The reality of Marseille, with it's secret life and a scarred beauty, has little in common with it's sulphurous reputation. It's inhabitants, who like to keep themselves and their city's true character to themselves, prefer it that way. A taste for independence has been part of the city's nature and history from the beginnings 2,600 years ago; since then it has only been part of France for the last 600, and for much of that time unwillingly.
Ringed on three sides by steep hills and the sea on the fourth, Marseille resembles an island, and soon gives to incoming migrants a Marsellais identity, separating them both from their multiple origins and from the French of the surrounding mainland.
