City Breaks Unknown

This episode covers two main Marseille art galleries, the Musée des Beaux Arts and Regards de Provence, and focuses particularly on work on local themes - Marseille itself, and the provençal hinterland.  Then there are pointers to 4 more galleries in the city, featuring ethnic, modern and decorative arts, plus a little coverage of some of the most famous artists associated with Marseille: Pierre Puget, César Baldaccinni and Paul Cézanne.  Lastly, a reminder that in in this city, art often means street art!
Links for this postMusée des Beaux Arts   Regards de Provence     Vieille Charité   Musée Cantini   Museum of Modern Art   Museum of Decorative Arts  
 
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!Check our website to find more episodes from our Marseille series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
 
We love to receive your comments and suggestions! You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.ukAnd if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   
 

This post takes you around La Joliette, the new port area in Marseille and looks at what there is to do there. That includes the city’s two newest must-see museums – one gives you a tour of Mediterranean culture, the other takes you on a virtual exploration of the incredible caves discovered nearby, where the artwork dates back 30,000 years. We also find time for plenty of shopping, eating and culture in both historic and ultra-modern settings, all with a magnificent sea-view backdrop.
Reading SuggestionsMarseille et le Mucem (French only)Cosquer Méditerrannée (French only)
Links for this postGuide to La Joliette   The Mucem The Cosquer Museum   Guide to Les Terrasses du Port   Guide to Les Docks   
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!Check our website to find more episodes from our Marseille series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions! You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.ukAnd if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   
 
 
 

This post focuses on the Le Panier district of Marseille, the oldest and most atmospheric part of the city: think hills, narrow roads, colourful houses, flowers, little restaurants in pretty squares, artisan shops and plenty of street art.  Plus two of the city’s big sights, La Charité, the former poorhouse, now a museum centre and the stunning 'Major' Cathedral.  As the author Jean -Claude Izzo wrote. ‘To linger in Le Panier is to feel the old heart of Marseille throbbing’.  
Reading Suggestions
Garlic, Mint and Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude IzzoThe Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle
Links for this post
Self guided walk around Le Panier La Vieille Charité   La Major Cathedral  Discover Street Art in Marseille  Blogpost: Street Art and Charm in Le Panier   
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!Check our website to find more episodes from our Marseille series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions! You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.ukAnd if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   
 
 

This episode centres on Marseille’s most popular sights, the Old Port, the hilltop church of Notre Dame de la Garde, and the Canebière, the wide avenue leading back from the port into the heart of the city. After a few snippets of history, we tour such sights as the fish market, the iconic canopy built to mark Marseille's year as a City of European Culture in 2013, an ancient tower and a surprising link to Odessa in Ukraine.  We might take the little ferry across the harbour, we'll certainly walk - or maybe take the 'petit train' - up the hill to Notre Dame de la Garde, where a huge golden statue of Mary the Virgin watches protectively over the city.   
Reading Suggestions
The Wicked City by Nicholas HewittMarseille Port to Port by William KornblumTotal Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo
Links for this post
The Saint Jean FortDeportation MemorialThe Petit Train  Notre Dame de la Garde  Boat trips from the Old Port  
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!Check our website to find more episodes from our Marseille series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
 
We love to receive your comments and suggestions! You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.ukAnd if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

There are 26 centuries of history in Marseille, which is the oldest city in France!  This episode runs through 10 places where you can find traces of key moments in the city's past.  They range from the plaque commemorating the founding of Marseille in about 600 BC to the site where you can still see bullet holes from the fight to liberate the city from German occupation in 1944.  They’re listed in chronological order, with a few of their stories attached and although this makes a good overview, we've saved some of the 'big-hitters’ such as Notre Dame de la Garde and the Château d’If for later episodes where they'll get a fuller treatment.
Reading Suggestions
The Wicked City The many Cultures of Marseille  by Nicholas HewittMarseille Port to Port by William Kornblum   
Links for this postRoman Docks Museum   Saint Victor Abbey Memorial of the Marseillaise   Provencal Museum Deportation Memorial Museum of Marseille History  
 
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!Check our website to find more episodes from our Marseille series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions! You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.ukAnd if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   
 
 

Bienvenue à Marseille. Welcome to Marseille, the lively southern French city whose name rhymes with 'soleil'.   There's beauty in the Old Port and the stunning coastline, there's history and culture a-plenty in the museums, there's a Provencal feel - boules and bouillabaisse - overlaid with a vibrant multi-ethnic mix.  There's a little grit too, for this is the home of Marseille Noir crime fiction and the notorious Château d'If so graphically portrayed in The Count of Monte Cristo.  
This introductory episode will help you get your bearings and pick up the basic facts which underpin everything. As the French say, 'On y va!' - Let's go!
Links and Reading Three useful websites for touristMarseille Tourist Office   Marseille Tourisme.fr   About France: a short guide to Marseille  
3 Guide BooksThe Rough Guide to Provence and the Côte d’AzurMarseille Travel Guide by Angela J ReaMarseille Travel Guide by Betty Vanslyke     4 books on Marseille Culture   The Wicked City The many cultures of Marseille by Nicholas Hewitt    Garlic, Mint and Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo     Unveiling Marseille Your Insider’s Guide to the Multicultural Marvel by Tailored Travel Guides Taste the World in Marseille by Vérane Frédiani 
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!Check our website to find more episodes from our Marseille series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions! You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.ukAnd if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!