Unlike Paris, the allure of the city of Marseille is not overwhelmingly obvious on first impression. To understand France’s often overlooked second city (which is also its oldest), it perhaps helps to start with its food. Or, in the words of Vérane Frédiani, a local filmmaker and author of the book Marseille Cuisine le Monde (which translates as Marseille Cooks the World), ‘Eat, just eat.’ Her advice is to forget bouillabaisse. The stew may have been invented here as a humble fisherman’s dish, but these days, she says, it is usually overpriced and eaten mostly by tourists. Instead, she urges visitors to delve into the magnetic food scene, one that many consider to be the most exciting in France due to the flock of talented young chefs who have relocated here, lured by low rents and the bountiful produce of surrounding Provence. They are drawing on the boisterous Mediterranean port’s many culinary traditions to create menus that blend past and present in an unmistakably Marseillais way.
Migration has shaped the city for millennia. Today, it remains wildly diverse, unapologetic and direct in its self expression. It is a cultural mosaic that pieces together in the streets, from the Vieux Port’s apéro joints to the graffiticovered alleys of Cours Julien, which come alive in the evening, and the grand avenues and markets near Palais Longchamp.
Marseille’s founders were Phocaean sailors who dropped anchor here in 600 BC and, since then, Romans, Corsicans, Algerians, Spanish, Armenians, Sephardic Jews, Comorans and Vietnamese, among others, have left their imprint on the fiercely proud Cité Phocéenne – as some still refer to it. It is where Europe and Africa, in particular, have been meeting and mixing for centuries. It may be the South of France, but not as you know it. Culinary historian Emmanuel Perrodin likes to repeat a local saying: ‘First you have the sea, then the city, and beyond that is another country called France.’
Sun-bleached Marseille – the local tourist board claims there are more than 300 days of sunshine a year – not only moves to its own distinctive rhythm, it also feels like a place whose moment has very much come. The French president Emmanuel Macron is a fan (he spent his first holiday here after becoming president and last year announced a multi-billion-euro regeneration plan). Visual artists including Ai Weiwei are regular visitors, while the American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal dedicated an entire album to the city he considers to be his second home. The late American chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain loved its salty energy so much, he wanted to retire here. And French fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, who grew up nearby, is another of its champions, organising his runway shows in the Calanques – the stunning limestone cliffs that tumble into the Mediterranean. He has even published a book titled Marseille Je t’aime.
In recent years, young creatives and entrepreneurs have moved to Marseille in droves, seeking inspiration in its natural beauty and enjoying its mix of city swagger and village-like intimacy. New galleries and ateliers have naturally followed. ‘Marseille is writing a new chapter in France’s creative history,’ says Vérane. ‘It is here that everything seems possible today.’
Catherine Bastide, the owner of contemporary art space and artist residence La Traverse – overlooking the cove of Malmousque, a favourite local swimming spot – agrees, ‘The city has changed in so many ways.’
Much of this is to do with returning Marseillais who left during the long years when their home town struggled with crime and corruption. The returnees include Greg Gassa, who along with co-owner Fabrice Denizot, turned a former diving school into Tuba, a chic hotel and seafood restaurant right on the water in Les Goudes, by the entrance to the Calanques. ‘Marseille has a special energy,’ he says. ‘It is totally different to other French cities.’
That is true in several ways, including the fact that its appeal to visitors has less to do with monumental sites – of which it has very few, despite its long history – and more with the simple pleasures of a life lived mostly outdoors, and in several languages. The exceptions are the elegant Palais Longchamp with its symphony of fountains, Château d’Eau, and the Beaux-Arts museum inside it, which is worthy of a full afternoon of admiration.
The best way to experience Marseille is on foot, wandering its warren of streets and people watching. These include quartiers like Cours Julien, for its street art and lively bar scene, and Boulevard Chave, for some of the newest food addresses.
Few neighbourhoods reflect Marseille’s diversity more than the bustling Noailles, which is known locally as ‘the belly of the city’. Corsican fishmongers share space here with halal butchers, Vietnamese grocers, Moroccan patisseries, west African canteens and Maison Empereur, the oldest quincaillerie or hardware store in France. Here, you can pick up some traditional olive oil soap made by Savonnerie Fer à Cheval, the oldest soap factory still in operation in Marseille, before sampling couscous à l’orge (made with barley) at Le Fémina, an Algerian restaurant next door.
Apéro hour is close to sacrosanct here in Marseille. Join the locals for sunset rosé and panisses (chickpea fritters) at Café de l’Abbaye or La Caravelle, both of which look over the Vieux Port, or walk further along the corniche to the former fishing village Vallon des Auffes. You may well hear Bande Organisée – a 2020 track by hip-hop collective 13 Organisé that went platinum in the French charts – floating from car windows. The video was shot at both the Stade Vélodrome, home of the revered football team Olympique de Marseille, and what residents refer to as the Bonne Mère, the Notre-Dame de la Garde church overlooking the town. Its lyrics are replete with Marseillais attitude and the line ‘C’est pas la capitale, c’est Marseille, bébé’ has become something close to the city’s motto.
