Exploring the Frioul archipelago

Celine’s uncle, Laurent, offered to take me sailing which naturally I could not refuse. There are many ports in Marseille but from what I can gather it is cheaper to leave your boat on Frioul; an island about 4km off the coast of Marseille. To get there you need to take a ferry from the old port, which is about 5 Euro one-way. There are actually 4 islands that make up the Frioul archipelago and we were heading to the largest one. Once on the ferry Laurent realized he had forgotten the keys for his sailing boat. Merde.

Sailing boat minus the keys

Option 2 - the Zodiac

After arriving on the island we went and checked out his boat, from the outside, and visualized what it would be like to go sailing. It turned out that the wind was not very strong so sailing was probably not the best option anyway. The island has a few small shops, mainly restaurants, to accommodate the tourists who like to come here and I guess walk around; there is not too much more to do on the island. Laurent was friends with one of the shop owners so we went and borrowed his Zodiac (inflatable motorized boat).

Views of the port

Once out on the water we realized there was next to know petrol in the boat. Merde. Laurent is a relaxed kind of guy and decided to attempt to get around the island; approx 5-10km. I told him that if we ran out of petrol he was the one swimming to shore. It was a lot of fun cruising around the island, venturing into rarely visited coves and seeing old fishing huts made of stone camouflaged into the surrounding white rocks. As we pulled into the port the last bar on the petrol gauge disappeared. I was happy to step back on land.

Château d'If

Old fishing huts

Laurent then took me for a walk up to the top of the island for a stunning view of Marseille. Nearby is the Château d'If which used to be the old prison; Marseilles version of Alcatraz. This is the setting for the film the Count of Monty Christo. Laurent showed me some old ruins, back from the German occupation which looked to be old bunkers. The Germans used this island as a form of defense against any invasion. The underground tunnels and bunkers are completely deserted and we were the only ones there. It was a lot of fun exploring but without a torch we didn’t go far.

Old ruins

We finished the afternoon with a bruchetta and a beer, sitting by the water waiting for the next ferry back to Marseille.