Let me begin with a mini rant. I do not like Marseille - pas du tout! It is a very dirty and smelly place. The only redeeming factor is the Notre Dame de la Garde (see post 2 posts ago) - and it is up on a hill (city on a hill?). The rest of the city is very dirty - trash (and trash water aka stanky gross water with trash in it that you sometimes step in whilst in Marseille) is EVERYWHERE!!!! But worse is the graffiti. I understand that big cities have graffiti - but Marseille has far too much of it. Woof. Also there are gross smells everywhere (probably emanating from the million kabob stands).
Despite all of those perfectly valid complaints, today's trip was quite enjoyable. First we went to the Marseillaise museum, which celebrates France's (very bloody) national anthem. It was actually quite informative and enjoyable. I will have you know that the song (while written in Strasbourg) first became popular as a revolutionary anthem in Marseille in 1792. To spread its popularity (and the revolutionary cause) 600 members of the Marseille National Guard trekked roughly 800 km from Marseille to Paris singing the song to citizens as the went along - thus spreading the song. Pretty cool!
After that museum we dashed over to the Regards de Provence museum - they were having a special exhibition of landscapes, portraits, and still-lifes from the Fauvist school and the Post-Impressionist school (these may or may not be the same thing, they are at least quite similar). Think bright colors, big/visible strokes. Many of the landscapes were seascapes that featured some famous red rocks in Provence. I really enjoyed some of the pictures. Here were some of my favorites:
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| MY FAVORITE!!! Louis Valtat: Groupe de marbre au milieu de fleurs |
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| An Avett Brother - Louis Valtat: self portrait |
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| Valtat: Les Roches Rouges a Agay |
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| Valtat: Bouquet de lilac a la potiche chinoise |
I really enjoyed a lot of the paintings. Some were too blurry (the brush strokes were too obvious). I absolutely loved the super vivid colors!!!
In Marseille we also saw a murmuration - when a flock of starlings gets together and flies around in amazing synchronisity making patterns. I also learned that a group of starlings is called a murmuration, a group of owls is a parliament, a group of ravens is an unkindness, and a group of crows is a murder.
So that's it for my fun facts for today - hope you enjoyed them!
One last thing! I refound this gem today - it turns all your letters into llamas!! And who doesn't love a message written in llamas (it's so superior to messages written in the stars...)
One last thing! I refound this gem today - it turns all your letters into llamas!! And who doesn't love a message written in llamas (it's so superior to messages written in the stars...)
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