Marseille, This Time Around

From what I can gather, half of France seems to escape to Marseille for the summer, especially people in their twenties. Everyone sets up shop for a few months as if they’ve quietly relocated, and I get it.

It feels like a hybrid of NYC and Portugal. You have the creative energy, the grit and the multiculturalism, but then you can finish work and pop down to the sea for a swim.

Apparently a vintage hot spot, but I was a little underwhelmed. I think if you know the styles and brands that you’re looking for, you can look on Vinted, Ebay and Etsy for a reasonable price.

Start with Mélanine Vintage, Kitsch, Kilo Shop and Kenza if you’re after fashion.

If you’re more interested in homewares, head to Maison Empereur. It’s France’s oldest hardware store, but calling it a hardware store feels wildly unfair. My boyfriend happily got lost and spent many euros there.

Session Alma is worth a stop too if interiors are more your thing.

If you have even a passing interest in design, go to La Cité Radieuse.

Even if you don’t know much about modernism, you’ll probably recognise Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation. And currently, Adrien Vescovi’s Sleeping Like the Sun is showing at the Centre de la Vieille Charité, filling the space with these huge, sensual textile works that you can actually get lost in.

I’ve clearly been on my textile BS lately, romanticising lace, curtains and embroidery.

If the city gets too hot, escape to Port de Malmousque or Vallon des Auffes. A kind warning, you have to be creative with where you base yourself as it’s extremely rocky. Don’t hold off on the eye sore rock shoes, you will be needing them.

Coffee became an accidental walking tour.

Apt.20, Deep Coffee Roasters, La Traverse, Pompe, Café la Muse, Razzia, Café de l’Abbaye, Chez Moe and Josie were all saved, although half the fun is discovering one you hadn’t planned on.

Marseille does not have a food problem. Quite the opposite - there are restaurants everywhere, and unless you’re determined to eat somewhere specific, you can very happily wing it. Some of our best meals were places we stumbled upon.

I’d definitely book a few spots in advance if you can. Some restaurants open reservations a month ahead (Tuba Club), others two weeks out. I say this as someone coming from New York, so I’m probably more conditioned than most to the insufferable restaurant-booking system, but the ones I’ve mentioned below are probably worth planning ahead for. I was there in August, which is peak season, so you may have a little more freedom in other months.

One last thing: lunch has a hard stop at 2pm. If you’re someone who eats on the later side, be warned - most places close up until dinner, which doesn’t really get going again until 7pm. A slightly inconvenient five-hour intermission.

If I had to narrow it down:

• Poissonnerie Kennedy

• Tuba Club

• Livingston

• Bonnie

• Vinoteca

• Ippon

• A Moro

• Au Falafel- lunch

• Limmat

• Localino al Mare

• Chez Gilda

• Ripaille

For seafood, L’Escaillerie and La Relève.

Grab a pizza from L’Eau à la Bouche and walk down to the water for sunset.

And if all else fails, just follow whichever terrace looks busiest with locals at 8:30pm.

The natural wine scene is excellent.

I saved Le Marché des Argonautes, Figure, Grenadine Cave à Vin, Le Vin sur la Main.

France is unfairly good at bakeries, so any boulangeries will do. A croissant will cost you 1.50 euro which I find refreshing from the $9 ones back in New York.

T65, Maison Madre, Pétrin, Le Moulerie and Les Navettes des Accoules all earned a pin.

You could happily spend days exploring the Calanques alone. The closest ones are Calanque de Sormiou and Croix de Cap Croissette.

Calanque d’En-Vau deserves all the attention it gets, but Plage Sauvage de Morgiou is equally worth adding if you have a car and you want to scale half a mountain. You can even Uber/ Bolt there as it’s only 30 or so mins away.

And if you’ve already read my Cassis guide, you know exactly how I feel about hiking to these beaches.