It’s surely no coincidence that Marseille rhymes with ‘soleil’, for the sun shines hot in this southern French port city. It mixes beauty – a picturesque harbour, surrounding hills, a stunning coastline – with a certain grit. Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2013, Marseille is a multicultural city where you can enjoy Mediterranean bouillabaisse and North African couscous, street art and fine art, two millennia of history and a modern outlook.
The 10 episodes in our City Break Marseille series bring you all the background history and culture you need to fully understand this fascinating city. In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time.
Each episode centres around a podcast, available here or on all the usual providers. The blog posts here on the website include a summary of the main information, plus pictures, useful links and ideas for further reading. So, let’s go! Or, as the French say, On y va!
MARSEILLE : HISTORY & CULTURE
Episode 1: Introduction to Marseille
Episode 2 10 Places to Find History in Marseille
Episode 3: The Old Port, the Canebiere and Notre Dame de la Garde
Episode 4: Marseille’s Le Panier district
Episode 5: La Joliette, the Mucem and the Cosquer Museum
Episode 6: Art in Marseille
Episode 7: Marseille Boat Trips, Beaches and the Chateau d’If
Episode 8: Marseille Food and Marseille Shopping
Episode 9: Marcel Pagnol in and around Marseille
Episode 10: A Marseille Anthology
Marseille: links and reading
Three useful websites for tourists
Marseille Tourist Office
Marseille Tourisme.fr
About France: a short guide to Marseille
3 Guide Books
The Rough Guide to Provence and the Cote d’Azur
Marseille Travel Guide by Angela J Rea
Marseille Travel Guide by Betty Vanslyke
4 books on Marseille Culture
The Wicked City The many cultures of Marseille by Nicholas Hewitt
Garlic, Mint and Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo
Unveiling Marseille Your Insider’s Guide to the Multicultural Marvel by Tailored Travel Guides
Taste the World in Marseille by Vérane Frédiani
Literature
Marcel Pagnol wrote a trilogy of plays set in Marseille: Marius, Fanny and César. All three were also filmed.
Try eBay or other second-hand sites to track them down.
Pagnol’s two books of childhood memoirs centre on the Provençal countryside just a few miles outside Marseille.
Memoirs of a Provence Childhood by Marcel Pagnol
This comprises 2 autobiographical novels in one volume: My Father’s Glory and My Mother’s Castle
Marseille Noir
This is the collective name for gritty crime fiction set in Marseille. The best-known examples are the Jean-Claude Izzo trilogy
Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo
Chourmo by Jean-Claude Izzo
Solea by Jean-Claude Izzo
The First Fingerprint by Xavier-Marie Bonnot
Marseille Noir by Cédric Fabre
More Fiction set in Marseille
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle