Theme Week French Riviera – Antibes, Cap d’Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Cap Ferrat

8 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  10 minutes

Antibes and Cap d’Antibes

Antibes Panorama © Frits Hoogesteger

Antibes Panorama © Frits Hoogesteger

Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d’Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes. The Sophia-Antipolis technology park is northeast of Antibes. Sport is an important part of the local culture; the town hosts the National Training Centre for basketball. On 25 May 1999 the town was the first in the départment to sign the State Environment Charter, which pledges to actively conserve the natural environment. There are 48 beaches along the 25 km of coastline that surround Antibes and Juan les Pins. The city of Antibes hosts seveal museums and sights.   read more…

Îles de Lérins off the French Riviera

13 January 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  5 minutes

Monastry of Saint-Honorat © Hermes from mars/cc-by-sa-3.0

Monastry of Saint-Honorat © Hermes from mars/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Lérins Islands are a group of four Mediterranean islands off the French Riviera, near Cannes. The two largest islands in this group are the Île Sainte-Marguerite and the Île Saint-Honorat. The smaller Îlot Saint-Ferréol and Îlot de la Tradelière are uninhabited. Administratively, the islands belong to the commune of Cannes. The islands are first known to have been inhabited during Roman times. Under the French Revolution, the Île Sainte-Marguerite and the Île Saint-Honorat were renamed the Île Marat and the Île Lepeletier, after secular martyrs.   read more…

Promenade de la Croisette

25 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  6 minutes

Harbor, Palais des Festival and Croisette © Mario Lassnig/cc-by-sa-2.0-at

Harbor, Palais des Festival and Croisette © Mario Lassnig/cc-by-sa-2.0-at

Cannes is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a busy tourist destination. The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Promenade de la Croisette is host of the annual Cannes Film Festival and Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. It is as well host to the annual MIPIM in March, one of the largest real estate shows in the world, including an exhibition area, networking events and expert-led conference sessions over a period of 4 days, and MAPIC in November, an international retail real estate show. The Promenade de la Croisette stretches along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and is about 2 km long. Many expensive shops, restaurants, and hotels (such as the Carlton, Majestic, JW Marriott Cannes and Martinez) line the road. It goes completely along the coastline of Cannes.   read more…

Theme Week Provence

20 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  14 minutes

Moustiers Sainte Marie © Nepomuk

Moustiers Sainte Marie © Nepomuk

Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône River on the west to the Italian border on the east, and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and includes the départements of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse. The Romans made the region into the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it Provincia Romana, which evolved into the present name. It was ruled by the Counts of Provence from their capital in Aix-en-Provence until 1481, when it became a province of the Kings of France. While it has been part of France for more than five hundred years, it still retains a distinct cultural and linguistic identity, particularly in the interior of the region. The original Roman province was called Gallia Transalpina, then Gallia Narbonensis, or simply Provincia Nostra (‘Our Province’) or Provincia. It extended from the Alps to the Pyrenees and north to the Vaucluse, with its capital in Narbo Martius (present-day Narbonne). In the 1940s, Provence underwent a cultural renewal, with the founding of the Avignon Festival of theatre (1947), the reopening of the Cannes Film Festival (begun in 1939), and many other major events. With the building of new highways, particularly the Paris Marseille autoroute which opened in 1970, Provence became destination for mass tourism from all over Europe. Many Europeans, particularly from Britain, bought summer houses in Provence. The arrival of the TGV high-speed trains shortened the trip from Paris to Marseille to less than four hours. Most of Provence has a Mediterranean climate, characterised by hot, dry summers, mild winters, little snow, and abundant sunshine. Within Provence there are micro-climates and local variations, ranging from the Alpine climate inland from Nice to the continental climate in the northern Vaucluse. The winds of Provence are an important feature of the climate, particularly the mistral, a cold, dry wind which, especially in the winter, blows down the Rhône Valley to the Bouches-du-Rhône and the Var Departments, and often reaches over one hundred kilometres an hour.   read more…

Hyères in Southern France

11 September 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  7 minutes

La Tour des Templiers © RudolfSimon/cc-by-sa-3.0

La Tour des Templiers © RudolfSimon/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hyères is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. Its position facing the Mediterranean to the south makes it a popular location for tourism in the winter, and facilitates the cultivation of palm trees; about 100,000 trees are exported from the area each year. As a result, the town is frequently referred to as Hyères-les-Palmiers (palmiers meaning palm trees).   read more…

Cavalaire-sur-Mer on the Côte d’Azur

6 February 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  4 minutes

Bay of Cavalaire © Starus/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bay of Cavalaire © Starus/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cavalaire-sur-Mer is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. Cavalaire has a marina with 1200 berths.   read more…

The Hotel Negresco in Nice

9 May 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, Hotels Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Jolly Janner

© Jolly Janner

The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice was named for Henri Negresco (1868–1920) who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912. In keeping with the conventions of the times, when the Negresco first opened in 1913 its front opened facing the Mediterranean sea.   read more…

Overview Theme Weeks

27 December 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  20 minutes

Theme Weeks (Latest addition: February 2024) In irregular intervals we publish Theme Weeks about cities, regions, and countries. Here you can find the complete list.   read more…

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With the Train des Pignes from Nice to Digne-les-Bains

5 October 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, Bon voyage Reading Time:  11 minutes

Route map © Chemins de Fer de Provence

Route map © Chemins de Fer de Provence

This 1-meter gauge railway runs between Nice and Digne-les-Bains, 151 km, and takes about three hours. The track follows rushing rivers and steep-sided mountain valleys, many not accessible by car, and the view is magnificent. The ride is an adventure. The stations are old, tiny and personal, with everything on a human level. The name Train des Pignes comes from the pinecones, once used for tinder to start the steam engines.   read more…

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