1958 Le Chateau d'If

 
While we were in Marseille, my mother insisted we go to le Chateau d'If.  I was very excited to see it.  

By age 11, I had read "The Count of Monte Cristo" many times.  In fact, I had brought my copy on the trip with me.  We absolutely had to go to le chateau d'If.  


In actual fact, my mother and I went, and my dad and my sister had their own adventure somewhere else.




The Chateau d'If
Built in the in the mid-1500s on the tiny island of If, the fortress was originally intended to act as a coastal defense station. By the 1800s the space, useless as a fort, was converted to a prison that used its island status as its main escape deterrent. During this time, a range of inmates were committed to the jail ranging from murderers to political prisoners. The conditions ranged from over-crowded dungeon cells for the lower classes to small apartments equipped with fireplaces for wealthy prisoners. The prison held a bit of notoriety thanks to its unique position, but it was catapulted into history when author Alexandre Dumas used it as the jail where his famous Count of Monte Cristo spent over a decade before escaping.

The chateau d'If is located a little under a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille.

 

1958 Marseille and Velvet

In 1958 when we drove from Gravenchon to Juan Les Pins, one of the places we stopped for the night was Marseille.  It's a city known for seafood and my mother couldn't wait to get her favorite:  Moules mariniere (mussels cooked in garlic, butter, and white wine).  There is something about the sound of those shells clinking against each other even now, 60 years later, that takes me right back.

Moules Mariniere

We walked around the city that night, particularly around the docks.  But what I remember best is what happened the next morning.

We had our dog Velvet with us.  (He went on the trip and stayed in a kennel in Juan Les Pins, for some reason).  The room my sister and I shared had a big window that opened really wide onto a square.  There was a small balcony outside, just about big enough to stand on.  

Hotel Vieux Port, Marseille

I dressed Velvet in a pair of my red shorts with thin white stripes and my white t-shirt, and put him out on the balcony with me so we could watch the people walking below.  After a few minutes, apparently someone spotted him and before long, everyone was pointing up to him (we were on the second floor) and clapping and laughing.  He loved it.  I loved it.  My parents didn't love it so much.  It was a moment that stood out in a long road trip.