Continuing the adventures on Frioul/Caroline.
The boat ride was a very good start, at least for me, to the whole adventure. Part of the fun was that it was windy and the waves crashing on the boat went well up to us on the upper deck. I sat closest to the water and let me tell you that in most amusement parks you don't get as wet on the "water rides". But hey, it was windy and sunny and everything eventually dried and that's what's important. Also, major props to my mum for holding the camera in such a way that the lens did not get wet while we got covered with a wave and I was trying to put on my jacket.
The islands of Frioul are home to many interesting things, many of which are related to the army. There are also some calanques and some beaches worthy of a visit.
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And of course from the right places you can see Château d'If (which is rather a disappointment to visit so it's better just to read the books) and Notre Dame de la Garde.
On the boat a lot of people were also talking about visiting Caroline. As it's being repaired it's not a place you can visit every single day. Most people were also talking about "Des racines et des ailes" which had a special show about Marseille and included the hospital. I think a lot of people got curious about this place in ruins which is only now used for one or two music festivals per year. I'm actually one of those people, I hadn't even known that the structure existed before my parents showed me the show.
When we landed, we headed straight to one of the ends of the island that houses Caroline. There is a bird watching spot (right in the middle of a section marked "danger: do not go there" but we were brave and went there), a military retreat (it seems it's rather good to be stationed there) and an abandoned villa type of building (which at one point had stables).
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( 2x2 photos - the villa in question and some more sights )
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When we finally made it to Caroline about twenty minutes later, the gates were closing, "pas de visites entre midi et deux" (closed for lunch). We are in France, after all, and we should have known! At least we weren't the only ones who had to go back to the village... one would think that they'd be able to keep it opened during the whole day on the two days per year when common mortals can visit. I will get used to this again one day, I will!
We did not lose hope and promised to come back after lunch.
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( 2x2 photos - Caroline walls and lunch ) |
After lunch we went back up again and this time visited. I had thought it was a huge structure with a huge Greek temple but actually it's tiny. And the temple is tiny. The history of the hospital is quite interesting. It was built in the 1820s to house sailors/boats/merchandise while they were quarantined before they could head over to the port. It was the time of the yellow fever and the quarantine was important. The hospital was built using what was thought of at the time as the top of the top in terms of medical anti-propagation methods... and most of the things weren't that off. Actually Marseille had a horrible cholera outbreak (iirc) because of a boat that was allowed not to respect the quarantine and the lack of clean water in the city. Of course sooner than later boats got faster and having a four week quarantine period was stupid and therefore the hospital lost its main use. Eventually it was used again by the army and when there was an outbreak in local prisons. It was severely damaged in 1944 and was left for dead for decades. In 1971 the city of Marseille bought the whole thing and restoration works have started.
Here is a video about the restoration works. At the time it was filmed the works only happened in August every year by volunteers, it might have changed since.
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( 5x2 photos - Caroline - everyday life inside the walls ) |
After visiting the hospital ruins, running into some acquaintances (Marseille is such a small town!) and listening to some stories linked to the place, we headed to the ruins right next door. Those ruins are of a fort and given the important structure, it must have been quite something back in its day. The worst though is that clearly there are parts which have been prepared for tourists and others on which quite a few attempts at restoration have been done.
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( 4x2 photos - insides of military ruins ) |
I also now know a new word! "Plantes alophytes". That means plants that like salty environments. Merci les îles du Frioul!
And another thing I learnt: those Frioul islands are actually part of the 7th arrondissement of Marseille. |
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