France's second largest city has been surrounded by negative clichés for a long time. However, the eternally rebellious city has an extreme rich history which has been at the heard of Mediterranean culture for almost 3000 years.

It is not easy to discover the whole wealth of Marseilles but your personal tour guide will help you to feel the soul of the city and its original and a picturesque face.

Marseille began as an important trading settlement called Massalia, founded by a Greek colony of Phocéa around 600 B.C. It was an ideal location because naturally sheltered by the surrounding hills and mountains. The ruins of the Greek and Roman port are from this period. The city, born from the sea, has kept during 26 centuries its maritime and commercial vocation.

That is why Marseilles is considered the gateway of the Orient and Africa, the gateway of the French colonial Empire. The town still offers a cosmopolitan nature.

This sprawling city offers more than a few sights worth seeing and their many aspects should be discovered on foot.

Whether you wander along the picturesque old quarter "le Panier", with its stepped streets and narrow walkways, or in the old port area, there is much to see: The medieval abbey of Saint Victor, Founded by the hermit Johannes Cassianus, in the beginning of the 5th century became one of the most powerful abbeys of the western world.

The 19th century was a very active century for construction and numerous monuments are heritages of this period: the beginning of the Canebière, Le Palais Longchamp, Notre-Dame-de-la- Garde and la Rue de la République.

Once in Marseille you should also admire the fabulous "Corniche Kennedy" with the sumptuous houses and mansions of the upper merchant classes of the 19th century.

This is a marvellous viewpoint to see the "Frioul Islands" and the island of the "Chateau d'If", made world famous by Alexander Dumas in his novel "the count of Monte Cristo".

Marseilles has also its rocky inlets, (les Calanques) which means a stunning and fabulous inviolate countryside unique in the world with little fjords and white limestone cliffs, which plunge into a deep blue sea. This extraordinary massif stretches from Marseilles to Cassis.

These formations were caused during the ice age when the sea level rose and fell. It has a unique climate because it is fully exposed to the sun and protected from the northern wind.