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Emilie Seto is a Marseille-based illustrator working across editorial and commercial projects, known for her expressive, character-driven work. Having exhibited in China and collaborated with a Japanese publication, her practice reflects a global perspective grounded in personal storytelling. Now calling Marseille home, Emilie is drawn to its sun, sea and unique “small city” feeling — a place where everyday life unfolds with warmth, spontaneity and a quiet sense of rhythm. Through her eyes, we explore the local markets, beaches and neighbourhood corners that shape both her creative process and daily rituals.
Eating olive brioches or pastries in Turkish Baklava on Cours Belsunce, with mint tea. The tea places there usually still have a kind of Marseille range of prices that makes them quite inexpensive and casual. In the morning, it’s not as busy and energetic as in the afternoon, and everyone is still a bit slow, and yet it always feels like something is happening in front of your eyes.
I guess the most typical “Marseille” market is the one you’ll find on the Vieux-Port on Sundays with fishes and other local specialities… But I prefer the ambiance you can feel at the Marché de la Plaine at Place Jean Jaures where you can buy pretty much anything. Even though I am not the type of person who goes every week to the local market, I like to walk around and see what’s going on between the stalls or just sit in a cafe and watch everyone doing their business.
I like to take some snacks in Noailles, msemens, potato fritters, kesra, olive and such… There are not really specific places as a lot of little shops are selling those. I buy them when I am in a hurry to take the train, or if I just want to eat something by the beach. Always feels comfy and reassuring.
I love the asian mall Hyper Asiatique in La Belle de Mai. Although reaching it can feel a bit sketchy as it is located in front of a highway, everything is always inexpensive there and you can find pretty much anything Asian, with every nationality of the Asian and African continent gathering here to shop. It always feels a bit messy but I love it when everything seems to be there at once. I guess the charm for me, comes from being Asian in the West. It feels like a big Chinatown supermarket, or supermarket from a big Asian country which doesn’t actually exist but brings together things from every single Asian country in one place.
Le dernier cri at la Friche Belle de Mai. La Friche is a good place to go to see exhibitions and such, but Le dernier cri is a small exhibition/etching place within. There you can see and shop a lot of indie graphic artists, as it is a famous place for independent graphic artists in France and abroad.
Watching the sunset plage des catalan in the winter. It is not really quiet as there’s usually at least some people chilling there, but it’s the most accessible beach in the city, and even when it’s crowded it feels quieter than it seems when you’re actually seated on the sand.
Watching an OM (Olympique de Marseille) soccer game in a bar ! It’s actually way funnier than watching the actual game in a stadium. You can feel the tension you usually experience in the stadium but contained in a very small place, with every pair of eyes locked on a very small screen.
Plage de Corbiere, where you can see a large variety of people from hipster tourists to local families or elders… The place is quite far from the center of Marseille but it concentrates an honest image of the different types of characters you can see in this city and see their blending and frictions sometimes.
I am not a very “night” person, and honestly Marseille is also not a very “night” city... But on hot summer nights what feels actually really good and free is to sit on the Mucem’s stone walls with a pizza and a bit of music in front of the sea. There’s usually a bit of people there at night, I guess a lot of people are still looking for an inexpensive night out far from usual bars.
I have to admit I have no idea… Please don’t go to an airbnb, these places are killing my city and it’s driving everyone crazy as Marseille gained an international tourist boom. Otherwise, I think the Mama shelter has a good wrap, and it’s right in the center of the city.
Follow @emilie.seto on Instagram to see even more places she loves in Marseille.
