NICE MEETING! ODILE OR THE LIVING MEMORY OF MARSEILLE.
What is your background?
I am an art historian who studied at the École du Louvre and then at the Sorbonne, and I moved to Marseille 25 years ago, a fascinating city that I continue to discover every day!
What are your other areas of interest?
A difficult question for someone as "greedy" as I am, especially when working in a city that is 2,600 years old! This is actually the richness of Marseille: this city has been shaped by every era and each event. My favorite? Marseille, simply! With its stones, hills, neighborhoods, inhabitants, colors, tastes, flavors, Haussmannian buildings, fisherman cabins, jagged coastline, islands, gastronomy, craftsmanship, its lively dialect, and its way of life in the south...
What does the brand Espigas evoke for you?
Comfort! It’s number one for anyone walking around the city, especially in summer when it’s hot. The little touch of bright color, the originality of its shape which makes it a pleasant and peppy model! You understood it—this is the perfect espadrille for trekking on urban slopes that lead down to the sea, and it also reconnects with a local craft that is made in Marseille, in the 12th arrondissement.
What’s your dream perfect day?
Depending on the mood of the day: staying inside the reading room at the Municipal Archives to discover photographic treasures that sleep in the shadows, or getting lost in the calanques in winter among heathers and the mistral wind, or in spring surrounded by rock roses and junipers, mixed with evergreen oaks.
Your 20 best euros spent?
At the restaurant "Le Refuge" on the hill of Le Panier, just recently, on a cold winter Saturday.
What are your plans?
Research, visits, visitors, discoveries all around, that is the youth of the heart that allows one to keep learning and marveling, and maybe even organizing a very special visit in an unsuspected corner... I won't say more for now!