I have been to Marseilles twice, once in 1997 straight out of high school and in 2017. I met the love of my life in Prague in 2007 and we travel to Europe twice a year to bring our son to the in laws, so I luckily get to travel to Europe quiet a bit, and it is nice not having to pay money for hotels and food when we are in Prague with mom.
My first trip was in 1997 I was in France with 3 friends and we traveled all throughout the beautiful country and Marseilles was part of the trip. While there were many people at the time there from Muslim countries overall it wasn't that noticeable, everyone was nice and it is a beautiful place to be.
Fast forward to 2017 we came there with our two son age 5 and 9, to meet my wife's sister who married a man in France and lived in a town east of Marseilles called Brignoles. We decided to go the Marseilles to spend the night and view the city, for me for nostalgia from 1997. My sisters husband a native French man was telling us don't go, it's no longer France. I mean I had read things about the crime and increase of immigrants but when we got there I almost cried. It was if we landed in Somalia, and I am not trying to be offensive, just honest. The once beautiful streets were filled with trash, the smell of urine was intense in some areas. My wife didn't feel good because a lot of the men were very aggressive coming to us in groups of 3-6 trying to sell us stuff while almost stomping on the children. We went to the room stayed the night, and left at 7:00 am back to Brignoles, before traveling to Paris and flying on to Prague.
My suggestions don't go unless what I described sounds like something that might interest you. It really was disheartening for me because I had remembered my time there in 97, and although the buildings were still there as well as the ocean, everything else changed for the worst. I will never understand why politicians would let that happen to their country. Once you lose your country were do you go? And losing your country by inviting millions in seems more like a mental disease than good policies. P.S. Paris wasn't much better, if you go stick to the tourist areas.
My first trip was in 1997 I was in France with 3 friends and we traveled all throughout the beautiful country and Marseilles was part of the trip. While there were many people at the time there from Muslim countries overall it wasn't that noticeable, everyone was nice and it is a beautiful place to be.
Fast forward to 2017 we came there with our two son age 5 and 9, to meet my wife's sister who married a man in France and lived in a town east of Marseilles called Brignoles. We decided to go the Marseilles to spend the night and view the city, for me for nostalgia from 1997. My sisters husband a native French man was telling us don't go, it's no longer France. I mean I had read things about the crime and increase of immigrants but when we got there I almost cried. It was if we landed in Somalia, and I am not trying to be offensive, just honest. The once beautiful streets were filled with trash, the smell of urine was intense in some areas. My wife didn't feel good because a lot of the men were very aggressive coming to us in groups of 3-6 trying to sell us stuff while almost stomping on the children. We went to the room stayed the night, and left at 7:00 am back to Brignoles, before traveling to Paris and flying on to Prague.
My suggestions don't go unless what I described sounds like something that might interest you. It really was disheartening for me because I had remembered my time there in 97, and although the buildings were still there as well as the ocean, everything else changed for the worst. I will never understand why politicians would let that happen to their country. Once you lose your country were do you go? And losing your country by inviting millions in seems more like a mental disease than good policies. P.S. Paris wasn't much better, if you go stick to the tourist areas.