What an accolade. The reasons given were for the city’s cultural offering and its gastronomy. Specifically, the team singled out the new cultural attraction, La Grotte Cosquer, down by the Vieux Port.
And in gastronomy, they praised –
- Les Grands Halles du VP, newly opened food court of 15 stalls
- Le Présage, Europe’s first solar-powered restaurant (at Chateau Goncourt)
- La Familie Marseille, a vegetarian resto with Moroccan inspiration.
BTW, it’s the only French city listed.
In case, like me, you are wondering how they came up with this list, they say that all the destinations were based on input from their network of correspondents and contributors: https://time.com/6195806/how-we-chose-2022-worlds-greatest-places/
Whatever the specifics they chose, the accolade does reflect the richness of attractions that have developed in this vibrant and beautiful city. I’m sure everyone remembers their first view from the top of the steps at Gare St Charles, and later the view from Notre Dame de la Garde. The geography was always stunning.
But when I posted yesterday about the summer activities around the Vieux Port, I did reflect on how much creativity (and budget!) has gone into the city we see today. Many of you will remember the traffic-clogged centre and the long months of work to pedestrianise the area – I remember us walking in line over planks to cross newly-laid paving. The restaurant scene has blossomed with some great little cafés offering street foods from exotic places, new shopping centres have added to the retail offer, and the beaches are being improved for the Olympics. Let’s just hope that some of the benefits reach out to all the inhabitants because there’s some way to go in many areas…
aixcentric 
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