Martina70

Very enjoyable TR with beautiful pictures.

offerendum

Thank you!

BOSTravels

I'm in the Provence myself, visiting Avignon and Marseille. I guess I shouldn't bother writing a trip report as it already has been done!

offerendum

Thanks, but I always like to read other peoples report, especially if it freshs up my memories

BOSTravels

Did you also liked Avignon beter than Marseille? I also think the restaurant scene in Avignon is miles better than in Marseille.

offerendum

Not sure about the second as I didn´t try any restaurant in Avignon but over all I tend to agree about the city. But in quantity Marseille offers more.

offerendum

At the evening we had dinner at Alcyone, the fine dining restaurant at the IC Marseille. It has 1 Michelin star. When we arrived we were the first guests, later all tables were occupied.
We got a table with a view:
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We could choose between a la carte or a 5-course Tasting Menu at 139,00 €. It was no problem to get the menu without meat, so we took it.
Amuse Bouche


Bread


Second Amuse Bouche


Stuffed green asparagus with asparagus ice cream

Creative, stuffed asparagus I never had before....

Bouillabaisse


A must in Marseille

Scallops with peas

Good

Artichoke with red mullet

Not my all-time favourite but OK

Dessert

Tasty

Crème Brule

Very good!

Nice chocolates


Over all a nice diner with solid 1 star quality. I I compare the price with other meals we had during our vacation it was overpriced, but you can expect this in a hotel like the IC.

offerendum

The Abbey Saint Victor is a former monastery and in my eyes the most interesting church in Marseille. It was founded in 415 and today you see in fact 2 churches. One is the crypt, the other one the basilica. 1794 during revolution more or less all treasures were lost.
View from the place before the abbey


Outdoor view:


Basilica







Crypt












View from above:

offerendum

The church Saint-Ferréol les Augustins is located at the harbour and a landmark at day and night. It had some highlights as the marriage of Catherine de Medici and Henry II of France by Pope Clement VII in 1533.




From inside it is relative unspectacular


Biggest problem is the riff-raff you find all over the city. In this case members of the begging gang even sat straight inside the entrance and harassed the visitors. This photo is absolutely harmless compared to this scenes. I so much hate this crooks who are a scourge for the cities and rob their children every chance for a normal life.

I don´t understand why police doesn´t crackdown against this problem.

offerendum

This day we had nice weather and we could finally do the Calanques tour. We choose the 3 ¼ hour tour with all Calanques. We bought the tickets and they first told us the wrong departure time so we were 1 hour early. When we finally reached in time all places on the outside deck were occupied. So we had to sit inside and I had bad mood. In the end it was so cold on sea that we were glad. To take pictures I was of course able to go out.
The tour started with a views on the harbour and the Marseille coast.










Let´s start with the Calanques

























This was really beautiful and an absolute must-do while in Marseille. One of the highlights of our trip.

offerendum

On the last evening I had booked a table at Une Table, au Sud. It´s an one star restaurant which is located at the harbour. From outside it´s rather impressive:


They offered a small menu at 48,00 € and the degustation menu at 115,00 €. We took the large menu, I did a picture the next morning:

Our menu was a little bit customized without meat.

Table with some kind of view:


Nice tableware:


Fruit juice


Amuse Bouche



Good start

Bread



OK, after the bread orgies of the last days I would call it OK

First course: Asparagus

I can´t say anything against this dish. It was tasty and looked very good. Not the best asparagus I had over the last days but nevertheless good.

Something with ink:

Still not sure what to think about this. Not totally bad but also nothing I must eat often.

Second course: Sea urchin

Of course I had two. While I could eat it it´s not really my favourite. Very salty and the typical taste of the sea urchin. Also not a dish I need a second time.

Third course: Green risotto

I like it, a nice dish

Forth course: Bouillabaisse


A fine variation of the classic dish. Without question tasty.

Some surprise:

If you judge on the optic it´s a world class dish. On taste it was solid

Fifth course: Local fishery

It tasted better than it looked but I don´t have strong emotions about this dish.

Sixth course: cheese

Let´s make it short: I only ate a few bites. It tasted dry and was not my taste.

Seventh course: Citrus with hibiscus

I can´t really call it successful. In my eyes it didn´t work too well.

Eight course: chocolate

This was a good finish

This was surely not the best dinner during our journey but also not a letdown. I would rate it as a 1 star restaurant in the lower area. Still solid with some good moments but not as memorable as other restaurants. Compared to Alcyone without doubt weaker. Over all it was nevertheless not unhappy.

BOSTravels

Did you also notice the strange pricing of appetizers in Marseille? In many cases, the appetizers were priced similarly as the main course, sometimes even higher!

offerendum

In general I think it´s not unusual that appetizers are more expensive than main courses in starred restaurants. In fact I didn´t eat a la carte at one of the restaurants (excemption the simple one on Les Baux). Often one main course comes near a whole menu.It´s from a value point not wise to eat a la carte.

BOSTravels

I know. That's why most of the time when I ate in a Vieux Port restaurant I settled for the fixed price 3-course menu.

offerendum

In the morning we first went to the Vieille Charité. It was once a almshouse and house now the Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne and the Museum of Art of Africa, Oceania and Amerindia.



In was really surprised by the museums as the collections weren´t extensive but with some nice artefacts.
Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne



[img]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4302/35156881153_b9cf815497_b.jpg[/img








Courtyard:


Museum of Art of Africa, Oceania and Amerindia