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What
do they think about us ?
"TeaTime Training is an organisation which helps integrate
visitors to Marseille with the city. Run by Flora Lefebvre,
a helpful, English-speaking woman who has been living in Marseille
for twenty years and is passionate about the city, TeaTime
Training provides a friendly face and a useful point of contact
in the sprawling, bustling city. While travelling guides and
leaflets on the city are all very useful, nothing can help
you get a better feel for the city than speaking with someone
who is absorbed in the flow of its daily life. The knowledge
and advice of such a person is invaluable to any visitor,
and at TeaTime Training it is given openly and honestly. Questions
to be answered? Help to be sought? Tea-time training is there
to help!
My personal experience of TeaTime Training was wholly positive.
Flora helped me find an apartment, set up a job interview
for me and gave me French lessons on practical phrases I would
need at work. While promoting Marseille and its many wonderful
aspects, she didn’t shy away from the downbeat points,
which any city has, and readily gave me tips such as which
areas I should stay away from at night. The service you get
at TeaTime Training is genuine. Without it I would certainly
not have been able to stay in this magnificent city for so
long and I would highly recommend this organisation to friends
and strangers. "
Siobhan Hanley , an Irish tourist
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What about Marseille ?
Before I set off for Marseille from Ireland, people asked
me why there? I was warned of the French being rude and intolerant
of those who don’t speak their language. Well if that
is their reputation, the French, or at least the Marseilles,
certainly do not live up to it. From our very first day landing
in a daunting, unknown city we met people who went out of
their way to help us and make us feel welcome. Sitting in
one of the hundreds of quirky cafes or bars, one can easily
strike up conversation with locals or other travellers in
spite of any language barriers.
Marseille is a city that accommodates any rhythm of life.
Hop on a bus and you can spend hours drenching yourself in
sun on one of the many beaches strewn along the coast. Or
you can fill your days wandering the shop packed streets,
but be warned, with so much choice you won’t be able
to resist the temptation to buy!
Of course in a city such as Marseille a tourist is never short
of things to do. The magnificent ‘Notre Dame de la Garde’
is definitely worth a visit for its breathtaking views of
the port and the town sprawled beneath it. ‘Palais Longchamps’
provides a beautiful setting for spending an afternoon relaxing
with a book amongst the peaceful water features. The list
of sights goes on, one could never be bored!
Come nightfall the cities cafés turn into bars and
walking down the old port you have plenty of places to choose
from, whether you want to sip a glass of Provinçal
rosé in the open air or party until the early hours,
there is a place for everyone! Dining late is no problem in
Marseille. There are plenty of restaurants along Marseille’s
historic port, many specialising in seafood and offering the
regions famous bouillabaisse. For those on a budget you do
have to search a bit harder, but it can be done without sacrificing
taste. I have had a variety of meals, Indian, Chinese, Italian
and even frog’s legs all for less than ten euro.
Of course there are some drawbacks to this city; there is
a large homeless population, the streets can often be dirty
and the city can be quite loud at times. However the splendour
or the city and the buzz of the cities people make up for
any drawbacks and as soon as you witness the beauty hidden
within this town Marseille is sure to capture your heart,
as it has done mine.
Siobhan, an English Tourist
Any potential tourist or traveller to France simply cannot
afford to leave Marseille out of their travel plans. The city
is a microcosm of contemporary French society; encompassing
the varying and diverse ethnicities which co-habit this architecturally
magnificent city and as a result provides the visitor with
a well rounded and comprehensive understanding of the macrocosm
of France of the 21st century. Travelling through the Chinese
and Arabic markets in a single afternoon can be a more rewarding
lesson in what it means to be French today than ambling down
the touristy and tacky Champs Elysées ever could. Equally,
magnificent sights like Palais Longchamp gives the visitor
an additional edge on the meaning of Frenchness, sitting in
the gardens of a bourgeoisie palace reading a book gives one
a taste of the historical consciousness of France. However,
in spite of sights like these, the gritty reality of Marseille’s
streets is that they are often strewn with litter and house
the city’s homeless. Nevertheless, the city’s
charm is in its coarseness and roughness, especially in that
of its people. The Marseilles are a loud, gregarious, infinitely
chatty people, who appear almost vulgar in comparison with
the snobs of the Cote d’Azur. The city, like its inhabitants,
truly is a diamond in the rough, peel back these layers of
seeming vulgarity and brashness and you discover a world drenched
in historical wealth, cultural riches and allure for every
type of bold traveller, wanting to discover the reality of
French living.
Cliona, an English Tourist
After three weeks of living in Marseille, I have found there
to be a huge variance between different areas of the city
which makes for a wealth of completely different experiences
in both day and night.
The Vieux Port is pleasant to sit by in the day and although
slightly expensive, it is also a very beautiful setting for
drinks at night. The crowd here tends to be friendly and talkative
and its generally where there are the most tourists.
Then there is Cours Julien which is very bohemian cool; Marseille's
starving artist district and so although people do talk to
strangers and foreigners here, they tend to be more reserved.
In the day this area has cafes, shops and boutiques often
selling locally produced clothes and at night there are lots
of bars and nightclubs with a bigger variety of music than
on the Vieux Port.
Laura , an English Tourist
Marseille, though not really representative of France and
french culture and values is an amazing example of a cosmopolitan
and historically & culturally rich city. Ignore anything
bad you've heard about Marseille- like any large city, it's
necessary to be aware, but what the numerous friendly residents
and fellow travellers you can find in any cafe, bar, hotel
or restaurant in any area of the city, from le Panier to la
Timone will remind you of, as well as the fast easy and cheap
public transport system and the massively inspiring surrounding
landscapes and multiple small provencale villages, is that
Marseille is definitely worth a visit.
Amy , an English Tourist
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