Marseille: the Vieux-Port, the Good Mother on high and the turquoise calanques

The Vieux-Port, the old port, is where Marseille was born and where it still lives. In the morning, fishermen sell the fresh catch straight from their boats on the quay. During the day, the port fills with sailboats, terraces and strollers.

On one side is the Ombrière, a huge mirrored canopy designed by architect Norman Foster, where people photograph themselves upside down. The forts of Saint-Jean and Saint-Nicolas guard the harbour entrance, as they have for centuries.

Boats leave the port for the Château d'If, the island fortress made famous by Alexandre Dumas's novel «The Count of Monte Cristo», and for the Frioul archipelago, with coves and trails.

At the city's highest point stands the nineteenth-century basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, topped by a huge golden statue of the Virgin and Child. Locals call her «la Bonne Mère», the Good Mother, and believe she protects sailors and the city.

Inside are golden mosaics and hundreds of ex-votos, mostly small boats and paintings offered by shipwreck survivors. Outside, the view is Marseille's best: the whole city, the port, the islands and the sea to the horizon.

You climb on foot, a steep walk, or by bus or tourist train. In the late afternoon, the light over the city and the sea is unforgettable.

Le Panier is Marseille's oldest quarter, on the hill by the port. Narrow streets, stairways, laundry drying, street art on every wall and little shops of craftspeople and Marseille soap. At its centre is the Vieille Charité, a former almshouse with a beautiful chapel and museums.

By the sea, the MuCEM, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, is a cube wrapped in concrete lace, linked by a footbridge to Fort Saint-Jean. Even without seeing the exhibitions, it's worth walking the terraces and the bridge over the water.

Next door is La Major Cathedral, enormous, striped in two colours of stone, looking more Byzantine than French. At sunset the ensemble is one of the city's most photogenic.

Between Marseille and Cassis stretches the Calanques National Park, created in 2012: white limestone cliffs plunging into a turquoise sea, forming narrow, deep inlets. It's one of the most impressive landscapes in the Mediterranean, right on the doorstep of a big city.

Some calanques, such as Sormiou and Morgiou, have small fishing hamlets and road access at certain times. Others, such as Sugiton or En-Vau, can only be reached on foot, via demanding trails, or by boat. In summer, access may be restricted due to fire risk, so check beforehand.

The easiest way to see them is on a boat trip from the Vieux-Port or from Cassis, a charming fishing town to the east with vineyards and a colourful harbour. A private tour can combine Cassis and the Calanques on the same day.

Bouillabaisse is Marseille's dish: a saffron soup of rockfish, served first as broth with toasted bread and rouille, a garlic and chilli sauce, then with the whole fish. It's expensive, takes time and is only genuine at restaurants that respect the recipe. Be wary of cheap ones.

There's much more: panisse, fried chickpea sticks, navettes, boat-shaped biscuits with orange blossom, aïoli with salt cod and vegetables and, of course, pastis, the aniseed drink taken with water in the late afternoon.

Marseille is also a multicultural city, with North African, Italian, Armenian and Corsican influences. The markets of the Noailles district are a journey within the journey, with spices, bread and sweets from all over the Mediterranean.