168 Marseille, La Corniche, France
A black & white photograph of waves crashing on the rocks at Marseille, France is featured on this postcard published by La Cigogne (the swan). The number 168 is found at the left of the title on the front of the card, lower right. The back does not have a line dividing the address space from the message area but it would be considered a divided back card.
The Corniche is a seaside roadway that follows along the Mediterranean coast near Marseille, France. The 5 km or 3.1 miles of roadway includes a 3 km or 1.8 mile section renamed in honor of President John F. Kennedy. There are spectacular views of the Mediterranean Sea and 19th century villas along this short route.
Marseille is the third most populated metropolitan area in France after Paris and Lyon. The rugged coastal area has fjord-like inlets. East of the city is Sainte-Baume, a mountain ridge with a deciduous tree forest. To the north are the Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges. To the west is a former artists’ colony called l’Estaque; farther west is the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion and the Camargue region in the Rhône delta.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
As I have mentioned in previous postcard posts, it is always fun to find a card that is either a place I have visited or near one. In 2012, as part of a high school AP French tour group, my daughter, grandson and I briefly visited the Camargue. The tour bus stopped to give the group a few hours at the beach of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Our guide said the beach was well known by locals but not many tourists went there. She was always concerned about our safety and warning us about pick-pockets, so we were advised to stick together and not be taken in by people hawking wares at small stands. The day we were there the beach was nearly empty, with the beautiful azure blue water of the Mediterranean inviting us to put in a finger or toe to test the temperature or perhaps just to say we had been to the Mediterranean. Thankfully we did not encounter any thieves. After testing the water, and while waiting for the bus to pick us up, we enjoyed sitting with a few other people and watching some older men playing what looked like bocce ball in a small grassy area.
Later that same day we stopped at a farmhouse
where we had an outdoor picnic.
Picnic shelter
Camaraguais
The Camargue has its own horse breed, the white Camarguais, that are ridden by French cowboys called gardians. Our guide explained that the horses develop their distinctive white color as they mature. This area is also home to over 400 species of birds including flamingos. We saw a huge flock of flamingos as we were driving along in the tour bus, but sadly did not get any pictures of them.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camargue
https://marseille.ca/attractions/lacorniche.html
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