I finally did some research in Marseille today! Good job me! I checked out a couple of places which were either closed for the summer or seemed to no longer exist. It looked like that was going to be the case with the Cercle Catala as well, but I decided to call even though it looked like their address was an apartment building...it was. This old man comes running down the stairs in his boxers after my call. He brings me up to the apartment to talk to him and his wife, and they are adorable! Both of them are authors of books and articles about Catalan culture and history. They turned on some music, showed me their traditional dance, and gave me a cassette tape of the music to listen to at home. Sweet! They proudly showed me their office, a shrine to Catalan culture, as well as the newsletter that the Cercle Catala sends out every month. Nicest and cutest old people ever! I also met with Xavier Blaise who is the head of a center that provides the children of Marseille with access to arts. He had a lot of insight into how second generation immigrants consider their cultural heritage.
And what did I do for fun my last day in Marseille? Take a gander:
Cathedrale Notre Dame de la Major:
Longchamps (a memorial to the canal that helped Marseille's water shortage):
The famous Marseille bouillabaisse. Yea, I tried it. Not gonna lie, it kind of freaked me out when they brought the full fish (eyes, head, tail, lobster brains, and all) out on a plate, but I did my best to get the meat out and ate it in the broth. A little too salty for my taste (and I didn't like how there was fish sediment floating in it). Ah well, it was an experience.
A nice goodbye sunset at the beach near my hostel:
So THAT'S what bouillabadeeboop looks like... there's that one part in Harry Potter 4 that mentions it and I always was confused.
ReplyDeleteHave a good flight, and I can't wait to hear you talk for a billion hours about your trip!