Take me away to Marseilles, France

BRIAN Crisp takes in the Mediterranean coastline that has inspired painters for centuries while he gets high on the music of The Angels.

Marseille escape

MY ITUNES playlist has often come to my rescue when travelling.

When the journey is long, I search for inspiration in songs about the places I'm either heading to or travelling through.

I'd been on the road for almost 30 hours when we boarded the train from Nice to Marseilles. Feeling tired, despite a few naps on the flight from Brisbane via Dubai, I typed Marseilles into the iPad search engine.

Two choices.

There was Jimmy Buffett's beautiful ballad Coast of Marseilles or the driving beat of The Angels' Marseilles.

I was wilting so I turned to Doc and the dual guitars of the Brewster brothers to keep me awake and take me away to Marseilles. It worked and within minutes I was thinking of nothing except the south of France.

You can get to Marseilles by plane, boat or car. But if you really want to see the Cote d'Azur in all its glory, take the train.

The Mediterranean coastline has inspired painters for centuries. At times on the journey you are wedged between lush forest on one side and rugged rocky coast on the other. The pebble beaches of the Cote d'Azur are always covered with people taking in the mild rays of the European sun and every 20 minutes we seemed to be passing through a carefully preserved village.

The trip takes about 3 1/2 hours before we arrive in Marseilles, greeted by brilliant sunshine. That's not unusual for Marseilles, which boasts more than 300 sunny days each year.

The city of 1.2 million people (France's second-largest city) is geographically bigger than Paris and was settled more than 26 centuries ago. The best place to see just how far it spreads out is from the basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, the symbolic heart of Marseilles.

The buildings date back to 1524 and the church pays tribute to the local maritime history by displaying an eclectic mix of shipping paintings and models.

Most tours of Marseilles focus on the Old Port but it is difficult to navigate so I suggest you hire a guide (or at least a driver) for the day to take any stress out of the visit. Leave plenty of time to explore the Panier District. There are hidden delights around every corner of its narrow streets.

I stayed at the swish Sofitel, which overlooked the port, a great place to stand drinking champagne, playing it cool. I didn't have to try, really. Apologies to The Angels for stealing their words.

If you stay there, make sure you include breakfast in your package because the breakfast offering here is the best I have tried.

The hotel is next to the Pharo Palace, a residence built for Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte in 1852. Below, there is St Nicolas citadel, built by King Louis XIV to protect Marseilles' harbour.

The hotel is on the hill overlooking the harbour but it was not more than a 15-minute trip to the city's main shopping streets Rue de Paradis and La Canebiere. The shopping precinct is excellent. There are plenty of Paris brands but, thankfully, not Paris prices.Next year, Marseille-Provence becomes the European Capital of Culture. Only three French cities Paris (1989), Avignon (2000) and Lille (2004) have previously held the sought-after title. It will be a huge boost for tourism and it starts on January 12. Some experts predict tourism numbers will double.

Like any cultural festival, some of the events will be very traditional, and some will be well quite bizarre.

Here's a taste of some of the best.

The crazy history of street art From May 3-20, more than 50 performers will move throughout the region. The highlight will be the choreographed digger act, which will involve a ballet performance with dancers and mechanical diggers.

Transhumance Here man and beast will join to create a caravanserai under the stars on the Crau plains near Arles. Humans, sheep and horses will be marched more than 300km, including through the centre of Marseilles, to form this collective walk and work of art. The three-week walk starts on May 18.

Le Grand Atelier du Midi These twin exhibitions will be presented simultaneously at the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Marseilles and the Musee Granet in Aix-en-Provence. The Marseilles exhibition, called From Van Gogh to Bonnard, highlights the way these artists used light and colour. The exhibitions run from June 13 to October 13. See mp2013.fr. 

The author was a guest of MSC Cruises, which launched its ship Divina in Marseilles in May.

He also apologises for the corny use of Angels lyrics throughout this piece. He couldn't resist.

Go2

MARSEILLES

Appy travels Marseilles on the move by Monument Tracker is an easy-to-use app that tells you about monuments as you pass them. It is loaded with information on more than 100 monuments and sites. It costs €1.59 ($A2). See www.marseille-tourisme.com

Stay: The Sofitel. See accor.com.au

Fly: Emirates has daily flights to Dubai with connections to Nice.

See emirates.com

Rail: To book, visit the Rail Europe website at raileurope.com.au

Cruise: An MSC seven-night East Mediterranean return cruise aboard MSC Divina begins at $939 a person, twin share, from Venice, calling at Bari, Katakolon (for Olympia), Izmir, Istanbul and Dubrovnik. Ph 1300 028 502 or see msccruises.com.au

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