We have one day in Marseilles, so we make a plan to see just a couple of things during the day before our six o’clock soccer game this evening…
First on our list is to see the beautiful Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde. It’s a strenuous, mostly uphill walk from our hotel, past the port and up the thousands of stairs to the top. As we get close to the cathedral, we pass by three of the Catholic sisters and greet them in French. They politely return our greeting and I regret that I don’t think to ask them if I can take their picture.
When we arrive to the top, we see views of the city and the ocean from all sides. It seems redundant to exclaim how beautiful this cathedral is. It was built in 1218 in honor of the virgin Mary and her baby Jesus and is known as the sight to see in Marseilles. The color and artwork and great detail inside the cathedral is awe inspiring.
From there, we walk back through the city and along the port. I take lots of pictures of so many of the expansive stairways, many which have been painted and others that have natural beauty and are made of stone. I’ve loved stairs since I was a little girl. This is heaven, for me.
We see several vendors lined up along the water selling their fish to the locals. A large crowd of maybe 50 rowdy fans dressed in red in support of the Moroccan soccer team come through, singing their song in deep, male voices. The energy and excitement is high for tonight’s Olympic soccer game, Morocco vs. Spain.
We eat lunch and then find a post office to mail some things home in order to lighten our loads. It turns out, this is a bit of a process but one of the postal workers speaks enough English to help us.
It’s getting close to game time, and we are still in the midst of a heat wave here in Marseilles. We walk back up the hundreds of steps to our hotel, and shower before the game. We anticipate that the heat and humidity will be ongoing but I’m thankful to be able to start the night fresh.
We call an Uber and he takes us as close to the stadium as possible. We join the hundreds of people walking up the stairs, show our electronic passes, and get a slight pat down before entering the stadium and finding our seats.
The seating is tight and I’m glad I’ve opted not to bring a bag, though surprisingly, many people were carrying large bags. I also had the foresight to bring my little fan. We are just six rows from the field and the excitement and energy of the spectators is beyond anything I have ever experienced. For a period of time, the fans in front of us stand so that those behind, including us, are unable to see unless we stand, too. There are many guards who do not attempt to control the crowd but the spectators at our level and higher persistently yell at the standing fans enough to where most of the them sit for much of the game.
To my right is a family from England. They are enjoying the game in a manner that I am accustomed to. It is a husband, wife, young son, maybe seven or eight years old, and his older, young adult brother who is sitting right next to me. I joke with him that he is getting the benefit of my continuous fanning. He laughs and says he had meant to thank me at the end of the game!
The Moroccan fans have large presence and energy. There is a huge group in the stands far above us and to our left. This group begins to sing songs which gets the Moroccan fans throughout the stadium singing. They begin chants and then point to the fans in our area who chant back to them. It’s a complete sub-culture of its own and the excitement and passion are contagious. We are disarmed, however, when they boo the players and the anthem of the Spanish team.
The game is exciting and I love that Shawn is having a dream fulfilled. He loves sports and especially soccer and for him, this is a major highlight of our trip. The first score of the game is Morocco and the Moroccan fans come unglued. During the second half of the game, Spain takes the lead. After their first goal, someone from above us throws water down on the crowd near us. Nobody reacts. When Spain scores their first goal, Shawn and I are excited but we are amongst the passionate Moroccan fans, so we celebrate quietly and secretly. This is not our nature, but we are in unfamiliar territory and when we discuss this later, we agree that this was a wise decision.
When the game ends, the Moroccan fans become very quiet and everyone leaves the stadium in a much more subdued, orderly fashion. Hundreds of us walk through the town to our various destinations. We are all together for quite awhile before the crowd thins out.
Shawn and I stop for dinner along way back to our hotel. It will take us over an hour to walk but it’s beginning to cool off and we are glad for the exercise.
It’s been a long, exciting day and we travel tomorrow. We enjoy a look at the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde which is basking in the night lights from our balcony before we settle in for the evening. Good night, beautiful Marseilles.