Meridional French (French: français méridional; Occitan: francés meridional), also referred to as Francitan (a portmanteau of français and occitan), is the regional variant of the French language spoken in the area of Marseille, Avignon and Toulouse. It is influenced by the Occitan language.
There are speakers of Meridional French in all generations, but the accent is most marked among the elderly, who often speak Occitan as their first language.
Bouches-du-Rhône (/ˌbuːʃ djuː ˈroʊn/ BOOSH dew ROHN; French: les Bouches-du-Rhône [le buʃ dy ʁon] , locally [le ˈbuʃə dy ˈʁɔnə]; Occitan: lei Bocas de Ròse [lej ˈbukɔz de ˈʀɔze]; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and largest city is Marseille; other important cities include Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Martigues and Aubagne.
Marseille, France's second-largest city, has one of the largest container ports in the country. It prides itself on being France's oldest city, founded by Greek settlers from Phocaea around 600 BC. Bouches-du-Rhône is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, with 2,043,110 inhabitants as of 2019. It has an area of 5,087 km (1,964 sq mi). Its INSEE and postal code is 13.
Salon-de-Provence (French: [salɔ̃ d(ə) pʁɔvɑ̃s], locally [saˈlɔ̃ᵑ də pχoˈvãⁿsə]; Provençal Occitan: Selon de Provença or Seloun de Prouvènço, pronounced [seˈlu de pʀuˈvɛnsɔ]), commonly known as Salon, is a commune located about 52 km (32 mi) northwest of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department (Metropolis of Aix-Marseille Provence), region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is the home of an important French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace) air base.
The Province of Languedoc (/ˌlɒ̃ɡ(ə)ˈdɒk/, French: [lɑ̃ɡ(ə)dɔk], locally [lãᵑɡəˈdɔk]; Occitan: Lengadòc [ˌleŋɡɔˈðɔ(k)]) is a former province of France.Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately 42,700 square kilometers (16,500 square miles).
Cannes (/kæn, kɑːn/, KA(H)N; French: [kan] , locally [ˈkanə]; Occitan: Canas) is a resort city located on the French Riviera. It is located in the Alpes-Maritimes department of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, and is the host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The city is known for its association with the rich and famous, its luxury hotels and restaurants, and for several conferences.
Varieties of the French language are spoken in France and around the world. The Francophones of France generally use Metropolitan French (spoken in Paris and considered standard) although some also use regional dialects or varieties such as Meridional French. In Europe outside France there are Belgian French, Swiss French, and in Italy Aostan French. In Canada, French is an official language along with English; the two main dialects of French in Canada are Canadian French and Acadian French. Standard French (e.g. used by Anglophones speaking French or by Francophones in Canada using a different dialect) is also commonly grouped as Canadian French. In Lebanon, French was an official language until 1941 and the main dialect spoken there is Lebanese French or Levantine French. Levantine French was also spoken by Sephardic Jews in Thessaloniki, Istanbul and Smyrna, by Armenians and Greek bourgeois in the urban centres of Asia Minor, by Syrian Catholics and Melkites in Aleppo and Beirut.
Note that the discussion here refers to varieties of the French language, not to the Romance sister languages (sometimes considered dialects) of French spoken in France (e.g. Picard, Limousin, Gascon, etc.; for these languages see: Langues d'oïl, Francoprovençal, Occitan and languages of France). See also French-based creole languages, which are also considered separate languages.
Olympique de Marseille (French: [ɔlɛ̃pik də maʁsɛj], locally [olɛ̃ˈpikə də maχˈsɛjə]; Occitan: Olimpic de Marselha, pronounced [ulimˈpi de maʀˈsejɔ]), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (IPA: [o.ɛm], locally [oˈɛmə]), is a French professional football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Founded in 1899, OM has won 26 domestic trophies: ten league titles, ten Coupe de France, three Coupe de la Ligue, and three Trophée des Champions. Continentally, the club holds a joint national record of one UEFA Champions League and a joint national record of one UEFA Intertoto Cup. Additionally, Marseille has played in three UEFA Europa League finals. In 1993, coach Raymond Goethals led the team to become the first French club to win the UEFA Champions League, defeating Milan 1–0 in the final, the first under the UEFA Champions League branding of the tournament. In 2010, Marseille won its first Ligue 1 title in 18 years under the management of former club captain Didier Deschamps.
Marseille's home ground is the 67,394-capacity Stade Vélodrome in the southern part of the city, where they have played since 1937. The stadium underwent renovations between 2011 and 2014, increasing its capacity to 67,000 in preparation for France's hosting of UEFA Euro 2016. The club has a large fan-base, having regularly averaged the highest attendance in French football. Marseille's average home gate for the 2018–19 season was 50,361, the highest in Ligue 1. The club have a long-standing rivalry with Paris Saint-Germain, against whom they contest Le Classique.