Some years back I was reading Irving stone's book “Lust for Life”. Images of French people walking down the streets carrying long breads in their hands always came to my mind. When I landed in Marseille my husband asked me, “Would you like to have a croissant?” From then on began my journey in this little known city. Every corner had a Pizza store. People are very hospitable and if they see an Indian they exclaim “namaste”. If you want anything under this sky the one place you must learn to read and say is “Carrefour”. It is a supermarket in every sense of the word. When I turned to one corner a little Algerian girl started dancing in circles near me. Her mother than explained her daughter's fancy for the Indian dance numbers. Everywhere I stood out because of my dress. And never ask anyone “do you speak English?” because not a single soul speaks.
In a very natural, soft and traditional way with a smile they will wish you whether you understand or not “bonjour'. Sometimes they say "sava” and if you still blink they say "goodbye'. The beach or “prado' as it is called is another huge attraction. Every where in the tram or metro you will always find them crowded because in summer that is where you will find anyone. Weekend after the other we always have new places to see.
But every time we had to cross the View Port which is always lined with ships. It is the centre of the city. The day I went to View port there were a lot of paintings on display on the side. Almost all the paintings were on Indian people and a few on African women.
We had to walk down quite a distance to sit down and just gape at the expanse of blue sea water. The water was calm and there was a constant breeze. Here and there you could see teenagers with their friends, couples, young and old and newcomers strolling by. There were ships which had five star restaurants inside.
There are big lanes a little further around which look similar to any metropolis. If you go inside you will find a lot of ethnic stuff too. There are small stalls on the road selling stuff you must buy when you are in Marseille. My friend set her heart on buying soaps of all colors and smells. Sometimes mixed and varied they had rose and strawberry, almond and many others. It was reasonably priced and there were other beautiful things like mirrors and kitchen ware, all floral and filled with the brightness of the day. Much later I was happy to find an Indian shop which had all I needed. And for the first time I felt I was at home.
Marseille is a home for many Africans, Algerians and many others coming from the borders. The Indian community is quite small. Still Marseille is multi-cultural and historic. Next week we are going to the “calanques”. I know I will be exclaiming, “oh lalala”. That is the typical expression you will hear if they are very happy or they wish to say something when in football the ball nearly went into the goal post.
