Arles and a Splendid(o) Time

Here’s day 4 of Marseille! Today was an excursion day outside of the city. I started off the morning with some hotel breakfast (always bomb with the mini viennoiseries), then we hopped on the bus and drove to the city of Arles. Arles is about an hour away from Marseille, and the city is famous for inspiring many of Van Gogh’s paintings.

Our first visit of the day was to the Antique Museum of Arles, where we had some fieldwork! This fieldwork assignment was to find a painting or sculpture that you admired, discover its time period and artist, and to write a brief description of the art piece. I chose a sculpture of Hercules because the sculpture related to ancient Roman religion and Arles has a big Roman influence!

After the museum we had some free time for lunch and discovering the city of Arles. My friend and I had bruschetta for lunch, then we walked around the shops. Once free time ended, we gathered back as a group to visit a few sites in Arles. We visited the Abbaye de Montmajour, the Arles amphitheater, and the Roman Theatre of Arles. While I’ve never been to Rome, it felt like I was transported to Italy at these sights! We also toured the Cryptoportiques, or the underground tunnels. The once underground part of the city reminded me of the Chamber of Secrets in Harry Potter if that helps for a visual😅.

We got back to Marseille in the late afternoon, with free time for the rest of the night. Tonight my friends and I went to one of my favorite restaurants I have ever dined at called Splendido! On night 3 of the trip, we went to a fabulous burger joint called TopBun with fantastic burgers and a very unique interior. Splendido is the same chain as TopBun so I knew I had to try it. I made a reservation and oh how glad I am that we got to experience this place while we were in Marseille. Like TopBun, Splendido has a crazy cool interior; the designer of these restaurants needs to be hired to do hotels because it would be top-tier🤩. The interior was a cross of circus and elegance. The decor was so beautiful and the ambience was somewhat like a 20’s jazz club. The inside of the restaurant sort of reminded me of Main Street at Disneyland as well. It was an Italian restaurant and the vibe transported me into the 1920s. Off the bat I already liked the restaurant based off its ambiance, but the food brought the experience to a whole other level. What to order at Splendido? THE TRUFFLE PASTA. If you have the opportunity to try multiple plates, please do🤤, but if you had to choose one thing on their large menu, do not skip this truffle pasta! Oh my gosh was this pasta heaven, and when it comes to reviewing food, I will give you my honest opinion. There was perfect ratio of truffle to the cream sauce and the pasta shape was malfadine, the unique pasta shapes instantly made me enjoy the dish even more. After each of my friends tried my pasta, they al declared that this truffle pasta was the best dish of the night. Everything was delicious though, but I just need to emphasize again that you must taste the truffle pasta if you come to Splendido. Some other delectable plates I tried were the Cacio e Pepe, the truffle pizza, and La Flemme pizza. And I couldn’t not partake in dessert here, try the tiramisu!

Now what really drew me to this restaurant were a couple photos of the bathroom, but those few photos online did not represent the magnificence one bit. After walking through a lion’s mouth and down a spiral staircase, you enter the bathroom, where the real party happens. First, there’s a vintage photo booth! You already know that my friends and I took some fliks in there😏. Then, the sinks. The sink area had circus-striped wallpaper and individual princess mirrors for each sink. This bathroom was already my instagram dream. Like TopBun, the individual bathroom stalls had a surprise as well. Each stall was covered in mirrors on the walls and on the ceiling, an infinity room of mirrors! Did I have a photoshoot in all three of these locations in the bathroom, absolutely yes. The Splendido bathroom is a whole separate experience in itself, a bloggers’ dream come true! We need more restaurants like Splendido in the US; I miss that truffle pasta so much already😩. The restaurant group which created Splendido and TopBun is called BigMamma, and they have other restaurants all around Europe including in France, London, and Spain. I need to contact BigMamma to seriously open up locations in America, starting LA!

My dining experience at Splendido was THE restaurant to remember. Superb food and dazzling instagram pictures, I can ask for nothing more. If you visit Marseille, Paris, London, or a location with a BigMamma restaurant nearby, I HIGHLY recommend dining at their restaurant! No sponsorship, I just loved my dining experience so much. Let’s Collab BigMama! When I visit Paris with my Mom we will definitely be trying another BigMamma restaurant☺️.

That was Day 4 of the Marseille trip: transported to Rome by day, and the 20’s by night😏.