In Marseille, madness walk in madness |The echoes
The bourgeoisie, in Marseille, is discreet.She hides behind high walls, after the roads voluntarily badly maintained, under appearances.She is not rentier, but industrial, and if she was ennobled, it is for services rendered.It does not show itself but is nonetheless firmly rooted in the southern districts, near the sea, in what is called Bastides or Villas here, with a very safe meaning of the Litote since it isof castles.
Summer residences
Cette proximité avec la Méditerranée est tardive. Elle ne date que du XIXe siècle, quand la promenade de la Corniche a été construite et aménagée et que la ville a commencé à se fragmenter : au Nord, autour des nouveaux docks et du port tout neuf de la Joliette, là où vivent les ouvriers, les immigrés, bref, les pauvres. Au centre, autour du Vieux Port, les grandes maisons de négoces, les armateurs et le monde des affaires. Au Sud, la richesse et la contemplation, les fêtes et les mondanités.
It is here, in these districts where we have air and space that the bourgeoisie finally lets go, because "in this great runoff of fortunes, in this burning breath of trading which penetrates all over allThe houses, there are hours of follies, imperative needs of enjoyment, ”writes Emile Zola in 1867 in the Mysteries of Marseille.
La plus célèbre de ces « folies » construites au XIXe sur la Corniche, celle dont la vue est la plus spectaculaire, est incontestablement la villa Valmer. Le château n'est que la résidence d'été de la famille de Charles Gounelle, fabricant d'huile d'olive à Salon-de-Provence, et grand-père d'Edmonde Charles-Roux, indétrônable présidente du prix Goncourt : ce n'est, dès le départ, qu'un lieu de villégiature. Pour y accéder, il faut grimper le long d'un chemin qui zigzague entre les vivaces et les plantes exotiques plantées dans des jardinières en rocaille.
The completely clear view of the bay and the Frioul islands is one of the most beautiful in all Marseille.At the end of June, under the burning sun of the summer that begins, the air smells good.The building dominates the park while being almost entirely hidden in the eyes of pedestrians who go to the handle of Malmousque and its transparent water where children learn to swim.
It is in Renaissance style, three perfectly symmetrical and regular floors, blonde and elegant stone.Amazing architectural choice.“These new fortunes did not want to copy the traditional Provencal Bastides built in the countryside by the major local aristocratic families.They were rather tempted by the castles of the Loire and the architectural styles of the North: it was very eclectic, not always very good taste, but systematically luxurious, ”explains Corinne Sémerciyan, guide speaker for the tourist office and co -president ofThe Association Provence Guide Interpreter.
Issue of a political battle
It is no longer possible to enter the Villa Valmer: a grid prevents visitors from passing.If the park has been public since 1974, the villa itself has been private and has been the subject of a bitter political battle for years.Jean-Claude Gaudin, the former mayor, wanted to make it a luxury hotel: a 60-year-old emphyteutic lease had been signed in 2018 with the promoter Pierre Mozziconacci, who launched the renovation and transformation work in mid-2020.It was without counting with the determination of the new mayor, Benoît Payan, allergic to the project for years.Twice, during this spring, he went to Villa Valmer.
Le14 Avril, he moved to a disaster to note an offense to the building permit - an extension with two terraces had been destroyed in the morning without authorization.The mayor is exasperated, but he is too political fine so as not to see his luck.After what he describes as a "frank discussion" with Pierre Mozziconacci, he declares by going up in his car: "We will not let go, there are rules, now we respect them.Whether you are a promoter or Marseille.And when we get out, there are consequences.Here it is with the Marseillais, it is not with him.»»
In mid-June, the mayor returns to the scene, and this time his decision is made: "The work will not resume," he announces.We are launching a three -month contradictory procedure after which a decision will be made.There is no longer any question that the heritage of the Marseillais is ransacking.Next September, Villa Valmer may therefore be public again.In the meantime, the grids remain mounted around the old residence of the Gounelle.
A few minutes from Villa Valmer, the Gabrielle series begins.Villa Gaby is the best known, by far.It bears the name of the very sulphurous artist and courtesan, Gaby Deslys, who bought it in 1918 from a Marseille Aconier, Jean-Baptiste Ribaudo.The place is, again, as discreet as they are sumptuous.It is an entirely white Italian residence, covered with stucco moldings.The immense terraces, from which we see without being seen, overlook the bay and, even today, are the place of festivities and worldlyes ... Organized by Mco Congrès, an agency specializing in medical congresses, which praisesThe salons for events on behalf of the AP-HM, which inherited the places on the death of Gaby Deslys, in 1920.
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The light actress and the monarch
His real name Gabrielle Cairo, this world star now forgotten is born in the Marseille petty bourgeoisie, which she will flee at 19 to perform in Parisian cafes.The world celebrity will come to him not from his talent, but from his sulfurous adventure with the young king of Portugal, the very inexperienced Manuel, who came on a pleasure trip to France.The humanity of Jean Jaurès will accuse the leader of the Protocol of the Republic of having played the scientists between the light actress and the monarch "to carry out an unfinished education" ... weary!In 1910, Revolution in Lisbon, the Republic was proclaimed.The love story ends in 1912, a king without throne being too boring for Gaby Deslys, who however will probably win one of the most beautiful and biggest diamonds in the world, Bragance, 560 carats, whosetrace is today lost.
