Provencal History Tale of The Sardine that Blocked the Port of Marseille

Do you know about the sardine that blocked the port of Marseille?

As I was perusing local postcards at a local flea market in Provence, I came across a curious image. The postcard depicts an enormous sardine blocking the port of Marseille.

The seller, taking advantage of my ignorance and confused expression, insisted that this indeed did happen.

I asked Patrice, the local market fisherman, and he told me the whole story of how a tiny sardine managed to block the beautiful port of Marseille.

…Continue reading here for the backstory of this fishy tale about a French cargo ship named the Sartine that was built in Bordeaux and launched to battle in 1778. The Sartine changed hands between the French and the British sides before it’s final resting place just outside the Vieux Port in Marseille. It turns out that this curious story is in fact quite true and the reason for this expression “C’est la sardine qui a bouché le port de Marseille” (“The sardine that choked the port of Marseille”).