I've been to Marseille twice myself. I actually quite liked it. The seafood is impeccable by the way and they let you smoke in the outside seating areas. I smoked Gauloises and Gitanes while I was there just to be a pretentious cunt.
French cities are quite the opposite to British ones: the central parts are very pleasant and safe, whereas the suburbs are fucking horrific, most look like Chechnya after it got bombed to fuck in the late 90's.
Another good thing about Marseille is that just outside there is a Haribo superstore the size of a supermarket. You can literally go round the aisles with a trolly and buy sweets in massive amounts.
I consumed a fuck-ton of gummi-bears when I was over there, which as any connoisseur will tell you is the finest confectionary ever invented.
Memries...