One thing that I always notice when I´m in continental Europe, is that the air is different. In each different place, the air has it´s own texture, it´s own scent. In Marseille this is especially evident.

You will experience something sprightly yet savoury as you wander through the time-worn streets down towards the port. When you arrive, you will be dazzled by the turquoise blanket of sea laid out before you.

The port is swarming with life, with people, and there are plenty of places to eat located around this part of the city. This is a good opportunity to sit down and soak up the history from the oldest city in France. You can look up to the majestic Phare de Sainte Marie light house, or wonder over to the famous fish-market.

In Centre Bourse lies the Musée d’Histoire. It contains a variety of ancient remains, including records of the Greek and roman history or Marseilles. Alternatively, you could stroll on down to the Cathedral of Sainte-Marie-Majeure. Dating back to the 4th century, this cathedral stands in all its gigantic splendor in the Romano-Byzantine style. The cathedral was in fact rebuilt in the latter part of the 19th century, but still has its original Romanesque transept, choir and altar from the medieval period, that were saved from destruction by public protest.

Marseille is famous within France for its hip hop scene. The group IAM grew out of the Marseilles hip hop movement, alongside Fonky Family, 3ème Oeil, and Psy4 de la rime.

But the thing that really captured me in Marseille was the people. Sometimes when you go abroad, your holiday can be a little dampened by that “oh no it´s another tourist!” expression that greets you on the faces of the locals. In Marseilles this wasn´t the case. Being particularly bright white skinned British people, we were quite ridiculously definable as tourists. But that didn´t cause people to have a lack of patience with us, or to treat us with less respect. Quite the contrary! The people were not only willing to help us find places and to make recommendations, but also to help us with our French and strike up some banter! In pretty much every place we went, it was the same. The city is luscious, and the air is oh so pretty, but what really made the trip was the people. The Marseillans. Our heroes!