The first stop on our first European cruise was Marseille, France: the 2nd largest city in France with a bad-boy reputation. Other than reading about 18th century Marseille as a kid, my namesake Désirée Clary was born there, I had little reference to the modern day city.
In the past, Marseille was an industrious port town with a busy marina, and people from around the Mediterranean making the journey for business and pleasure. We found the modern day city to be no different- people from all over still make Marseille their home. The people and flavors of Northern Africa to Greece and beyond blend seamlessly with the people and abundant produce of France’s coast. With so much to explore and relatively little time, we opted to take the tourist train for a broad overview of Marseille, before wandering the some of the narrow streets for local specialties.
