A place to which the modern world and southern France owe so much…
The 20th century world would have been radically different without film, in the same way as southern France's way of life would never have acquired the same flavour if it hadn't been for the game of pétanque. A perhaps unexpected preamble but one which is justified by the fact that film and pétanque were both invented at the same time and in the same little Mediterranean seaside town of La Ciotat.
It was here that the Lumière Brothers, whose name was so appropriately suited to the inventions they were to bring to the modern world (colour and 3D cinema and photography and a cinematographic production system still in use today), made the world's first film (of the arrival of a train at La Ciotat railway station) and where they organised the first private film showing. It was also at La Ciotat that a paying cinema theatre was opened in 1899, another first in the world. Called the Eden (also equally symbolic in name), it is today the world's oldest cinema theatre still in business.
La Ciotat was also where a game of boules was played that required a short three-step run. However in 1907, the champion Jules Hugues, known as "Le Noir", unable to play his sport due to severe rheumatism, drew a circle on the ground inside of which he stood feet together and still ("pieds tanqués" - feet tied together - in the local Provençal dialect, hence the current "pétanque" contraction), from where he threw the boules as close as possible to the target. This event took place on the ground of a café whose owners Ernest and Joseph Pitiot (two brothers again) formalised the rules and whose heirs carry on the tradition in the same establishment, also still in business.
This site is thus naturally endowed with a special quality that the Best Western Premier Hotel du Vieux Port, located right in the heart of the town, shares with each of its guests. La Ciotat is above all an extraordinarily sheltered and spectacular bay, le golfe d'Amour, in the Mediterranean. The cliffs of Cap Canaille are the highest in Europe and the route des Crêtes that leads to the delightful neighbouring town of Cassis commands stunning views 400 metres above this uniquely coloured sea.
The town was for many years home to prosperous ship building sites. Several cranes of great, monumental beauty continue to bear witness in the old port to this past era and one of these extraordinary industrial constructions still stands opposite the hotel.
The Best Western Premier Hotel du Vieux Port endeavours to enhance the breathtaking views of the Mediterranean, the tiny harbour and its surroundings. Each guestroom boasts immense bay windows, many of which lead onto a loggia balcony, the cool shade of which is most welcoming in summer. The view of the harbour overlooking the bay, the "pointus" (characteristic Marseilles fishing boats), the church's bell towers and small museum is quite matchless, particularly in the soft morning light. The stunning rooftop infinity pool, that seems a natural extension of the shimmering Mediterranean, commands a matchless view, in addition to the enticing appeal of refreshing water and the warmth of the sunshine. It is extended by a vast terrace on which a pre-dinner drink takes on an unforgettable quality as the sun slips below the horizon beneath the vertiginous peak of the bec d'aigle.
The hotel's interior has achieved a happy mixture that is both luxuriously pleasing to the eye and refreshingly cool, blending modernity with history. An exemplary choice of Mediterranean colours lends a unique quality to this establishment that nonetheless rises to the challenge of the international standards of its rank and whose generously proportioned guestrooms are truly worthy of note.
The hotel's restaurant, whose young chef earned a handsome reputation at Cassis, enables guests to discover the sophisticated local gastronomy in which fish and fruit take pride of place. Anchored in this characteristically Mediterranean seaside resort enhanced by light at all hours of the day, the Best Western Premier Hotel du Vieux Port is an unforgettable establishment because it enables each of its guests to make the most of this sophisticated and beautiful destination.
| Best Western Premier Hôtel du Vieux Port |
| Vieux Port, La Ciotat, France - 13600 |
| Phone: +33(0)4 42 04 00 02 Fax: +33(0)4 42 04 00 02 |
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