As a delayed train left Bordeaux St-Jean station for Marseille on Friday morning, a quick glance at various news apps revealed that the previous night had brought the scenes the world of football had hoped to avoid.
Clashes between England fans, police, locals and Russian fans had resulted in the use of tear gas and arrests.
Upon learning that the trouble had occurred at Marseille's Old Port, our group of four unanimously decided to avoid the area for the duration of the trip.
WATCH: England and Russia fans rioted Saturday at the Old Port in Marseille https://t.co/Q4hG8PzoSb pic.twitter.com/d4IbECsgku
Instead, the majority of our time was spent at the designated Fan Zone, with its capacity of 80,000 and idyllic location on the sea-front.
It was there that we found the face of Marseille not reported in the mainstream media. England and France fans formed the majority, but mingled with Swiss, Romanian and Russian fans, singing songs jovially, enjoying the matches without any fear that danger was imminent.
Friday night's opening match, which saw France take on Romania, was taken in at the fan park at sunset, in a jovial atmosphere. Many thousands of people were there, some were drunk and French and English fan songs were sung without even the hint that violence might occur. The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for former Marseille hero Dimitri Payet's delightful winning goal, with even England fans joining in the wild celebrations.
It was tough to believe that further violent clashes had occurred at the same time, little more than half an hour away. Many panicked messages from home were received, enquiring about our safety; my responses all ran along the same lines.
What was being shown in the media was not representative of the entirety of Marseille.
I was in Marseille at the weekend. Didn't see much trouble, but did get robbed a few times by the prices at the fan zone bar #bbcsportsday
Saturday saw a return to the Fan Zone, to watch Albania v Switzerland and the opening half of Wales v Slovakia. On entry, it was the first time, upon connecting to Fan Zone wifi, that any of our party were aware of the further violence that had taken place on the Old Port that afternoon.
Hours before England's late kick-off, there were thousands of Three Lions fans in the Fan Zone with us, raucous, but entirely good-natured.
The 30 minute walk to the Stade Velodrome was accompanied by the full, acceptable repertoire of England songs. Russian fans walked alongside, as there was yet again no sign of the tensions that had grabbed the media's attention in the previous few days.
Inside, England fans made up approximately three-quarters of the capacity crowd. There has been plenty of talk of the "embarrassing" nature of England's hooligans' behaviour, and such violence is rightly condemned. However, the vociferous support the England faithful gave their side was something to be truly proud of.
Aside from booing a large Russian flag raised in the opposing end prior to kick off, there was no animosity from England fans towards their rivals. They were simply there to create the loudest possible support to accompany a positive England performance.
Flares and fireworks were shot from the Russia end as the game entered its closing stages, and that was the first sign of any nervousness inside the ground. It was not a match that took place amid the backdrop of crippling fear.
One Russian fan shoots a flare gun into the England end. How has a flare gun got into the stadium? pic.twitter.com/wkMg1PJqBO
Watching from the opposite end of the ground, it was clear that Russian fans rushed towards the section of England supporters to their left, at the final whistle. Many England followers were forced to risk jumping over steep barriers into the concourses to escape.
Without meaning to sound too melodramatic, the scenes were reminiscent of Hillsborough footage and it is notable that police and stewards were very slow to react, and also not particularly numerous.
Many of the people involved in trouble on the Old Port had at least made the decision to head down there, even in the wake of prior reports of trouble. The sight of unsuspecting England fans, including elderly, disabled and child fans having to flee an unprovoked attack was something different entirely, and should be a real cause for concern for UEFA.
There are clearly layers of blame to be apportioned for the horrible scenes that have been witnessed in Marseille in recent days, and it is not the intention of this piece to try and decide on whom it should be placed, or make any kind of excuses for violent behaviour.
Rather, it is to paint an illustration of the largely positive experience of Marseille I had. My trip was among the most enjoyable weekends of my life.