Martigues - The Charming Canal City of Southern France
Saint Petersburg, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, the Belgian Bruges, and China's Zhujiajiao are among the many cities that are attributed similarities to the incomparable Venice.
French Martigues is rather not aiming for this, but the clichés of travel agencies advertise it precisely that way – the Provençal Venice.
Why is Martigues called the Provençal Venice?
The handles are two.
The citizens of Martigues attribute the first authorship of the comparison to Alexandre Dumas, who said that the resemblance of Martigues to Venice is equivalent to comparing a charming peasant woman to a lady of high society, „but a single royal whim is enough to turn a peasant woman into a queen.”.
This self-assurance was reinforced decades later by the 1935 hit „Goodbye, Provencal Venice“ by the then-star of French operetta, Alibert.
Enjoy in TEA's playlist
The reason, obviously, is the numerous water canals crisscrossing the city, the bridges and islets, the yacht harbors, and, of course, the lives of the modernist artists who discovered it for art, followed quickly by tourists.
On the Trail of the Artist Raoul Dufy
The image catcher – that is how critics in the first half of the 20th century called the French avant-garde artist Raoul Dufy /1877-1953/.
Born in northern Le Havre, he moved to the South of France and, in his mid-seventies, continues to create, inspired by the colors and scents of Provence.
The city is a pleasure
What motivated me to go to Martigues was actually quite far removed from the banal advertising allusion to the Italian city. I was thrilled to get to know Dufy's work in more detail – initially an Impressionist, and later a Fauvist, Cubist, avant-garde artist, who in his later life became fascinated with decorative arts and fashion, creating fabric patterns. (Of course :), I longed to take photos against the backdrop of the boats and canals.)
I had once read that the artist disappeared into the Mediterranean Sea one morning while going for his usual swim. This mysterious version of his fate contributed to my romantic mood as I planned my journey to Martigues.
Subsequently, this information was not confirmed, but true or not, it left its mark on my visit there.
Meanwhile, as I was planning the trip, the Sofia Gallery of Foreign Art exhibited one of his drawings as part of a larger presentation of European sketches, further inspiring me to reach the city—whether it was a Provençal Venice or not.
„Raoul Dufy is a pleasure,“ wrote Gertrude Stein, the main advocate of avant-gardism (you might remember her image from Woody Allen's film „Midnight in Paris,“ played by Kathy Bates).
Martigues itself is a pleasure, which we are clearly visiting in the least tourist-friendly season – February.
We are traveling from Marseille by regular bus (it is taken from the bus stop at the Marseille train station, the one-way price is 7 euros, the journey is about an hour).
The city has a modern, huge, and languid, as the season requires, tourist center…
The Birds' Mirror – the most romantic place in Martigues
The Birds' Mirror
The tourist spot that no one has the right, or rather the opportunity, to bypass in Martigues is the so-called Mirror of Birds... (the photo is the main image in the article. editor's note)
Martigues is a city that can be discovered on foot.
The city's tourist website states that during the summer months, a free water shuttle for citizens operates among the canals and peninsulas. However, as winter tourists, and in general, we found no need for any local transportation in the quiet town. Everything is within walking distance.
The image hunt continues.
Looking back mentally at my title, I find that my hunt for images was rather unsuccessful, excluding the lethargic employees at the tourist center. The residents had completely hidden, establishments and shops were not open, only the sculptural figures hinted at the local life.
But on the way back, we ran into two very friendly Muslim women at the bus stop, with whom we had a lightning-fast communication, starting with schedules and prices, without needing any special language skills.
But we didn't learn anything about restaurants.
I'm sending you a challenge to see who can reach the Dufy exhibition and halls first.
See more Author Elena Gelovska here
