The Magic Of Marseille

France's grittier second city is leaning into its edgier side-and we're all heading south for it.

- LENA DE CASPARIS

I have a hazy memory of being six and driving through the centre of Paris with some family friends. Cars honked at us, people shouted; one elderly man even shook his fist at me. I turned to my mum next to me in the back seat. "We have a Marseille number plate-they all think we're trouble," she explains. Much of the maternal side of my family is from France's 'second city', so naturally I didn't get it-I'd only ever witnessed rows about parsley ratios in tabbouleh, and nothing more serious.

But as I grew and we continued to return to the region each summer, I began to notice the grittier side of the city. On the drive to Marseille from the airport, the industrial boatyards loomed, casting a shadow over the landscape. The buildings were mostly covered in garish graffiti. Many areas smelt as if every dog in the area had chosen that exact spot as its toilet.

And then there were the people-they were everywhere.

Marseille is home to more than 800,000 (including a gloriously diverse mix of immigrants from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), and in the summer, the streets would swell, overrun with bodies dancing through the hot alleys.

For me, all this is what made it exciting. It was unlike anywhere else I'd been in Europe, with a spirit akin to a North African medina. But for many years, unless you were a fan of the rapper Jul or the footballer Zidane (the region's biggest stars), it went mostly unnoticed... until now.

Marseille is having a major moment. Fashion designer Jacquemus could be thanked-having grown up splashing around the city, he has hosted numerous shows in the surrounding areas, released collections inspired by its people, and even published a book, Marseille Je T'aime, about his love affair with the city.