www.marseille-tourisme.com. Marseille is France’s second largest city, a seamy, steamy Mediterranean port simmering in a semi-circle of barren hills. Phoenician traders founded Massalia in around 600 BC. At different times the Romans and the French crown battled for control; crusaders and legionnaires sailed from the harbour to North Africa. Many Africans made the journey in reverse, in numbers which galvanized xenophobic voters to support Jean-Marie Le Pen and his extreme right-wing Front National, though his popularity has faded somewhat recently. Despite racial tensions, the activities of local mobsters (known as le milieu), rampant unemployment and a crumbling infrastructure, Marseille has an undeniable roguish charm, and is a pungent contrast to the genteel resorts further east along the coast.

The tree-lined boulevard of La Canebière slopes downhill to the Vieux Port, roughly dividing the city centre in two. The main shopping district lies to the south, between rue de Rome and rue du Paradis; a couple of blocks east (towards the port) is the red light district. North of La Canebière, the Quartier Belsunce is almost exclusively North African with street traders and hustlers at every turn. Down by the Vieux Port, the whiff of fish stalls is filtered through traffic fumes in a major olfactory assault, but the cafés provide views of the busy harbour. Here, ferries cast off full of trippers bound for Château d’lf, the island prison where Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo languished alongside Huguenot ‘heretics’, political prisoners and debtors like Mirabeau.

On the north side of the port, the Musée de Vieux Marseille (www.marseille-tourisme.com) houses an eclectic selection of old prints and photographs, Provencal furniture and crafts in the 16thC Maison Diamantée, on rue de la Prison. This was one of the few buildings to survive the demolition in the Second World War of the old Le Panier quarter, which in turn revealed the ancient Roman docks and relics displayed in the Musée des Docks Romains (www.marseille-tourisme.com), on place Vivaux.

Further west, by the new docks, the monstrous neo-Byzantine Cathédrale Major dwarfs the original Romanesque cathedral; cutting back east you find the lovely Hospice de la Vieille Charité, an enormous 17thC alms house with three tiers of arches and an oval Baroque chapel. A cultural centre now hosts exhibitions, and an archaeological museum.

The city’s fine arts collections are on show in the imposing Palais de Longchamps (2 km E of the port). The Musée des Beaux-Arts (www.culture.marseille.fr) is somewhat disappointing, though there is a notable series of political cartoons by l9thC satirist Honoré Daumier, and some fine sculpture including Marseille-born Pierre Puget’s bust of Louis XIV. The 20thC collections in the Musée Cantini, 19 rue Grignan (in the shopping district, www.culture.marseille.com), are more rewarding, with works by Dufy, Vasarély and Bacon to name a few.

Other diversions include a trek up to the hill-top basilica Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, on plateau de la Croix, for panoramic views. Marseille’s beaches are found south of the Palais du Pharo. If you are after picnic materials, there is a daily market on place Jean-Jau-rès in the lively student quarter, which is also useful for budget restaurants. The Centre Bourse is handy for general shopping, and has a huge car park convenient for the city centre. Marseille has a métro service, and there are regular train and bus connections along the coast.