Anyone been to Marseille or Toulon?

Every film I've seen that features Marseille portrays it as a vile ghetto

Marseille is the French equivalent of Dover or Folkestone only bigger and nastier?

went to Toulon for 2 months last year ICS and stopped on a friends boat, lovely place with great food and friendly people. You can get the TGV from Nice to Toulon for about £50 return 1st class. PM me if you want any specifics

If you've got a chance, visit Cassis, a beautiful fishing port near Marseilles.

is that where they make the drink John?

I think it's made there, not sure though... creme de cassis?

Worked in Bourdeax

yes hat's what I was thinking of, I've never tried it though I don't think

I worked in Marseille 25 years or so ago and the seafood especially the bouillabaisse is the best... parts of the city are like north africa and can feel threatening but it's an experience i really enjoyed. Not what i'd consider as a tourist city.

Cassis is a refreshing summer aperatif  drink...put a couple of teaspoons of the stuff into a fluted champagne glass and fill up with sparkling wine

was there in 1998 for world cup. dodgy in parts, main part was ok.

not sure posy but I think Marseille is where bouillabaisse originated, supposed to be loads of foreign pick pockets and beggars about but does any city not have those?

Vatican City?

Thanks for the responses. I will include Toulon, I think I'll read a bit more about Marseille. I liked Montpellier which someone told me is very much Marseille Lite, but the descriptions of a North African Dover do put me off, but then you get out the city centre of most places and they go to sh1t.

been to montpellier ,very nice  , much referred to marseielles.

So I went...

Marseille- I liked it. Around the old port was really nice. A lot of museums, nice buildings, decent bars and restaurants. It does drop pretty badly away from the port, unless you stick to the southwards coast towards the beaches which are nice. I think it's probably a better place for blokes to visit than women/couples, more stag than romantic break. Good place to visit for a couple of days, wouldn't want to live there or go back.
Comparison- think Mediterranean Liverpool, strong waterside area, poorer quality beyond that.

Nice- Again, I liked it. Generally very easy on the eye throughout the centre. Very long pebble beach in heart of the city. Streets are kept very clean. Wide open squares with water fountain displays. Lacks culturally relative to Marseille or equivalent UK cities of a similar size. Wouldn't want to live there, but would be comfortable going back if my friends stay there.
Comparison- Mediterranean Zurich.

Monaco- Had a wander around for a morning. Definitely worth visiting in that sense to see what the fuss is about.

Cannes- Wish I hadn't bothered... There was some sort of tv conference going on so the place was swarming with media types. I wandered down the main promenade to overhear various conversations about some of the most dismal ideas for tv in the history of the media, and the budgets being bandied about were obscene. This was happening everywhere. There were massive (20m x 35m) posters championing various televisual dross about the place too. The place itself is pretty small, the beach in the town is owned by various hotels, so you can't really access it. Quite a few high end shops. I regret having pre-booked a hotel and having to spend the night there as a few hours walkabout was enough.
Comparison- A sort of Torquay plus for people who want to watch or make 'Cooking in Prison' or 'Ladyshapes'.

Toulon- Like a smaller version of Marseille. There were a couple of nice spots, but there were more below par ones. Along with Marseille there did seem to be quite a bit of construction going on. Wouldn't want to go back. I did however visit Cassis from Toulon and took a boat trip into the Calanques which were absolutely stunning, essentially Mediterranean fjords, and would definitely recommend anyone visiting that area to go and see them.
Comparison- Toulon felt like a Mediterranean Portsmouth.

Overall, enjoyed it, it was however far too hot for me. I was expecting 18-20C, I got 24-30C which in the UK has me indoors as I'm not a heat fan. I learnt a lot from the trip, in particular that I should save hotel stays for proper big cities and day trip everything smaller, and should think more about my timing of trips to avoid the heat.

Damn. Only just seen this.

I would have suggested getting the ferry from Toulon to the island of Porquerolles, just off the coast. Lovely, totally unspoilt place.

The south of France is littered with great places to go if you have even the vaguest interest in seeing stuff as opposed to dossing about or partying.

Avignon, Nimes and especially Arles are all wonderful, Beaucaire/Tarascon is great, but the real gem is Uzes.

really interesting write up sumo.