Marseille Through Film

These humble snapshots are a portrayal of a remarkable trip. Here is Marseille, with her engaging scenes and divergent moods.

Marseille is the sunniest city that lies at the South of France, with its azure blue seas of the Mediterranean touching its coast.

The crashing waves on the coastline force the hardened, chalk-white limestone cliffs to form inlets called calanques, in the area where the sea meets the mountains. ‘Fjord’-like in form, these are stunning places of natural beauty where alpine plants grow in the crevices of the white rocks. Though they only grow up to knee-level, the harsh climates and salty sea spray render only the hardiest of shrubs to thrive in such conditions. These calanques dot the coastline of Marseille.

In other areas boats bob gently, anchored near posh summer residences in the stretch across the Corniche.

Although the area around the Vieux-Port, the Old Port of Marseille, may seem tourist-ridden, it also calls for an authentic travel experience of a much more relaxed kind: sitting at the balcony terrace in the afternoon at a cafe called La Caravelle, you can sip French coffee and let sunny Marseille pass before your eyes. You can watch travelers and locals board ferries to the small islands around the area, one in particular which famously appears in ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’, a classic novel by Alexandre Dumas; the fortress on Château d’If that houses the infamous prison on an unescapable island where the protagonist makes his timely escape, survives, and succeeds.

Boats and clotheslines at the Calanque de Malmousque

Three bathers at the Calanque de Malmousque

The La Porte d’ Orient Monument

The view from La Caravelle, a café overlooking the old port

‘La Cagole’ is Marseillan slang for over-sexy women who wear too much makeup, but it is also a brand of beer.

Boats at Cassis, an hour’s drive away from Marseille

Cliff views on the road

The sunset at Le Massif de Marseilleveyre

This was first published online in Wildjunket Magazine’s Photo essay section.

The writer hopes that there is a place in Marseille, the South of France, for her. This was the only place in her life that has stolen her heart with its surrounding nature scapes : Chaotic and savage, the impossibly beautiful vignettes issuing a cheerful siren call. Her soul has been infused with the scent of the Mediterranean sea, and she hopes to return soon.