Shopping in Marseille, Marseille, France

The Travel Pages makes some suggestions if you want to go shopping in Marseille, including buying local specialties like navettes and santons.

Whether you want French fashion or Provençal souvenirs, Marseille is a great shopping city. The main shopping quarter lies just behind the port off La Canebière. To the south, you’ll find designer shops along rue Paradis and its side streets. Chic boutiques and European chains occupy the restored grand buildings of the parallel, pedestrianised rue St-Ferreol. To the north of the boulevard is Centre Bourse, a large indoor mall with a branch of the Galeries Lafayette department store.

Good local shops and markets sell food, drink, olive oil, soap or colourful Provençal ceramics. There are also terrific local specialities such as santons and the local biscuits known as navettes.

Navettes have been made in Marseille at the Four des Navettes bakery since the 18th century, and are as popular today as they were back then. The recipe is, of course, the proverbial closely-guarded secret, but they rely on a particular kind of flour, kneaded in an old kneading trough which has slowly-turning blades, and then baked in the original perfectly round oven, which dates from 1781 and is based on a Roman design. The result is a hard and dry but extremely tasty biscuit, that’s a popular gift locally and also makes a good souvenir. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).