On to the next day. I was pretty excited about this meal as my dad had pumped this up for a while. After a quick lunch in St. Remy at a streetside creperie (I forgot to take the picture until too late - don't worry though, it was fairly unremarkable), we made the hour long trek to Marseille. Descending upon Vieux-Port, I got flashbacks of the movie Ronin. The dock at sunset is a pretty beautiful sight, with tons and tons of restaurants all boasting about their bouillabaisse.
My dad had made plans to eat at Chez Michel, a lower-key spot tucked away up a hill from the Old Port. He claims it's better than the more famous Miramar. It turns out Chez Michel is a Michelin one star, making this my first Michelin starred meal ever. The restaurant has an old school feel to it, with pictures of Michel next to presumably famous people on the walls, old waiters who look like they've been there for ages, and various little paintings and trinkets of fish. Michel himself was walking around with his captain's hat, greeting guests and showing off fish. He's the third generation running the place.
The menu basically offers two main choices: bouillabaisse, the classic Marseillaise fish soup, and bourride, a white, even more garlicky version. When orders for bourride in our party outnumbered those for bouillabaisse, Michel objected, claiming that we should try the bouillabaisse because it was better. I dug the honesty; we ended up getting more bouillabaisse. Soon after we ordered, he brought out a huge platter with the fish they'd be cooking for us - monkfish, dorade, and St. Pierre, among others. 
lightly breaded calamari When making the reservation for us, my dad's friend mentioned to the restaurant that we are friends of a certain bigshot in a Marseillaise shipping company who is a patron of Michel. I guess the container business does give some hookups. Our waiter told us said bigshot liked to start his meal with some of this calamari, and brought a big plate of it out for us to try. I'm glad this happened; this calamari was perfect. The squid is simply very lightly breaded and pan-fried (not deep). The result is some amazingly tender and flavorful calamari - easily the best I've had in a long time. 
bouillabaisse fish A while later, the cooked, removed fish came on a platter, separate from the broth. A team of waiters fileted and cut them for us and divided them into our servings. There was a daunting amount of fish per single person. My favorites were the dorade and the St. Pierre, both of which had plenty of texture and flavor left despite the long stewing. 
bouillabaisse soup The soup came moments after. Unpictured rouille in both orange and white versions also sat on the table, accompanied by a huge plate of croutons. This broth was incredible - deep in fish flavor and piping hot. The rouille was garlicky and even a bit spicy... delicious together with the soup and croutons. Luckily, there was plenty of extra broth.
The bouillabaisse is 55 euros a person - certainly not cheap, but a massive serving at least, and still significantly less than the dinners to follow. So I must say my first Michelin starred meal was a great success. I must say that I love bouillabaisse, and was looking forward to trying the real deal. Chez Michel did not disappoint.