To read
Les Folies de la Corniche, by Jean-Louis Parisis, Editions Jeanne Laffitte, 1992.
Livre de référence, cet ouvrage retrace l'histoire de la Corniche depuis sa construction, au milieu du XIXe siècle, jusqu'à la fin du XXe siècle. On y retrouve les mondaines, les nouveaux riches et les snobismes de la grande bourgeoisie marseillaise, mais aussi une foule d'informations sur le style architectural néorenaissance, très éclectique et un peu déroutant de ces villas toujours bien cachées.
After having invented French reviews, like those that still exist at the Moulin -Rouge today, and was copied by Mistinguett -which will win him Maurice Chevalier -, after having triumphed in New York and makes a fortune, she will return to Marseille to Marseille37 years to die there two years later of tuberculosis.She will bequeath her castle to the city, "it is up to her to assign the villa I have there to a hospital that will bear my name".Betison post mortem, the promised hospital will never see the light of day ... The family of a former municipal elected official bought a small piece of the field and now has a luxurious architect house built.Sic transit gloria mundi.
Going down the cornice towards Prado, we find the villa of another Gabrielle which was more successful in respect of her last wishes: Gabrielle Servel, wife of Charles Servel.This industrialist, an engineer by training, had a replica of the little Trianon, embellished with Rococo, built for his wife like the Potsdam Sans-Souci Palais.The couple invests in the Suez Canal: "When they died, they were so rich that the villa was bequeathed to the city of Marseille, to transform it into an orphanage, but the shares in the channel, they were directly recovered by the RepublicSo much the amount was astronomical, ”explains Corinne Semerciyan.The castle is always a home for children of a social character, padlocked and vaguely decreed, despite recent renovation efforts.
In front of Gabrielle and Gaby, with the altruistic aspirations in death, is Island Degaby, in the Bay of Marseille.Still a successful music hall actress in bare journals, who meets an industrialist, in this case André Laval, patron of the Prado Caisseries.Liane Degaby experienced success thanks to its warlike effigy, with very fulfilled forms, made of bronze by the sculptor Alfred Boucher in 1912 and entitled if necessary, because we already knew that we were running towards war.
After her marriage, in 1914, Liane ranked and became a respectable protector of the arts and letters.The fort is filled with works of art and jewelry to a spectacular burglary whose beautiful liana will never get up, as it declared with an admirable sense of measure: "The great pains are silent ... everything is finished… Plain me ”(Magazine Female Eve, October 1921, quoted by Les Folies de la Corniche, by Jean-Louis Parisis, Éditions Lafitte, 1992).Today, the islet belongs to a couple of architects who also have a boutique hotel in Prado.Customers who want it can be transported by boat to the private beach of the islet and spend the day swimming without being piled up on Marseille beaches still crowded.
The walk to the south and the very elegant Roucas-Blanc district is soft.The sea spreads along the cornice.The Marseillais willingly put their towels on the rocks below, when they do not want to be too close to their contemporaries on the beach of the Prophet.
Still a few minutes of walking and here is a new entry, much less discreet than the others: it is that of the Château Berger, formerly Villa Castellamare.Whoever built it was not known for his modesty.Edmond -Marie Houitte de la Chesnaye chooses with ease to copy Chambord to spread her fortune, in 1860, had her coat of arms engraved - Hermine and Fleur de Lys - on the facade.Despite the incessant traffic of cars on the cornice, the park is calm, if we disregard cicadas, whose song is deafening by this heat.The place is today a thalassotherapy center and a spa, after having served as a residence for Charles Berger, shepherd syrups and Liqueur Marie Brizard.
The servant and the industrialist
A few minutes away, this is the Talabot residence, on the Périer hill, one of the most secret and richest places in the city.The place was acquired by Paulin Talabot, a man who loved the pharaonic projects: he was the manufacturer of the first railway lines in the Southeast, notably the PLM (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée), and docks of La Joliette, in Marseille.For his accommodation, he allowed himself to be tempted by the style of the castles of the North Sea, polychrome, Louis XIII style, red brick, patinated copper roof, white stone strips and wrought iron ramps.He housed his very young wife there, Marie.He was 42 years old, she 19, and was his servant before becoming his wife.She held a living room in Marseille and Paris.
Le château, vendu dès la fin du XIXe siècle, est désormais environné de maisons construites dans le parc au cours du XXe siècle. La résidence est farouchement fermée, protégée par des propriétaires procéduriers et bien informés qui ont jusqu'ici très efficacement réussi à déjouer toutes les tentatives de la ville, au cours des dernières décennies, de créer au moins une voie publique qui faciliterait l'accès à la mer. En attendant, gardiens et vigiles interdisent l'entrée à tous les visiteurs. La grande bourgeoisie marseillaise n'a pas changé.
How to get there
The easiest way is to go there, from Malmousque, or by bike, going down to Prado and stopping to discover them ... and visit them when possible, because most of these villas are notAccessible, either because they are under construction (Villa Valmer), or because they are closed (Villa Gabrielle, children's house) or private (DEGABY island) structures.
However, the Château Berger is a spa accessible to customers, the Villa Gaby can be rented for events, and customers of the C2 hotel can go to bathe on the private beach of the DEGABY island if they make itrequest.
Guided tours of the cornice are offered by the Marseille tourist office as well as by the Association Provence Guide Interpreter.
