Marseille

[Mabeanie1]

There seems to be a growing number of people who believe that Marseille will be THE show to go to in September, not least because Leonard's 76th birthday falls on the day of the concert. If I'm completely honest, this is the one show in the French tour that I never really fancied, particularly as I would be travelling on my own and the reports on travel websites such as http://www.tripadvisor.com tend to be mixed.

Injecting a little realism into the situation, I would be interested in the opinion of people who know the city - locals and visitors alike. Is it a good city to go to as a visitor? Is it a safe city? Would it be a good place for a celebratory get together in Leonard's honour? Or will those who imagine a Mediterranean city not unlike Barcelona be disappointed? Also, the venue (Le Dome) seems to be some way out of town. Would we be able to travel to and from it (e.g. from the old port area) via the Metro, and is it safe to use the metro system late at night?

What do you think?

Wendy

[sandrine1]

Bonjour,

I live in Marseille. To answer your questions :
- the city is as safe as Paris is. You just have to be careful. Always hold your bag, if you want to withdraw money from a cash distributor, go in a bank etc... You can't compare Marseille with Barcelona, I'd rather compare it with Naple. To be honest, Marseille is rather dirty, don't be surprised with that (and it's a shame..). But if you plan to spend a few days there, you can :
- take an hotel near the Vieux Port (forget the hotel near the Dome, the place is horrible). You'd better take a taxi to come back to your hotel. The metro is usually open till 10 pm during the week.
- visit the Old Marseille (le quartier du Panier), buy olive oil and soap. Then go to visit Notre Dame de la Garde
- take a boat and visit les Iles du Frioul et le Château d'If
- if you have one day free, take a boat and visit the Calanques, then spend a day in Cassis (beautiful)
- take the bus and visit Aix en Provence (20 mns from Marseille)

And for those of you who will come it'll be a pleasure for me to help you. Unfortunalety I don't know if I'll be able to take a day off (21th september is a tuesday).

Sandrine

[daveeliver]

Hi Wendy,
Sandrine can give you much better advice than me, but I visit Marseille frequently and am still going in March and obviously September.
In March,I'll look at it through different eyes and maybe send you further suggestions.

It's a crazy fantastic place, and I've never had any problems, unlike when I was in Barcelona where a pickpocket tried his luck.
I've been to a few OM v Liverpool matches and once had a spare ticket for the Liverpool enclosure at the Velodrome which I offered to a scary looking local.
He quickly refused the (free)ticket so maybe Liverpool has a worse reputation than Marseille, and I know many forum members enjoy Liverpool.

The city reminds me of how Liverpool was a few years ago and, possibly before and during 2013 when it becomes Capital of Culture it may become more gentrified.
There are well to do areas and rougher areas but that is the same with every trading city.

It's a great place to walk around and to soak up the 'sights and sounds' of so many cultures.
Sandrine's suggestions are spot on regarding the places you must see and at least once every visit I always walk up to Notre Dame de la Garde.It's so atmospheric.
Aix is beautiful and a trip to Le Tholonet where Cezanne painted many of his pictures is also recommended.

Let me know if I can help in any way
Dave

[remote1]

- if you have one day free, take a boat and visit the Calanques, then spend a day in Cassis (beautiful)

Cassis is where we had our honeymoon. I would definitely recommend it; it is beautiful and the food is fabulous!

[Mabeanie1]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I have persuaded my husband to accompany me to Marseille so we will be driving down from Strasbourg the day before the concert to enjoy a few days in Provence and the city of Marseille before we drive home - via Lille - a few days later.

Wendy

[sandrine1]

Great, I'll see you on the 21th september then !

[something crazy]

I have just bought tickets for this concert from GDP:

PARTERRE - Rang 0 - Place 023
PARTERRE - Rang 0 - Place 024

I think this is front row - can anyone confirm?

[Mabeanie1]

I have just bought tickets for this concert from GDP:

PARTERRE - Rang 0 - Place 023
PARTERRE - Rang 0 - Place 024

I think this is front row - can anyone confirm?

Second row I think. GDP will tell you where your seats are for sure if you e-mail info@gdp.fr and quote your order number. They were selling seats in P2 (right of stage) yesterday morning.

