Marseille

Marseille, its streets lively and crowded, is a continual fête. The day we were there was not only a market morning, but also the day that Algeria was playing in the FIFA world championship, and Marseille's Algerian partisans added to the daily clamor.

After lunch at our favorite cous cous restaurant off Cours Saint-Louis, we decided to do the climb up to the Cours Julien which we had often heard mentioned. It sits high in the city, an open plaza with restos and cafés and a marché biologique, the streets running off it filled with small shops...but most surprising is the density of the graffiti, the walls of the quarter obviously having been opened to the city's graffiti artists.

View towards the Vieux Port from the steps leading up to the Cours Julien

Back down in the port area, la Maison Diamantée

Narrow streets, tall buildings, and a hodge podge of old and new

We let ourselves be taken advantage of in one of the pricey cafés lining the Vieux Port, but it was worth it, for the perfect afternoon breeze and the view up to the Basilique Notre Dame-de-la-Garde