France's second city

The fish market in Marseille's vieux port

MARSEILLE - To say Marseille, the second largest city in France and a port town steeped in history, has an inferiority complex to its more sophisticated neighbor to the north is probably an over statement. There is, however, a palpable sense of annoyance with Aix, not altogether undeservedly owing to the more snobbish airs about our adopted hometown compared to a slightly less gentrified, some would say rough-and-tumble, feeling in Marseille.

The hilltop Notre Dame de la Garde guards the city

For sure, Marseille can stand on its own. Given that its history goes back to 600 BC and the ancient Greeks, it would seem it has staying power. Its long and diverse history has resulted in a sprawling jumble of sensory overload -  a bustling, chaotic hodge podge of new and old, of land and sea, and of southern European and northern African influence. It blends Italy with Algeria, Spain with Morocco, Muslim with Christian -- but ends up being distinctly French in some odd way. Charming? - perhaps too gentle a way to describe a city that up until a few years ago was considered downright dangerous by many travel guides and worthy of avoiding. But there is no question is has much to offer in a seductively eclectic way, and has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts that have some calling it the "new Barcelona."

I wouldn't go that far, but for a taste of a big French city without going to Paris, it's definitely worth the short ride own the A51 for a look-see. We checked our Aix attitude at the city limits and set out to explore.

And speaking of taste, I had to sample the city's most famous dish, bouillabaisse which was invented here. The mecca of this seafood laden saffron-tinted dish is a port-side joint called Le Miramar, (its web site is even www.bouillabaisse.com) which dishes out the stuff like San Francisco's Buena Vista serves up Irish Coffee's -line 'em up and get 'em out. The plethora of fresh seafood of all types, combined with the flavorful broth, boiled vegetables and finished off by dunking in garlic-rubbed bread (Hubert demonstrated the proper technique) dipped in rouille (a mayonaisse-like sauce made of olive oil, garlic, saffron and cayenne pepper) all makes for an unforgettable - and filling dish.

We were in and out of Marseille too quickly on this Wednesday afternoon, so we must return to take in the views from Notre Dame de la Garde (Hubert and Elisabeth stayed behind and returned raving about it), a boat trip around the L'isle d'If to see where the Count of Monte Cristo was set. and maybe even take in a match of the Olympique Marseille (OM), the beloved and storied soccer team. Judging by their past success, which includes being champions of France's top league last year, there wouldn't seem to be any inferiority complex there.