Wendy

[ladydi]

Hi Wendy,

You seem to be the only one who might have any idea of the seating in Le Dome! Just guessing (not holding you to this) but where might seat 52, Rang O, Parterre be? I know it's towards the front but not sure if it's in P2, P3, or what row it might be. The seat has still be there after several days so I'm thinking it might not be so good, even if it is 128 euros. Is each sector 16 seats across. Like P2 is 16 seats across...and P3 is 16 seats.... Don't know whether to grab it and hope for the best, or wait for more possible cancellations.

Thanks...for anything!

Diana

[Mabeanie1]

Hi Wendy,

You seem to be the only one who might have any idea of the seating in Le Dome! Just guessing (not holding you to this) but where might seat 52, Rang O, Parterre be?

Thanks...for anything!

Diana

My [un]educated guess is that the seat is in the 4th row of one of the central blocks - P2, P3 or P4. Why don't you write to GDP and ask them? I snaffled a couple of seats in P2 last week. They came up and I sent an e-mail to GDP to ask where they were. I got a reply from the box office manager within 30 minutes during the working day so they are very helpful. This seat may be in P2, but it may not. As far as I can tell all the blocks work in the same way. The other tickets sites (FNAC, Carrefour and Ticketnet) all give you a little picture showing where your seat is. GDP don't have this so it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask them for more information.

Good luck!

Wendy

Wendy

[ladydi]

Thanks Wendy,

I almost just purchased the seat but then chickened out. One thing I did notice is that unlike, for example, San Jose, where the seats were numbered from left to right if you were facing the audience....these are numbered from right to left. Therefore, seat 52 would be in the 4th row AND it would be perfect in either P2 or P3, but not in P4. I have emailed them but as they would be closed now, hopefully I'll hear from them tomorrow. omg...this is almost worse than a presale

Thanks again!
Diana

[Mabeanie1]

Thanks Wendy,

I almost just purchased the seat but then chickened out. One thing I did notice is that unlike, for example, San Jose, where the seats were numbered from left to right if you were facing the audience....these are numbered from right to left.

Thanks again!
Diana

I don't even think it's that straightforward!! My thinking is that the numbers zig zag so row 1 of P2 goes from far left to right (towards centre) as you look at the plan, then row 2 goes right to left, row 3 left to right again, and so on.

I'd love to know if I'm right! The best tip I can give you (apart from contacting GDP that is) is to chose a show at the Dome on say www.ticketnet.fr, chose a show with lots of availability in the Parterre then pretend to buy different quantities of tickets - 4, 10, 16 or whatever.

Let me know what you think ....

Wendy

[Mabeanie1]

Therefore, seat 52 would be in the 4th row AND it would be perfect in either P2 or P3, but not in P4.

Diana

Personally I wouldn't be at all unhappy with a side seat. I sat in the very end seat on the front row in Belfast, 3 seats in from the far left of the fourth row in Berlin, front row at the side in Brighton (facing in to the central seating area) and so on. Yes, the view is a bit oblique but the sound is still great and you always have the big screens if you want to see what's going on.

Wendy

[IrishMar]

Hi Diana

I have purchased seats Parterre Rang 0 - 53/54. I too have been mailing Wendy. I send GDP a mail on Friday and I received an automatic response telling me my query would be dealt with within three working days. I will let you (and Wendy) know as soon as I hear anything.

Marie

[ladydi]

OMG Marie! Seat 52 would be right next to you and Albert! I had the same response from GDP which I expected as they were already closed for the day. Maybe I will just grab up seat 52 and hope for the best!

Wendy...I agree that sometimes the sides don't matter, but in Detroit I had perfectly good seats in Row 17, and suddenly the venue was moving people around and said that my friend and I were upgraded to Row 2 in the pit! Wonderful... But, it turned out that we were so far to the left in row 2 (in fact the last 2 seats) that we were smack in front of the speakers and almost deaf by the time we left, and only had a profile view of everyone on stage. Never could see Dino! Of course couldn't see the screens either because we were too close.

Well, I think I'll just throw caution to the wind and book this seat....watch, it'll be gone now