Pretty sure the south of France would have been on the cards with or without Covid this year, but when restrictions were lifted momentarily and we only had a short window of opportunity before quarantining became mandatory (missed it by a mere three days) and in desperate to get out of the country for what was looking like the only time this year, south of France was our safest and easiest option. Also plane free, so eco friendly, or as much as you can get it which helped relieve more guilt.
Plus I put so much time and effort into that passive aggressive bitch Duo Lingo during lockdown I had to make sure it paid off.
Je mange beaucoup.
1230 Eurostar from St. Pancras, easy peasy. The only draw back compared to flying is that it is about six and a half hours of travel time, but when you then compare that to travelling to an airport, checking in, hanging around in purgatory for two hours, then the same bollocks the other side, I feel it’s a no brainer of a compromise.
Quick and easy change in Paris. And I mean that too; Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon are just one stop away from each other on the metro, about €1.80, and under twenty minutes. Perfect when your changeover time is only forty five minutes! Back on for leg two which is around the four hour mark, but again when you’re drinking with friends and just have beautiful scenic France rushing past you it’s really no time at all.
First stop, Marseille.
Walking out onto the terrace of Marseille-Saint-Charles station is a ruddy good intro. Not only does that southern France heat hit you like a brick wall, but the views are stunning from there, with an unbroken view right over to Basilique Notre-Dame, and almost three-sixty around the city. Good start.
We found an excellent Airbnb just fifteen minutes walk from Saint-Charles that was a two story town house with three double bedrooms and its own pool, and less than five minute walk from Cours Julien which is where we spent most of the first night. Sat out in a busy courtyard, enjoying a nice cold pint with friends in the sun felt like a far cry from what the rest of 2020 had been so far. It was busy, but it still felt completely safe, everyone was sat at tables, no massive groups, and again mandatory masks to pop in and grab your drinks. Easy, safe and considerate.
After a stroll down the very fun (for a set of stairs anyway) Escaliers du Cours Julien we headed for first dinner at Le Trait d’Union which was an excellent find and the beginning of what was pretty much a week of raw dishes for me. Tuna ceviche followed by steak tartare was wonderfully made and a great combo, great service, and just a really lovely and ‘normal’ atmosphere in the twilight square.
We only had another day or two centred in Marseille so barely scratched the surface, but by foot and by stomach there were still plenty of highlights:
Local sites accessible by foot included most everything grand in terms of spaces. Down to the old port and then work around in a circle anti-clockwise starting with the Place d’Armes fortification ruins, walking round the outside up to the MuCEM which is a stark modern contrast to d’Armes. Further round still to see the rather breathtaking Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure before up to the very pretty Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne (try spelling that when you’re pissed). That’s all within a thirty minute walk of each other if you weren’t taking the time to go inside any, but I would recommend it as it’s all amazing architecture.
Coffee was supplied mainly by the Deep roasters and coffee shop which was a lovely space banging out a delicious natural Brazilian on espresso that week so we had some mighty fine flat whites and nabbed a couple of bags to bring home too. If you’re on the north side of the port then 7VB is a decent choice too, with a beautiful space to sit in.
Aside from Le Trait d’Union there were two notable excellent eateries worth mentioning. Another casual spot, Rendez Vous Des Amis, was exactly what it said (in french) on the tin. Out in the sun a stones throw from the Cathédrale La Major and with the most casual friendly staff, the chap serving us made us feel as if we’d been going there for years, but in a very french way; less open arms ‘omg so great to see you again and more ugh, sorry they’re being way too loud, no you don’t want that it’s too expensive’. Class act. Another steak tartare down the hatchet and a great burrata with strawberries, tomato and basil really hit the sunny sweet spot. It’s a casual diner but I’d go out my way to go back again.
T’other spot, and possibly best meal of the week was for a friend’s birthday at Le Mercerie. Set on Cours Saint-Louis about five minutes walk from the port, we had an excellent seven course tasting menu (which included a wonderful crab and corn chowder, a cacoa coffee and miso aubergine, tuna carpaccio, beautiful lamb rump, peanut butter and popcorn parfait, and a small but mighty cheese board) again with superb service. I think it may have only been my second meal inside a restaurant since the July 4th hospitality relaunch in the UK (we ate in here on 3rd August) but service was smooth, very personable, and aside from the masks, you wouldn’t have noticed everything else they were doing to meet restriction requirements to make it feel as normal as possible. Well done team. Wines all excellent too; a couple of bottles of deliciously crisp and slaty Baudili Xarel-lo (in my top five white grapes) followed by an equally suitable Sextant Bourgogne Pinot Noir (def top three red), with a great Tokaj to finish. Everything excellent beginning to end so this place is a must whenever you’re next in Marseille.
Je mange beaucoup.
With Marseille as a base here are a couple of day excursions I can’t recommend enough:
A forty five minute coach trip (€14 euro return) takes you to the stunning Aix-en-Provence which upon reflection should definitely be more than just a one day trip next time. It is adorable; cute cobbled slim streets adorned with cafes, bars, all the shopping you could need, and of course it’s abundant in great classic architecture. Take it all in in a oner by having a beer sat out in Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. Ambiance darlings. You’ve also the lovely (and free) Atelier de Cezanne complete with gardens to take a wander through that’s just north of the main city. Your coffee fix for the wander comes courtesy of the excellent Mana Espresso, and then when you’re ready for that classic combo of tuna ceviche followed by steak tartare again then a seat outside Café Jeanne in the very sweet Place Ramus is a great bustle of a place to have an atmospheric lunch in.
