Happy Summer solstice!! It is amazing to realize that our stay in Provence is coming to an end! This coming Friday we drive north to Bourgogne where we are looking forward to seeing our friends Carolyn and Laurent....see you soon!!!
Recently we have been filling our days with "things we thought we'd do but didn't get around to doing YET" and one of those things was a visit to Marseille and the new (to us) MuCEM as well as Les Terrasses du Port (a rather upscale shopping center).
The MuCEM in my mind, is on a par architecturally with the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
It is one of the buildings in a complex which includes the ancient Fort St. Jean on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea with beautiful vistas. Fort St. Jean is on the left; the black "bar" is actually a passageway from the MuCEM to the fort.
As you can see it is a "lacy" structure which looks a bit like it is floating. It makes me think of the window covering in a Moroccan palace...it lets in enough light, you can see out, but it keeps the place cool in the heat.
This photo is looking out at the fort from inside.
We happened to go on a windy day so the sky was magnificent. That is the cathedral La Major in the background.
The exhibit we saw was called "Shared Sacred Places" and it addressed the similarities of religious places and beliefs of the peoples of the Mediterranean. It was very informative and I wonder how come the world still cannot get this straight????!!!!
Anyway, the museum was filled with school children on class trips and after about an hour we decided we would return next trip and do it at another time!! Yes, I have taken students to visit museums so I understand, but in my day (!!!) I think it was not quite as noisy!! Could be the architecture of the building too though.
This photo is the structure around the outer ramps which wound around the building like a square snail shell. Can you see the people at the far end of the middle ramp?
We also went to the very classy shopping center Les Terraces du Port. (Took this picture from a poster).
There is a Monoprix there (hurray...love that store) and here is a picture of the "rosé" section! If you can't find what you want here it might not exist!
The terraces of this center are fabulous even on a windy day. They are wide and created so that you feel like you are on a cruise ship complete with ship's railing.
For me, this is the best way to "cruise"...I'm not too good on a boat in deep sea. The Chateau d'If (the prison of Monte Cristo) is off there in the distance behind the two cranes.
Nearby you can see docked the overnight ferries to Corsica.
We brought along a picnic lunch and ate it "on the deck" along with many people. Then we had coffee in a café nearby.
Here are some views of the inside. That is a glass sculpture in white in the distance behind the blue sign.
Of course they have a Nike store but I was drawn in by how cheerful this Brazilian sport shoe shop looked. I would really like to have one of almost each pair!
Yesterday, on our last Saturday, we went to La Ciotat to the calanques on the Mediterranean to swim. Oscar stayed home with granny Catherine and we packed lunch, towels, swimwear, water to drink and to spray on the face and sun hats and umbrella and we were off.
The calanques are small inlets of wonderful sea with small beaches surrounded by hills and pine trees (have you seen "Two For the Road" with Audrey Hepburn??). You can reach them by boat or...hike. We did the steep hike (thankfully there were stairs) down to the beach and we got there early enough to get a prize spot under a pine tree! Here is a shot of the beach when we arrived. Unfortunately my photos are not downloading from my phone today so I cannot show you more of the beauty of this area.
The beach was one with small rocks like in Nice but we had our padded cushions and our meduses (water shoes) and it was glorious! Ready for the water...and any possible fish we might net.
The water is still pretty cool (cold) so it takes a moment or two (well a little more than that to be honest) to get used to it but then.....wonderful!!! Maya and JC spent the most time swimming. Check out the turquoise sea!
As we did the breast stroke Maya told me to lap the water "Its salty like a cornichon (pickle)!" It was a really nice day. Unfortunately, some creep smashed the small side window at the front of the car so Monday means a visit to the police station to make a declaration etc. etc. Not the perfect ending to a perfect day. Sigh. Well...my mother used to say "Scherben bringen glück" (Shards bring luck and happiness) so maybe it was the perfect ending. Who doesn't want luck and happiness?!
No comments:
Post a Comment