, but we need to leave aside some other parts of it, as we need to head to the bus that goes to the airport via the highway. The transportation service from and to the airport to / from Gare St. Charles is very friendly and you can find more details here. It is not the cheapest, 16 EUR roundtrip, but it is fast and efficient. In these regards, Marseille is very well equipped. Also, very important to add, if you spend a day here, like we did, without getting an accommodation, I can strongly recommend a place where you can leave your luggage for several hours: Bag Mobile (we used the one from Gare St. Charles).
The dark path from St. Charles to the center of Marseille
The first day of our dream trip is over, but the best is yet to come. In the evening, with massive clouds above and some heavy rain, we are ready to take off for Funchal. It is a bit of delay, but now we can say that Marseille is half-closed in our chapter book. One more lay-over here, with a night of rest, this time, is waiting us on 1st of October. Fast forward, after a dream stay in Madeira Island, we are able to explore further Marseille, before heading back to Bucharest. Now, it is different. We are landing in Marignane, where the airport actually is, near midnight and we take the same friendly bus to Gare St. Charles. Now, it is dark, and, in the kilometer, we had to walk from the train & bus station to Hotel Monte Cristo, a bad vibe inundated my veins, and forced me to be highly aware. The streets in Marseille are very charming, but also narrow.
Take a walk in the center, at any hour, but you might not find where to… eat!
There is a high combination between high-styled architecture and kitsch. You can see wonderful buildings and also pile of garbage in some places. In fact, the biggest minus for the big city is that it is far dirtier than I would have imagined. I don’t want to make many statements here, but I think the population, like in Bucharest, for example, plays a great role in this case… I mean, otherwise, when I saw the cable cars in Marseille, well… they are almost unreal looking. They seem great to travel with. Also, the general landscape, even by night, it is perfect for a walk in the center, and we did find a great place to eat a pizza and that is Five Pizza Original. In Marseille, in a weekend evening / night, it is very hard to find something open to eat. It was enough for the evening, after we headed back to our hotel room for rest. Well, about Monte Cristo Hotel, I don’t have too many positive things to say.
The wonderful view to Chateau d’If, the badge of the city
Even though it was reserved on Booking, and it showed 57 EUR, they charged us 66 and they didn’t have a door at the bathroom, which was very, very uncomfortable. The hotel was in the center, but you need to enter a small corridor to get to its entrance and there many rats were crowding the place so… don’t recommend for sure! The guys from the reception were quite nice, with an accent put on the one in the morning of our departure, but apart from this it is the type of location I won’t ever go back to again. Anyway, at least we could leave or luggage here for a final sunny walk through the city. The main goal: Chateau d’If. OK, the “home” of Monte Cristo is on an island, and we didn’t have the needed time to go there, but we went for a walk on the shore, took some pictures and glance a couple of minutes to the famous edifice.
Marseille should be visited in a city break – maximum two nights of stay
We tried also to reach the Notre-Dame de la Garde, but it was a climb that we didn’t want to take, as we climbed a lot in our week in Madeira. We “passed” this objective and settled for some additional walks near the port. Anyway, in the middle of the day we needed to head for the airport so, before that, we stopped here, at Made in Marseille, for some local pastries with a unique appearance. The personnel didn’t know too much English, but they were kind and smiling so the experience was good. I recommend this place as well! Everything is coming to an end and my general impression about Marseille is that it is a place of contrasts, an interesting city, with many things to offer, but also with a lot of problems, that big cities like this have in this century. If I am planning to visit it again soon? Not really. But, if weren’t there ever, you need to get a city break and put on your list the objectives described above.
