Marseille from the main railway station: Gare St. Charles. The Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde in the far distance, crowned by the golden statue of the Virgin Mary by Lequesne. Usually this view is against the strong sunlight which so dominates and overwhelms the traveller on arrival from the north that the sunshine and blue Mediterranean sky becomes the view. The sky today is loaded with rain clouds which the strong and clear Mediterranean light somehow manages to penetrate, revealing the architecture and reminding how Marseille is a fascinating mixture of a Provence village and a modern French town.