From the industrial edge of the Camargue, barely above sea level, to the small but rugged massifs – Chaine de l’Estaque, Chaine de L’Etoile – that surround Marseille, this is a region of dramatic contrasts.
Gigantic ocean liners and massive cargo ships crowd the modern docks that are virtually around the corner from a 2,600-year-old harbor and golden beaches. Modern apartment blocks (including Le Corbusier’s landmark Radiant City) jostle for space beside some of the oldest religious and military buildings in France, all of them tumbling in a cosmopolitan chaos to the edge of sea.
Even the region’s two main cities, Aix en Provence and Marseille, couldn’t be more different. Marseille, an industrial, trade and transport capital, is a genuine crossroads of the world – and has been for thousands of years. Aix is a small, conservative, art- and music-oriented city, noted for its fountains and springs. Roman in origin, the look of modern Aix owes much more to the 17th and 18th centuries. It is often compared to a prim, good-mannered woman of a certain age. If that’s the case, then the cultural melting pot of Marseille, France’s oldest and second-largest city, could be her big, brawling, rough companion.
Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde watches over Marseille Vieux Port from the city’s highest point. ©Alain Sauvan, OTCM Marseille
Between them, Mont Sainte Victoire rises in a familiar silhouette. Olive groves and almandiers begin to outnumber vineyards. It is just possible that some of these ancient trees may spring from the earliest groves in France, carried here by the first Greek traders.
In less than the 20 miles between Aix and Marseille, Provence wakes up – making the transition from a soft, dreamlike ambiance to the hurly-burly of the coast.
Wine tasting at a Sunday Market on the Cours Mirabeau in Aix en Provence. © Ferne Arfin
Candy-colored Mediterranean resorts like Martigues, Cassis and La Ciotat jostle for coastal space with the major industrial and technology center at Fos, the refineries and petrochemical plants around L’Etang Berre, and the pristine, vertical landscape of Les Calanques. L’Etang Berre, a huge (38,375 acres), almost landlocked body of calm water between Marseille and the Rhône, makes for dramatic views while driving west of Marseille but is surrounded by heavy industry and is of little interest to visitors.
With direct flights from the UK and Paris and regular high-speed rail service from London or Paris, Marseille is a convenient gateway for Western Provence and the Western Côte d’Azur.
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