Rognac — Marseille & Calanques: private taxi tour

Rognac is at the gates of Marseille, half an hour away. We start with L'Estaque, a working-class village in the north of the city where Cézanne, Braque and Dufy came to paint the sea and the tile-factory chimneys at the end of the 19th century. A small harbour, panisse sold fresh from the oven, a direct view over the bay. Then we reach the Old Port: the lively cafés of the Quai des Belges, the morning fish auction, the southern atmosphere. We climb to Notre-Dame de la Garde. The Bonne Mère has watched over the city since 1864 and from its terrace you take in the whole bay: the harbour, the Frioul islands, the Château d'If and the Calanques in the background. I leave you time to enter the basilica and see the maritime ex-votos hanging from the ceiling. Back to Rognac along the Marseille corniche and the motorway, with the evening light on the Étang de Berre. Call +33 6 98 46 63 34.