Fish and Soap in Marseille

Marseille has been a center of commerce for centuries, and one of the oldest professions linked to this port is fishing. Every morning the local fishermen and women arrive at the Quai des Belges in the center of the Vieux Port, or old port, to sell whatever they have caught that morning. Boats range in size, but most are modest worn affairs which show the wear and tear of a hard working life tied to the sea.

There is no middle person at this market, the ones who fished in the morning are the ones who sell what they caught. The fish were literally taken from the nets and placed into the blue selling tubs as I walked past. Each merchant tub had a number on it so you could see that they were legally licensed to do business at the port.

Presentation is less important than quality of the fish here.

This guy has probably been fishing since he was a boy.

Some of the bigger fish are cut to order and sold by weight.

The day's catch included tuna and swordfish.

There were quite a few women selling fish and enjoying espressos with each other:)

There were also eels, octopus and a lobster for sale.

A shark or two literally lost their heads,

and prices were so low compared to Paris that I was tempted to take some fish home (8 Euros or about $9 USD for 2 lbs of fish).

The Quai des Belges is also the central hub for buses, trams,

and in the metro, they have aquariums :)

Besides fish, Marseille is known for its soap, with stores offering varying qualities and perfumes all over town. I strolled around the Vieux Port and found a soap museum and soap store called the Savonnerie Marseillaise de Licorne. The store is attached to a soap museum, and there is also a factory in town that you can tour for free if you want to see how the soap you are buying is actually made locally with local ingredients. This company has been in business for over 100 years and still makes their soap by hand, right down to their trademark stamps! The shop personnel were so helpful and kind that I bought a big cube of lavender artisan soap embedded with bits of lavender (3.50 Euros or about $4 USD). This company also has a smaller store on the other side of the port with the same products if you don't want to walk to the museum shop near the Theatre de la Criée. I compared my purchase to soaps in other soap stores and was very happy I bought where I did because you can immediately tell the difference between real and fake Marseillaise soap by the intensity of the perfume and the smooth non waxy feel of the soap itself. I had it in my suitcase and all my clothes now smell of fresh lavender :)