Monday, September 6, 2010

Marseille, France

My sister L's last post on her honeymoon to France. This is about her and her husband D's stay in Marseille.

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Our stay in Marseille was very short. D’s cousin took us on a "best of" tour. I have to say that swimming in the aqua waters around Marseille was one of the highlights of our trip to France. There are no sand beaches; instead, residents perched atop the rocky coast dive in the water to cool off. Swimming amongst bathing capped ladies doing vigorous breaststrokes at 10 am felt very authentic and the water was perfectly refreshing.

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Swimming in the water.

On the way we stopped at Four des navettes, a Marseille institution. Navettes are cookies shaped and named after a legendary canoe that was to bring Saints to the Provençal coast. The cookies are flavoured with orange blossom.

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Four des navettes.

We returned to my husband's cousin J for a barbecue à la Marseillaise. The barbecue offered a great selection of sausage including merguez from a halal butcher. Due to its geography, Marseille has attracted many immigrants from Morocco, Tunis and Algeria, who have made the city their home and represent a large population of the city. These Northern African immigrants have influenced the cuisine there. We also had delicious chicken poached and then grilled with fresh rosemary from cousin J’s lovely wild garden. This perfect rustic meal ended with a bowl fresh cherries and strawberries. We were encouraged the toss the pits over our shoulder into the garden.

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Barbecue in the Marseille fashion, including merguez and chicken.

For L's other posts about French food:
* Honeymoon in Paris
* L'As du Fallafel
* Best croissants in Paris at Pierre Hermé
* La Crêperie Bretonne
* Bistrot Paul Bert
* Island of Corsica

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