Capri Marseille
Marseille
is France's largest commercial and naval port and
its oldest major city, founded by the Greeks in 600
BC. It became a focus for Oriental trade and its mix
of cultures was so varied that author Alexander Dumas
called it the meeting place of the entire world.
At its centre are the Vieux Port and the old town,
full of quiet squares, stepped streets and 18th century
houses. In contrast, leading away from the port is
the bustling boulevard of La Canebiere. Among the
city's churches is the Neo-Byzantine Cathedrale de
la Major of 1893. Its finest building is the Vieille
Charite hospice of 1694 and its most elegant house
(1873) is now the Musee Grobert-Labadie.
Aix-en-Provence
Founded
by the Romans, Aix grew to be the medieval capital
of Provence and a centre of learning. It is still
an international students' city and the Rue de la
Verrerie is full of cosmopolitan restaurants and bars.
Aix is also known as the city of a thousand fountains
for its many fine, 18th century examples. In the
Old Town is the Cathedrale St-Sauveur with a 4 th
century baptistery. Aix's many museums include the
Musee Des Tapisseries (tapestries), Musee du Vieil
Aix (folklore), Musee Granet ( fine art and archaeology),
Atelier Paul-Cezanne, the artist's house, and Pavillon
de Vendome, a grand 17th century house.
St. Tropez
Shot
in St. Tropez, Brigitte Bardot's 1956 film And
God Created Woman and her decision to live here
changed the fortunes of the fishing village, turning
it into a playground for gilded youth. Mass tourism
followed, with visitors more interested in spotting
a celebrity than visiting the historic sights. Today
there are many more luxury yachts than fishing boats
in the harbour. St. Tropez was badly bombed in World
War II, but the old town behind the waterfront was
rebuilt in original style. Its main features are the
19th century Eglise de St. Tropez, named after the
Roman Christian martyr, St. Tropez, and the Place des
Lices, lively with cafes, boules players
and the Harley-Davidson set. The 16th century citadel
east of town has an interesting naval museum.
Nice:
Old Town
Dense
network of alleys, narrow buildings and pastel, Italianate
facades make up the Old Town of Nice. Its streets
contain many fine 17th century Italianate churches,
among them St-Francois-de-Paule, behind the Opera,
and L'Eglise du Jesus in the Rue Droite. The seafront
is taken up by Les Ponchettes, which was Nice's chef
promenade before the Promenade des Anglais was built
further west in the 1820s. The hills overlooking the
Old Town are occupied by Cimiez district, where there
is a museum to Henri Matisse (1869-1954) who spent
38 years in Nice.
Cannes
Lord
Brougham, British lord chancellor, put Cannes on the
map in 1834 when he built a villa here after being
entranced by the mild climate of the then fishing
village. Today, it has become a resort of the rich
and famous, busy all year round and renowned for its
festivals. With its casinos, fairs, beach and boat
and street life, there is plenty to do, even though
it lacks great museums and monuments. Its heart is
the Bay of Cannes and the palm-fringed, seafront Boulevard
de la Croisette. Behind the Vieux Port ( Old Port
), small streets wind up to Le Suquet district, site
of the Roman town of Canois Castrum , with the 1648
church of Notre-Dame de L'Esperance and the ethnographic
Musee de la Castre in a 12th century castle.
Monaco
and Monte-Carlo
The
dramatic heights of Monte-Carlo are the best-known
area of the principality of Monaco . The land was
bought from the Genoese in 1309 by the Grimaldis,
who remain the world's oldest ruling family. From
the harbour it is only a ten-minute stroll to Monte-Carlo's
famous Grand Casino. A further 20-minute walk takes
visitors to the Old Town . Here a miniature tourist
train runs every 30 minutes from the splendid Musee
Oceanographique and takes and takes in the main sights
in a 35-minute round trip. The 16th century Palais
du Prince (open in summer), home of Prince Rainier
III, features priceless furniture and magnificent
frescoes. The beautiful, 19th century Neo-Romanesque
Cathedrale holds the tomb of Princess Grace and the
Jardin Exotique is considered the finest garden in
Europe .
Corsica
Known
as The Scented Isle, Corsica 's main appeal is its
scenery of herb-filled maquis, mountains, forests
and igyllic beaches. For 200 years to the 1200s, Corsica
belonged to Pisa, it then fell to the Genoese, and
who sold it to France in 1769. The main ports are
the capital, Ajaccio, and Bastia , which has an attractive
Old Port and a Genoese citadel. Bastia's Chapelle
St-Croix has a Black Christ fished from
the sea in 1428 and its church of Ste-Marie has a
Virgin made of a tonne of silver. Calvi is
a smaller military port and holiday resort. Bonifacio
in the south is sited on a peninsula, with a citadel
above a fine harbour.
Paris
( Le Havre )
The
sense flows through the heart of Paris and many of
the city's great buildings are either along its banks
or close to it. Paris sprang from a village on the
Ile de la Cite, which was inhabited by the Parisii
tribe and which the Romans conquered in 55 BC. The
latter expanded onto the Left Bank and, after marshes
were drained in medieval times, the city grew outwards
during the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Napoleon
endowed it with monuments, but it was Baron Haussmann's
grand transformation in the 1800s that gave Paris
its great, tree-lined boulevards. A renovation plan
initiated in 1962 restored historic buildings and
gave Paris spectacular new landmarks and museums.
Bordeaux
Sited
near the mouth of the River Garonne, Bordeaux has
exported wine since Roman times, but it was under
English rule (1154-1453) that merchants began making
huge fortunes from wine sales to England . Along the
city's waterfront are grand Classical facades and
the Esplanade des Quinconces, a vast, leafy space
with fountains and statues created in the mid 19th
century. Just east of the Esplanade is the CAPC, a
gallery of modern art in a renovated warehouse. Bordeaux's liveliest area is around the Cours de L'Intendance,
Allees de Tourny and Cours Clemenceau, full of fashionable
shops and cages, while the adjacent Rue Ste-Catherine
is the main shopping street. Other sights include
the Cathedrale St-Andre, Basilique St-Michel, which
a huge hexagonal belfry, and the Musee de Beaux Arts,
which has fine paintings. |
