Marseille France

I have been waiting to get to Marseille. What an incredible city. There is so much to see and I don't know that I will have enough time to see it all, but I'm gonna try. I'll just show you my favorites. But first, I need to drop my bags at the hotel.
This is where I am staying.

Hotel du Palais

Located a 5-minute walking distance from the �Vieux Port � of Marseille, the Hotel du Palais is a privileged vacation retreat, offering a customized service in a quiet and friendly atmosphere
The hotel features original ambiance and decor, which will ensure you a peaceful, relaxing stay, and offers comfortable bedrooms as well as a nice business centre.

The Hotel du Palais, newly renovated, is located in the heart of the city of Marseille, two steps away from the �Vieux Port �.
A charming hotel, ideally located, where you will find comfort and Provencal decor.
Our location is perfect for business or leisure, with shops, car park and underground close by.
The hotel propose 22 entirely renovated and fully equipped with minibar, safety box, telephone, Satellite TV with Canal+ and free Wifi Internet connection.







Saint Charles is the main railway station of Marseille. It is a terminus and opened on 8 January 1848, having been built for the PLM on the land of the Saint Charles Cemetery. The station is perched on top of a small hill and is linked to the city centre by a monumental set of stairs.

The station was once a stage on the voyage to Africa and the Middle-East before the popularisation of flying. Passengers now arrive from Paris, the North of France and the United Kingdom.
The station building was built in a U shape around a rooftop canopy. It was opened in 1848 on top of a plateau. Both wings house the arrivals and departures. To the rear of the station, along Boulevard Voltaire was the station's goods yard which was used up until the end of the 1990s by the SNCF's road freight operations, Sernam. The station, first isolated from the town, was equipped with a great staircase. The staircase was envisioned in 1911 and opened in 1926. It is bordered by African and Middle-East inspired statues.
A first extension was opened after World War II. The buildings on the northside had been destroyed and were rebuilt and housed the administration offices of the SNCF. A new between level was opened to enhance the flow of passengers.
At the end of the 1990s a redevelopement project began with the opening of the Marseille underground and bus interchange as well as the arrival of the TGV Méditerranée.
A new passenger concourse was opened below the administration offices to link the station with the transport interchange.

Saint-Charles Station Main Staircase

Then I started walking. This is the view of the Boulevard d' Athenes form Saint-Charles Station.











Who would not want to stop and check this out?
 Notre-Dame de la Garde is a basilica located in Marseille, France. This ornate Neo-Byzantine church is situated at the highest natural point in Marseille, a 162 m (532 ft) limestone outcrop on the south side of the Old Port. As well as being a major local landmark, it is the site of a popular annual pilgrimage every Assumption Day (August 15). Local inhabitants commonly refer to it as la bonne mère ("the good mother").^[1]

Commissioned by Saint Charles Eugene de Mazenod, then bishop of Marseille, and designed by the architect Jacques Henri Esperandieu (1829-1874), the church was built between 1853, when the foundation stone was laid on September 11, and 1864.^[2] "The basilica was built in the 19th century in the same style as the Cathedral of Sainte Marie Majeure on the opposite side of the port."^[1] The church was built on the site of a 13th century chapel, also dedicated to Our Lady of the Watch, the traditional guardian of seafarers.^[2] It shared space atop the hill with a 16th-century fortification established for Francois I, built in 1525, whose own salamander badge is to be found within the present basilica's north porch.^[2]
The basilica is surmounted by a 60 m (197 ft) belfry topped with a huge statue of the Virgin and Child, visible across much of the city and for miles out at sea. Construction of the basilica took five years and required 170,000 tons of material, including 23 shiploads of marble and porphyry from Italy. The interior is decorated with inlaid marble, mosaics and murals. Many of the walls are covered with hundreds of ex-votos, including paintings, plaques, model boats, war medals and even football shirts given by players and supporters of Olympique de Marseille, the local football team.

 Or this one?

The Stade Vélodrome is a 60,013 capacity stadium in Marseille, France. It is the home of Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 and was also a venue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It is the largest club football ground in France. The stadium is also used regularly by the French rugby union team.

The record attendance for a club game at the Stade Vélodrome was of 58,897, for a UEFA Cup semi-final against Newcastle United in 2004. The stadium also featured as a Football World Cup venue when the 1938 finals were held in France. The first ever match to be played was between Marseille and Torino in 1937. There are plans to increase the capacity to 80,000 and build a roof to cover all four stands, plans that are contingent on a possible sale of the Football Club. The stadium was used for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
The French rugby union team started an impressive run of victories at the stadium in the early 2000s. In November 2000 they defeated the All Blacks 42 to 33, the following year defeating Australia by one point. In 2002 one match was played there again, a win over the Springboks, which was followed by a win over England in 2003. However, their run of luck was broken in 2004, when they lost 14 to 24 to Argentina. The venue was used by France in November 2009 when the French played the New Zealand All Blacks.^[1] France are not the only rugby team to have used the Vélodrome in recent years. On April 18, 2009, Toulon took their home fixture in the Top 14 against Toulouse to the Vélodrome, drawing 57,039^[2] to see a 14–6 Toulon win that played a key role in the Toulonnais' successful fight against relegation in the 2008–09 season.^[3]

La vieille charité is a former almshouse, now functioning as a museum and cultural centre, situated in the heart of the old Panier quarter of Marseille in the south of France. Constructed between 1671 and 1749 in the Baroque style to the designs of the architect Pierre Puget, it comprises four ranges of arcaded galleries in three storeys surrounding a space with a central chapel surmounted by an ovoid dome.

Marseille Cathedral (Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille or Cathédrale de la Major) is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a national monument of France, located in Marseille. It has been a basilica minor since 1896.

It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Marseille (formerly the Diocese of Marseille until its elevation in 1948).
The present cathedral, the "Nouvelle Major", was built on an enormous scale in Byzantine-Roman style from 1852 to 1896 on the site used for the cathedrals of Marseille since the 5th century, principally by the architects Léon Vaudoyer and Henri-Jacques Espérendieu (1829-1874). Some modest structures remaining from the largely demolished earlier cathedral, the "Vieille Major", still stand alongside, dwarfed by the huge scale of the later construction.

There is so much more to see. I can't wait to get back out there tomorrow.
All info from wiki.com