Come stroll with me...

... around the Vieux Port (the old harbour) in Marseille...

Quai de la Fraternité & Saint-Ferréol

A vast sprawling conurbation, Marseille, is the second city of France.  With a population of just under 900,000, it outstrips Lyon, the 3rd most populous city, easily.  It also has a fascinating history, is renowned for its independence and can claim to be the oldest city in France.  So, people were living here long before the Romans arrived!

This city is also one of the most multi-cultural that I have ever come across in France.  As you meander through the streets, for every five people you pass speaking French there are another five following speaking an entirely different tongue.  You can eat in any one of a hundred different languages - from the parlances of Northern Europe to the Mexican and All-American English of the west, to the numerous tongues of Africa in the south, extending eastwards to Arabic, to Turkish and stretching all the way to Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Japan with just about everything in between.

Fort St-Jean & the marina entrance

The very first settlers here were the Phocaeans (ancient Greeks), arriving around 600BC and travelling from one of the most northern Ionian cities on the west coast of Asia Minor.  They settled on one side of what is now the Vieux Port, the sound being then little more than a creek.  But it was an essential supply of water and an opportunity for trade - something the ancient Greeks were very good at.  Of course, those first settlers weren't allowed to keep everything to themselves, and about 60 years later the Persians arrived.  The original settlement expanded as trade and ancient commerce grew, and the reach inland expanded to the sites of modern cities such as Arles, Nice, Avignon and elsewhere.  The Romans turned up around 125BC, and after years of war, established transalpine Gaul.  The port of Marseille (then referred to as Massalia) became an independent republic allied to Rome.  Maybe that's why it has a reputation for independence and a very distinctive local character, not to mention it's own very particular local dialect.

The first port has changed much over the centuries.  Now, it is mostly a marina for pleasure boats and excursions across to the Hyères islands.  The islands are the site for the Château d'If that Alexandre Dumas used as a location in his books, The Man in the Iron Mask and

Château d'If

The Count of Monte Cristo.  The château was quickly built to protect the port in the early 16th century and was further fortified some decades later by a bastioned wall.  As well as a location for fictional heroes the castle was used as a state prison for the Huguenots and various political prisoners.  Now it's just a tourist destination.

However, like Dumas, I'm using this fantastic city as a location, too although I'm not imprisoning any of my characters in the château!  But my investigator, Jacques Forêt, finds himself here in Marseille in search of answers and a resolution for his next case.  Book 4 will be out towards the end of the year, and I will keep you updated over the coming months.

You can read more about the city of Marseille Here and Book 4 in my Jacques Forêt mystery series is available to pre-order Here