France Part 3

Well, it’s been a pretty awesome weekend. I started it off right on Thursday with my presentation in Le Corbusier about Plan Voisin. I was nervous about it since I have next to no experience with architecture/architectural history classes, but my classmates and my professor were very complimentary. Thursday evening, I went to the de Sade for a bit, but I didn’t feel like staying out too late since we had to get up early to go to Marseille the next day. Apparently Marseille is only spelled ‘Marseilles’ in English, so I don’t really know what that’s about.

Anyway, we got up early for breakfast on Friday morning and got on the bus for the trip. It was rainy, and the rain followed us to Marseille and persisted throughout most of the day. Our first stop was the Unite d’Habitation, a Le Corbusier building that was meant to act as a prototype for quality mass housing, which was desperately needed in France after the Second World War. It is a large condominium with many different types of units based on different needs. The building itself is supported on massive Egyptian-style columns (Le Corbusier called them pilotis) and all of the public works for the building are stored in an artificial ground underneath the pilotis for easy access and maintenance.  Much of the building is constructed from rough concrete, which I thought contrasted nicely with the more finished details such as the glass and railing. Using this concrete was a very practical decision- it was cheap, it didn’t require skilled labor to pour, and it couldn’t become defaced or weather beaten. The Unite uses the roof as a communal gathering area and 2 of the interior hallways (rue interieur) as shopping/market type areas. These were more active when the building was first constructed, but they still see some use today. The hallways are strangely lit and colored, making them a bit disturbing to me, but a lot of the students liked them. The apartments themselves were quite interesting- in modern times, they seem like ultra trendy studio apartments. I can understand why so many people still live in them. It was difficult to actually depict them with photographs though.

After touring the Unite, we headed into downtown Marseille, where we were given free time. Miles and I immediately split off from the group and began exploring the city. We used the rather adventurous method of simply finding things by sight, and we had a lot of fun exploring areas of Marseille that most tourists probably don’t see. The guidebooks describe Marseille as ‘gritty’, and this is pretty accurate. It has been a massive city and a center of trade since Ancient Greece and even before, but most of the relics from antiquity have been built over. In this way, Marseille is a typical Mediterranean city- they just kept building right on top of the old stuff. The city just keeps moving on.

One of the first things we noticed is that there is graffiti on everything, which sounds awful, but it was actually kind of cool juxtaposed with all the traditional, old-looking buildings. Similarly, there are a lot of rectangular, co0kie cutter type condos and skyscrapers mixed right in with the old churches and brick streets. I particularly enjoyed the waterfront and the port. The port has been there since antiquity, but you would never guess it.

Perhaps the most impressive site was the Cathedrale de la Major, which is a massive Romanesque/Byzantine style cathedral with a lot of Islamic elements tied in. It was overwhelmingly beautiful and intricate, and there is no way my words or the photos I took can really do it justice. I have never seen anything like it before in my life. We visited a number of other historic sites, but this, in my opinion was the highlight. After the cathedral, we made our way along the waterfront in search of the North African Fish Markets. Marseille has a large North African population, which makes it culturally very interesting.

As we searched for the market, we made a quick stop in the Musee de la Mode (the Fashion Museum), where we saw collections from French designers. Although many famous designers were included (such as Chanel), neither of us cared much for what we saw and became rather dubious about French fashion. Finally, we found our way to the market and stumbled into a Tunisian pastry shop, which had some of the most delicious (and CHEAP) pastries ever. The market was loud and crowded and hectic and fun. There was so much to look at and take in and I think we both really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we went into some clothing shops along the main drag, some of which were really bizarre. One shop was no bigger than my dorm room, yet it had at least 4 employees working in it, all of whom were very anxious to help us.

When we finally made our way back to the bus, the sun started to come out and we got some great pictures of the port and the old buildings at sunset. We were satisfied with our trip, although Miles and I would both like to return at some point and see some of the things we didn’t have time to get to, including the Basilica, the Triumphal Arch, and the prison where Edmond Dantes was held in Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. In fact, my visit to Marseille made me want to re-read The Count of Monte Cristo, so I’ll be keeping my eye out for an English copy.

Saturday morning, Miles, Jamie, and I got up early for the weekly trip to Apt. We had about an hour to wander the village, and I picked up a lightweight coat for 7 euros. We also stopped in a boulangerie to get some pastries for breakfast. On the way back from Apt, the group stopped at French Wal Mart (a.k.a E’Leclerc) where I got a watch (finally). It’s a funny little store- much more crowded feeling than Wal Mart, and it includes a cafeteria/bar. I don’t like to think about what it would be like if Wal Mart had bars. I did get to practice my French a lot though, particularly when I was asking for help to get a watch out of its case. Overall, this trip reminded us that there is no sense of urgency in Provence, so if you’re going shopping, be prepared to stand in line for awhile.

We leave for Barcelona on Wednesday and will be gone until Sunday night, so I don’t expect to have an update before then.