Tag Archives: marseille

Marseille

Then it’s another relatively short bus ride to Marseille, the second largest city in France.

Our apartment, only a stroll from the Vieux Port, is on the sixth floor. The decor is modern with smart furnishings and looks out over the city roofline. Each morning we watch as a large seagull regurgitates fish for her obese chick nesting just outside the window.

Marseille chick waiting for fishy petit dejeuner

(The apartment is in fact the best accommodation we had on the trip. See details here.)

Nearby is the main commercial thoroughfare, Rue Canebiere, popularly known by English speakers as ‘Can o’ Beer’. The name is derived from long-disappeared hemp farms that provided cordage for sailing ships in the olden days. Continue reading

Le Petit Nice (Gérard Passédat), Marseille

There are few three-star restaurants that have the enchanting location and the splendid views of Gérald Passédat’s Le Petit Nice. More importantly, this is one of the best eateries I have ever experienced; I would put it on a par with El Celler de Can Roca (see review).

Anse de Maldorme

The view from Le Petit Nice - Anse de Maldorme, Marseille

Anchois en Tempura, sable céleri-rave, radicchio poulpe mangue xérès

Apéritif: Anchois en Tempura, sable céleri-rave, radicchio poulpe mangue xérès

 

Perched high on the rocks overlooking the Mediterranean sea, Passedat towers over any other restaurant on this French coast.
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La Villa Madie, Cassis

Persistant dans ma quête de bonnes adresses sur ce littoral provençal si beau, mais sinistré du point de vue gastronomique, j’ai suivi le conseil de mon ami Jean Pierre Giannoli, et pour un déjeuner d’anniversaires j’ai réservé dimanche 14 septembre 2008 à La Madie. Avec un macaron du guide rouge, il s’agit du deuxième restaurant de Jean-Marc Banzo (chef du Clos de la Violette d’Aix-en Provence), situé dans un cadre spectaculaire entre les Crêtes et Cassis. Le temps permettait de manger sur la terrasse, avec sa vue paradisiaque de la mer et ses fjords qui la dominent vers l’est.
La Madie

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