I remember back when we were planning the itinerary for our Europe trip and we were listing places that we’d like to go. Myself and my cousin both suggested Marseille, and in retrospect, I ask myself why. I think it was due in no small part to three factors – my knowledge of their football team, the fact that the Taxi films were filmed on location there, and finally, well, it’s on the south coast of France isn’t it, so it’s going to be absolutely lovely? Well…

We got to Marseille on a TGV from Paris. I was pretty excited about travelling on a TGV, and that was perhaps the first slight disappointment of the visit. I was expecting speed-of-light type stuff, cheeks flapping from the G-force and all that, but no, it just felt like any fast-service train. Perhaps the disappointment was in no small part linked to the gradual decline in the weather. It’d been absolutely fabulous in Paris and it got worse as we went further south. All the potentially-beautiful hills and mountains were shrouded in mist, and the only highlight was passing over a very tall viaduct and looking down over some fields and a river.

Upon arrival in Marseille it was truly tipping it down. We thought we’d use the time wisely to work out on the train station map exactly where our hotel was, hope that the rain passed and then walk there. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t stop. Not only that, but the map at the train station had been printed in the most odd brush script-style font, which made it entirely impossible to read. We came to rely on train station maps as our first port of call finding our accommodation around Europe, and it’s incredible how bad some of the maps are, if they are there at all. In the end we reluctantly had to get a taxi.

An hour or so later and there was a break in the rain so we went for an explore. Marseille is a total mess. Litter everywhere (we had thought Paris was bad), dog poo covering the streets, really not pleasant. To be fair the town was undergoing a vast renovation programme, lots of holes in pavements, metal fences put up, pedestrian routes diverted. Without doubt it’s what the place needed, I guess it was just bad timing on our behalf to have to see the place in its disrepair (I’d be interested to hear from anyone whose visited since whether it’s improved much?).

Marseille’s town centre is extremely accessible, and it benefits from being so much more compact than Paris. The shopping district was really nice, well mapped out streets and some recognisable brand names. The areas of Paris we’d seen had been complete dives for anyone interested in shopping. I guess that’s what comes from big city shopping – a certain area full of high-class boutiques and designer outlets, but then the quality drops off fairly quickly. Whereas in a smaller town like Marseille the shopping district finds a much healthier middle ground, and it seemed ideal – a good mix of local shops and recognisable brands, and there was also a nice grocery market going on when we visited.

We also visited the port, but that wasn’t very nice either. The place is quite attractive, lots of smart boats overlooked on three sides by restaurants and expensive houses. I can imagine at night, with all the lights reflecting off the water, or even on a lovely summer’s day, the place would look fantastic. But in the grey skied drizzle, pretty miserable. Restaurants, as you can imagine, were almost entirely concerned with seafood (little use to a vegetarian) and fairly overpriced too (we were expecting less-than-Paris but that was far from the case).

So, in conclusion, if you’re planning to visit Marseille, make damn sure you check the weather forecast first. Many places are an entirely different kettle of fish in sun and in rain, and Marseille is definitely no exception. If you do end up getting rained on, perhaps go and catch a football match (it’ll be more exciting than the architecture and give you a better atmosphere than the town centre), or at the very least get well acquainted with the Taxi films so you can at least say “oh I recognise that street!”.