Friche la Belle de Mai

This guide to Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille traces the building's life as a state tobacco factory, opened in 1868 and staffed almost entirely by women who rolled Gauloises and Gitanes by hand. It follows the twelve hundred workers, many Italian immigrants, who struck in 1887 and won France's first union inside a state tobacco factory, and the decline that shut the machines down in 1990. The building's industrial bones now hold artist studios and galleries around Les Grandes Tables, the restaurant serving seasonal plates in the old rolling rooms.