Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the south of France

15 September 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  6 minutes

Vineyard and château near Châteauneuf-du-Pape © Vi..Cult...

Vineyard and château near Châteauneuf-du-Pape © Vi..Cult…

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France.   read more…

Toulon in southern France

14 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  7 minutes

Tall ships in the old port © SiefkinDR

Tall ships in the old port © SiefkinDR

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence. It is the fourth-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille, Nice and Montpellier. Toulon is an important centre for naval construction, fishing, wine making, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment, armaments, maps, paper, tobacco, printing, shoes, and electronic equipment. The military port of Toulon is the major naval centre on France’s Mediterranean coast, home of the French Navy aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle and her battle group. The French Mediterranean Fleet is based in Toulon.   read more…

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, capital of Camargue

28 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  5 minutes

Aerial view © flickr.com - Jean-Louis Vandevivère

Aerial view © flickr.com – Jean-Louis Vandevivère

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the capital of the Camargue in the south of France. It is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department by the Mediterranean Sea. Population: 2,500 (50,000+ during the summer holidays). It has the second-largest area of all communes in Metropolitan France, smaller only than that of neighboring Arles. The village of Saintes Marie de la Mer, a place of warm reception, tradition and pilgrimage, is built between sky and sea, where the Rhone meets the Mediterranean Sea. A legendary site, its shore once welcomed at the dawn of the Christianity Marie Jacobi, Marie Salomé and their handmaid Sarah, who were persecuted Christians escaping from Palestine on a boat without a rudder.   read more…

Theme Week French Riviera – Grasse and Menton

17 September 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  11 minutes

Grasse

Parfurmerie Fragonard - Parfum Museum © Christophe.Finot

Parfurmerie Fragonard – Parfum Museum © Christophe.Finot

Grasse is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department on the French Riviera. The town is considered as the world’s capital of perfume. It obtained two flowers in the Concours des villes et villages fleuris contest and was made “Ville d’Art et d’Histoire” (town of art and history).   read more…

Theme Week French Riviera – Saint-Tropez

16 September 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  7 minutes

Saint-Tropez Church © MartinPutz

Saint-Tropez Church © MartinPutz

Saint-Tropez is a town, 104 km (65mi) to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of southeastern France. It is also the principal town in the canton of Saint-Tropez. It is located on the French Riviera, and it is known today for its famous and extremely wealthy summertime guests. It has been dubbed the ‘playground to jetsetters, fashion models, and millionaires’. The inhabitants of Saint-Tropez are called Tropéziens, and the town is familiarly called “St-Trop”. The port was widely used during the 18th century; in 1789, the port was visited by 80 ships. Saint-Tropez’s shipyards built tartanes and three-masted ships that carried 1000 to 12200 barrels. The town was the site of various associated trades, including fishing, cork, wine, wood. The town had a school of hydrography. In 1860 the floret of the merchant marine, named “The Queen of the Angels” (a three-masted ship of 740 barrels), visited this port. Its role as a commercial port declined, and it is now primarily a tourist spot besides being a base for many well know sail regattas. Here you also find a fast boat transportation with Les Bateaux Verts to Sainte Maxime on the other side of the bay and to Port Grimaud, Marines de Cogolin, Les Issambres and St-Aygulf.   read more…

Theme Week French Riviera – Cannes

15 September 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  7 minutes

Old Harbour - Fisher's Wharf © Guy Lebègue

Old Harbour – Fisher’s Wharf © Guy Lebègue

Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department. The city is also famous for its various luxury shops, restaurants, and hotels.   read more…

Theme Week French Riviera – Nice

14 September 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Harbour © Martinp1

Harbour © Martinp1

Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of 71.92 km2 (28 sq mi). The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of over 955,000 on an area of 721 km2 (278 sq mi). Located on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is the second largest French city on the Mediterranean coast. Nice was included in UNESCO’s world heritage list in 2021 as “Winter resort town of the Riviera” because of its architectural, landscape and urban heritage.   read more…

Theme Week French Riviera

12 September 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  6 minutes

French Riviera map © Markus Bernet / www.demis.nl

French Riviera map © Markus Bernet / www.demis.nl

The Côte d’Azur, often known in English as the French Riviera (French: Côte d’Azur; Occitan: Còsta d’Azur; that is “Azure Coast”), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from either Menton or the Italian border in the east to Saint Tropez, Hyères or Cassis in the west.   read more…

Theme Week Marseille, France’s oldest and second largest city

3 May 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, French Riviera, European Union, Bon voyage, European Capital of Culture, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  9 minutes

Corniche - Petit Nice © Jddmano

Corniche – Petit Nice © Jddmano

Marseille, known in antiquity as Massalia, is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of 240.62 km2 (93 sq mi). The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of 1,204 km2 (465 sq mi). 1,530,000 or 1,601,095 people live in the Marseille metropolitan area, ranking it third among French metro areas. Located on the southeast coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Marseille is France’s largest commercial port and largest French city on the Mediterranean coast. Marseille is the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, as well as the capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. Its inhabitants are called Marseillais. Marseille enjoys a Mediterranean climate. The summer/holiday season lasts for six months, from May to October, although also in April sometimes there are temperatures above 20 °C (68.0 °F). Winters are mild, with average temperature 12 °C (54 °F) during the day and 4 °C (39 °F) at night in the period December–January–February.   read more…

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