Marseille

On Sunday I took a day trip to Marseille, which is the second biggest city in France, with the school I'm studying at.  We set off at 8.30 am from the train station and on the way I finally got to watch the infamous French film, "Intouchables."

When we arrived gave us lots of information on the history of the city while we made it to the top of a hill where the Notre-Dame de la Garde is situated. Notre-Dame de la Garde is a basilica with a beautiful interior and a fantastic panoramic view over the city and port of Marseille.

We then went down to the old port and had some free time in which we ate and took photos of our reflections in the huge mirror by the port. After lunch we went to a cathedral and then went to see the huge forts of Fort Saint-Nicolas and Fort Saint-Jean. Fort Saint-Jean was built in 1660 by Louis XIV and was built to protect Marseille from the many attacks it received throughout history. We walked along the bridge which links the fort to the port which was built in 2013 when Marseille was the Eueopeen Capital of Culture.  The bridge gives great views of the clear blue Mediterranean. 

Finally we got to try famous drink from the region although I have no idea what it was called but I do know it was awful. We then got back on the coach where practically everyone fell asleep on the way back to Montpellier.

La petite Venise du Languedoc

Yesterday, I signed up to go on an excursion to a city called Sète or "La petite Venise du Languedoc'' which is about 45 minutes from Montpellier. After arriving we went up to the top of Mont St-Clair which is a hill that gives a panoramic view of the city and the Mediterranean. At the top out guide expalined the history of the city and how many had dreamed of connecting the Mediterranean to the Atlantic to provide a safe inland route and to avoid having to go around the Iberian peninsula where there were storms and pirates. They had a lack of money to do so but in 1662 a man called Pierre-Paul Riquet made it his goal to complete the canal and so Louis XIV gave him 10 years of funding to complete it. However, after 10 years it was incomplete and so the funding stopped and so he borrowed money from the banks to finish his work and eventually finished in 1681 but then the stress of repayments killed him. In 1996 the Canal du Midi was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Church that was on Mont St-Clair

After we had a tour around the city where the guide told us that it's known as "La petite Venise du Languedoc" or "Little Venice" due to all the canals that run through the city and explained the major sport of water jousting which is where two teams on rowing boats joust. It is such a pretty city and it did remind me of Venice.  

After we had some free time to have a look around and do some shopping and then we got back in the bus and headed to a wine shop where we got to sample 5 different wines from the region as it used export huge amounts of wine to Algeria. All the wines were delicious and I especially loved the experience because I love wine and got to try 3 different types of white wine which were all lovely despite me thinking I didn't like white wine. We then headed back to Montpellier where we got dropped off at the train station. I had a great day and it was nice to see a city that I would never have thought to go and see if it wasn't advertised at the school.