If you fancy staying ever so slightly more local to Marseille but still with a good sense of adventure then hire an e-bike from EasyMove (hefty but fully returned deposit, but then actually only works out about €35 euros for a full day hire) and head south along the coast towards Les Goudes via La Plage. It’s only an hour or so cycle if you hit turbo mode and cycle non-stop, but the stop off around La Plage gives you access to Unité d’Habitation, which is arguably one of Swiss/ French architect Le Corbusier’s most famous buildings. Inside and out it’s an Instagramer’s wet dream so you can imagine how dripping in images I was when we left. Bold modernist colourful statement inside and out with a spectacular roof top view. Beaut.
Hit up Parc Borély on the way back to the coast with their beautiful vast gardens and a glimpse of the Musée des Arts décoratifs, an eighteenth century country house turned museum of decorative arts and fashion, before hitting the road southbound again down to Les Goudes, and take lunch in restaurant La Baie des Singes. No monkeys on the menu though, it’s all seafood, that day’s freshly caught seafood. A few excellent entrées and sides to chose from off the menu, then your main is bbq fish, whichever you choose off the ginormous plate the waiter comes and plonks at your table. Again, excellent friendly service.
There are plenty of bars, or in some cases little shacks offering nice cold beers all the way down the coast, so your cycle back up into central Marseille can have as many (responsible!) stop offs as you want.
That about covers the four days in Marseille, so a quick and easy car hire to take us to our next base point in Sainte-Maxime, though of course via Cassis and a stupidly picturesque walk around the Calanque de Port-Miou. Stunning.
Sainte-Maxime is pretty darn lovely. A more quaint, local and therefore far more accessible counterpart to the rather boujie not to mention colossally expensive Saint-Tropez just over the bay. Again, a super lovely and very reasonably priced Airbnb did us well as a base, and from there you’ve got several beaches less than an hour stroll away.
Around the stunning peak that is Pointe des Sardinaux, through Nartelle beach which hosts a very lovely beach side restaurant, La Voile, which yet again provides excellent steak tartare and magnums of Minuty rosé, and up to Plage Des Elephants will give you enough beach variation before you may feel the need to maybe employ some wheels to venture a little further.
Of course if you want to stay really local then you can enjoy the beaches in the bay of Sainte-Maxine and the many beach bars lining it. Havana Plage was extremely fun and had a pretty good dj the evening we were there, if you’re also into Latino pop that is. Plus the portion sizes when it comes to Negronis are about three times the size of regular ones, so yeah #shitfaced.
Speaking of shit faced (just kidding I was very well behaved) the Château d’Esclans, home of the wonderful Whispering Angel Rosé, is but a forty minute drive away if you’re after an excursion, and it’s bloody beautiful. The grounds are massive, and the château itself looks like something from a fairy tale. I’ve included a pic, the lighting was perfectly dreamy, as was the entire range of wines. A little impromptu tasting may well lead you to buy pretty much one of everything as we did, but what was a surprising little find was the three little bird collection from Sacha Lichine stocked there. A pretty bargainous find with some rather adorable labels.
En-route back from there is the tres quaint town of Le Muy which is a lovely place to stretch your legs before heading just to the outskirts for an alfresco luncheon at Le Jardin, classic steak and potatoes straight up.
Je mange beaucoup.
Canoeing down the river nearby also adds that well needed wholesome element of physical activity pre wine tasting. Of course pre. If you want to go canoeing post wine tasting then all the best my friend, may the odds be ever in your favour.
More excellent eateries back in Maxime centre; arrival night we had a rather lovely Moroccan feast of cocktails and couscous at Le Comptoir Beldi in one of the bustling back streets, and on the front, Brasserie Le W provided a really, really fun final meal venue. Not only was the wine and food excellent (yes ceviche and tartare featured for the final time) but there was a stonking good dj right in the middle of the restaurant. I’ve never eaten to intense dance and funk at that volume before while eating but it was actually really bloody fun and added an extra dimension to our final meal.
There is also a great covered market where you can grab all the fresh fish, veg, and meats you need to cook at home, as well as a bunch of fantastic bakeries dotted about so you’ll never be stuck for good easy home cooked grub.
Now I briefly mentioned Saint-Tropez earlier, and yes it is colossally expensive just about everywhere. It’s like stepping in to another world, ridiculous yachts the size of houses full of people old and young but all dripping in wealth just partying away, champagne in hand - felt just like back home in Grimsby… - Anyway, we managed to have a very fun evening there on a dime. The ferry over was about €14 return each, and rather than giving away an annual salary in exchange for a beer or two, we picked a half decent looking five litre box of rosé from the local offie for about €8 and just smuggled it around town, stopping and supping from plastic cups each time we landed an amazing view, of which there are plenty, either up the hill looking down at the town, or sat on the quay watching the sun set. Glorious.
Save a few more quid by not eating anywhere obvious but go for a modestly priced but not at all modestly sized pizza from L’Aroma for €8 and there you have it, a fabulously fun and filling night in Saint-Tropez with all the views for a rather modest €30 each. Nailed it.
And that about nails a rather fun and impromptu nine days in the south of France, despite all the wonderful challenges the year 2020 has brought us so far.
Apart from the obvious highlight of it begin time out of England during a pretty grim year, the main draw of heading down to south of France is its ease. Train it all the way not only for ease but for bags more comfort too, especially if you’re travelling as a group, then just hire your wheels (if you need them) when you get there. When the world is going to shit too it does help that ditching the flights are far more eco friendly, so alleviates some of that holiday guilt.
You definitely don’t have to go quite as far south as Marseille either, stop half way in Provence instead to cut a few hours journey and enjoy a stay slap bang in the middle of a random vineyard and escape from everything for a little while.
Or a long while.
Might not bother coming back next time. No way you can track and trace me.
Lol/ cry.
#harrisonthehand