Visit to Marseille - Day 2

30 August 2011: Breakfast at Le Petit Nice.  You would have a table on the terrace, right by the sea, and while feasting on the breakfast delights, you would also be able to watch some topless bathers taking a morning dip in the chilly waters!  There is a promontory next to the hotel and it seems like a popular spot for bathers in Marseille.  They come very early, as early as 8am and some leave rather late, almost 11 pm when the last would leave.  Breakfast is a casual buffet spread, with jamon, salami, cheese, fruit salad, apple compote, yoghurt, bread, croissants, and some really delicious cakes….I greedily tried them all, so yummy!  

Blue and Turquoise Marine

After a very simple lunch at the hotel, we took a speedboat excursion to visit Les Calanques (This I would readily admit as an extravagant mistake in our planning - it turned out to be way too expensive for just the two of us - it could have been worthwhile if we went out as a party to lunch at the Calanques and take a swim, etc. I recommend the cruises from Le Vieux Port as a more economical and sensible option!).  You start approaching the Calanques after passing through a narrow channel between the mainland and the Ile Maire, another towering limestone formation.  We visited the 3 most popular and largest ones, Calanque de Sormiou followed by Calanque de Morgiou and Calanque de Sougiton.  The water in the calanque was a striking interplay between clear turquoise and deep blue.  We chose a turquoise spot to anchor the boat and Richard, after mustering enough courage, plunged into the water for a quick dip, which Clément, our skipper and I resisted – it was so cold, it felt like 16 degrees!  There was a mild mistral blowing and this not only made the sea a little choppy, but also the water rather refreshing.  You could have lunch at Calanque de Sormiou – there seemed to be a decent fish restaurant.  Calanque de Morgiou was relatively calmer and less busy.  We took time to have a coffee at the Nautic Bar which also served grilled fish and other simple dishe.  Calanque de Sougiton was probably the prettiest, but unfortunately other people also thought so and it was a bit too busy for us to stop for too long.  From all these Calanques, you could go for hikes in the hills and it would make an interesting exploration of the flora and fauna of the Massif.  Clément also pointed out an extremely popular restaurant in the Calanque de Marseilleveyre, where only 3 dishes would be served….and yet there would always be a queue for the food in the high season!  The forces of nature were evident everywhere, sculpting the Massif into every thinkable shape and form over the thousands of years of their formation, including some very sharp edges like Le Bec de Sormiou. I felt so humbled by these marvellous formations of nature, towering above us!  The sea was rather rough on the way back, so we only managed a quick look from afar of Château d’If and the Archipelgue de Frioul.  Clément then took the boat into the Vallon des Auffes to show us a bit of the heart and soul of Marseille, with the little colourful houses around the fishing village harbour…..it was a very charming site, and he made sure that we would be trying another local institution, dating back to 1952, Chez Fonfon (http://www.chez-fonfon.com/) , which apparently served the best traditional bouillabaisse, before we would leave Marseille.



Snacks at apertivo
at Le Petit Nice

 Dinner at Le Petit Nice.  We went downstairs for cocktail around 7:30 pm.  Cocktail was served with a platter of nibbles, including some deep fried white bait and some anchovy-creamed biscuits.  We watched the sun slowly making its descent behind the gossamer of wistful clouds.  We had a very lovely table by the sea and we were able to witness nature’s light show while indulging on our dinner.  For wine, we had chosen a bottle of 2006 La D18, Domaine Olivier Pithon, Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes (http://www.domaineolivierpithon.com/) .   D18 is the name of a route départementale just next to the vineyard where these vines lie, a road between Calc and Le Col de La Dona in the Roussillon region.  Production of only around 2,600 bottles of a blend of organically cultivated, low-yielding Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris grown on high altitude slopes, raised in wooden vats between 12 and 16 months, with minimal intervention.  An engaging complexity of lemon sherbet, white peach, frangipane, honey, almond, marzipan, enhanced by mineral and savoury nuances.  The wine opened up in the glass to delight with a rounded mouthfeel, balanced with refreshing acidity.  Finish was lengthy and savoury.  Plenty of character and poise.  Perfect drinking now.  It went effortlessly well with a number of our dishes, in particular the marinated raw fish, the sea anemone and the lobster.  I would score this wine 16.5/20.

View of the twilight from dining table

We both took the Menu Passédat, which I highly recommend as an excellent introduction to the cuisine of Gerald Passédat and included all his signature dishes, including the raw pélamide (a version of tuna) with olive oil, soya and yuzu sauce, seabass as his grandmother liked it, grilled/roasted poisson de palangre (a type of seabream/”daurade”) with caramelised eggplant and rice crispy, sea anemone cooked 2 ways, in a light batter and also in a milky custard, with caviar, and finally the lobster cooked al dente in a blue-marine consommé.  Here’s the menu again and I mark the ones we liked best J:

Avant goût
Pélamide crue à la tranche, écorces de bergamote J
Bar de ligne comme l’aimait Lucie Passédat J
Poisson de Palangre grillé, jus de la tante Nia
Anémones de mer en beignets legers et onctueux iodé
Le homard Breton en mauve abyssale J
Les fromages affinés J
L’avant douceur
Fraicheur de fruits rouges et brousse du Rove
Mignardises



Raw pelamide



The famous seabass



The seabream



Sea anemone topped with caviar in a milky mousse



Lobster in a blue marine broth

 
The cheese trolley was not to be missed.  Even though we were both groaning under the weight of all the delicious dishes in the menu, we could not resist having a mouthful of cheese!  Not all French, there were some English, Scottish and even Dutch reinforcements.  The maroilles was my favourite, perfectly ripe!  Dessert consisted of 3 parts: the pre-dessert, the dessert (red fruits with Brousse du Rove, a freshly-made goat cheese, a bit like cottage cheese) and the mignardises…..all rather irresistible and delicately prepared! It’s a five-star experience, enhanced with very friendly, personal and knowledgeable service!  Marvellous!  Can’t wait for our second meal!