http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19290 While the fortress has been on the island since the 16th century, its main claim to fame is as the place of imprisonment of the fictional inmate Edmond Dantès, the hero of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Montecristo.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19290 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19278
A very small shop but apparently is world famous amongst chocolatiers. Well worth a visit. Black and white pictures of previous generations line the walls.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19278 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12287
An old music hall and theatre, which welcomed Jacques Brel, Charlie Chaplin and Georges Brassens before closing, the Alcazar has only been open to the public as a library since 2004. It is part of a scheme to invest in the Belsunce area of the city which, like most of the centre of Marseille, has an overwhelmingly working class and immigrant population.

It is a vast, modern and beautiful building, clean and filled with light and people during its typically Mediterranean 11am until 7pm opening hours.

The contrast is incredible between the cool, tranquil space of the library and the noisy, dirty and sunbaked road outside, where a tram line is currently being built and hundreds of people go in and out of shops and cafes selling Muslim wedding clothes, north African pastries, mint tea, halal meat, and CDs and videos of Moroccan pop stars.

There are constantly changing exhibitions, a press area and frequent film screenings.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12287 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5910 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5910 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4232
You can visit Pagnol’s grave in the tiny cemetery, see the village square and follow the path that leads out of the village and into the hills. You can only realistically reach La Treille by car unless you fancy a good day’s trekking to get there and back.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4232