Around France
Every region of France has something distinctive to offer; the majestic châteaux of the Loire Valley, the medieval villages of the valley of the Dordogne river and the sun-drenched beaches of the Mediterranean coast are just some of the highlights.
Main Attractions
France has an admirable transport network that makes for quick and efficient travel. The autoroute (motorway) system runs throughout the country and allows long-distance travellers to go round rather than through the driving nightmare that is Paris. The greatest asset of the French road network is the superlative quality of its clearly signposted secondary roads, which are often strangely empty of traffic.
The 300kph (186mph) TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) makes rail travel across much of France comfortable, quick and easy, connecting Paris with the major provincial cities.
The château of Chambord in the Loire Valley.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
The north
Visitors coming from Britain via ferry or the Channel Tunnel might like to stretch their legs in the port towns before continuing the journey inland. Calais 1 [map] is distinctly shabby, but in the Parc St-Pierre you’ll find the famous bronze statue by August Rodin of the Burghers of Calais who, in 1346, offered their necks to Edward III, the English king, if he would spare the city. In Boulogne, the 13th-century ramparts of the picturesquely cobbled upper town (ville haute) make an interesting walk, with wonderful views into the Old Town and over the harbour. A little inland, St-Omer’s Basilique Notre-Dame, begun in 1200 and completed in the 15th century, is a triumphant union of Romanesque and Gothic styles, the jewel of Flanders’s ecclesiastical architecture.
Close to the Belgian border is Lille 2 [map] , the capital of French Flanders, which is distinguished by its welcoming Flemish atmosphere and richly restored civic buildings, in particular the grand 17th-century Vieille Bourse and Louis XIV’s imposing citadel; a massive star-shaped construction that demanded the labour of 2,000 bricklayers. A little to the south in the old mining town of Lens is the Louvre-Lens (Tue–Sun), an ultra-modern art museum, opened only at the end of 2012, that will hold large-scale exhibitions and showcase items from the vast collections of the Paris Louvre not often seen in the main museum.
To the south are Arras and Amiens 3 [map] , the former famous to the English for the tapestries through which Hamlet stabbed old Polonius, and to the French as the home town of revolutionary leader Robespierre. It is worth a visit today for its spectacular Flemish-style squares the Place des Héros and Grand Place, some of the largest squares in Northern Europe, which still host bustling markets, especially in the weeks before Christmas.
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The cathedrals of Amiens and several other French cities – usually including Rouen and Reims – are illuminated with remarkable coloured light shows every night during summer and (at Amiens) around Christmas. At Amiens, the lights faithfully reproduce the colours with which the medieval west facade was originally painted, an unmissable spectacle. In Chartres, the cathedral and several other historic buildings are lit up each summer, until 1am.
The 13th-century Gothic cathedral at Amiens is the tallest in France, a medieval jewel even more miraculous for having survived the bombardments of two world wars. Its great glory is the intricate stone carving of the west facade, described by critic John Ruskin as “the Bible in stone”; inside, the nave is wonderfully light, and the 16th-century wooden choir stalls are superbly carved. Back on the coast, between Boulogne and Dieppe, is the seaside resort of Le Touquet. Purpose-built in the early 20th century to attract the wealthy from Paris and London, it still has an air of 1920s gentility.
Northern battlefields
The north of France, flat and defenceless, has been the poignant arena for countless invasions throughout history, and its place names sound like a litany of battlefields.
Dunkirk is famous for the providential evacuation of 140,000 French and 200,000 British troops in May 1940. From the lighthouse or the Watier locks, you can see where it happened. English historians recall glorious Crécy (1346) and Henry V’s Agincourt (Azincourt in French) (1415), while the French prefer to remember even further back to Bouvines, an important victory over an Anglo-German alliance in 1214.
Other battles, whether ending in victory or defeat, soaked the fields of Flanders and Picardy, the plateau of the Ardennes and the banks of the Somme and Marne in blood. There are impressive monuments to Canadian troops at Vimy (north of Arras), to the Australians at Villers-Bretonneaux (east of Amiens) and to the Americans at Bellicourt (southwest of Le Quesnoy), while British cemeteries from World War I are found from the Somme through Flanders into Belgium.
Travellers in Normandy and other parts of northern France are constantly reminded of the colossal effort that went into rebuilding the towns and cities destroyed by fighting in World Wars I and II. Boulogne, Arras, most of Rouen and St-Malo were lovingly reconstructed from the rubble; in other cities – Le Havre, Calais, Brest – the scale of destruction was such that entirely new cities were built over the ruins.
Normandy
Within easy reach of Paris are the house and garden of Giverny (Apr–Oct Tue–Sun), created by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who lived there until his death in 1926. Beautifully restored, it has become a popular tourist spot, particularly the Japanese garden where the water lilies, so famously painted by the artist, still bloom.
Lille’s Grand’Place.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Downriver are the superb abbey ruins at Jumièges consecrated in 1067 to celebrate William’s conquest of England. Rouen 4 [map] , capital of upper Normandy, is famous as the city where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. The 11th- and 12th-century cathedral is only one of several splendid monuments in this great medieval city and port on the River Seine. Its exuberant facade was painted many times by Monet.
Dieppe 5 [map] , on the north Normandy coast, is one of the most attractive of the traditional Channel ports. The Boulevard du Maréchal Foch offers a pleasant promenade following the sweep of the pebble beach. The liveliest part of town, however, is around the Place du Puits Salé, where you will find the renowned Café des Tribunaux. The spectacular white cliffs of Etretat, west of Dieppe, demonstrate why this shoreline gained the epithet of the “Alabaster Coast”.
The white cliffs at Etretat, Normandy.
The most picturesque harbour towns of Normandy are further south on the Calvados coast, notably Honfleur. The Musée Eugène Boudin (Wed–Mon) attests to the town’s popularity with painters – Boudin himself, Courbet, Monet and Dufy. Deauville, with its casino and nightclubs, retains much of the elegance that made it a name in the Belle Epoque, while its sister-town of Trouville has a more relaxed feel, and is known for its excellent seafood restaurants. Roads inland lead into the Pays d’Auge, an idyllic area of lush green countryside, woods, tiny villages, and half-timbered, flower-bedecked cottages so pretty they look taken from a film set. It’s also the home of Normandy’s most famous cheeses – Camembert, Pont l’Evêque – and its best ciders and calvados (apple brandy).
Fact
The 70-metre (230ft) Bayeux Tapestry is not French nor a tapestry at all but a fine example of medieval English embroidery. It was probably made in Canterbury, southeast England.
The beaches of the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 – Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword – line the Calvados coast north and west of Caen. The most important museums commemorating “Operation Overlord” are in Caen itself (Mémorial de Caen, daily) and Bayeux (Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie, daily), but there are many other smaller exhibits in towns behind the beaches. Off the beach at Arromanches the remnants of the former artificial Mulberry harbour peek out of the water. The huge concrete construction, comprising a breakwater and piers, was towed across the Channel and installed off Arromanches in order to land supplies for the Allied forces.
Caen 6 [map] is the capital of lower Normandy and was the favourite home of William the Conqueror, even after he conquered England in 1066. He and his wife Mathilde left two fine abbeys, aux Hommes and aux Dames, west and east of the city centre. Caen was flattened in the 1944 Battle of Normandy and largely rebuilt.
In the Centre-Guillaume-le-Conquérant (daily) at Bayeux, 28km (17 miles) northwest of Caen, hangs the highly celebrated and exquisite tapestry, stitched in 1067, depicting the events surrounding William of Normandy’s conquest of England in 1066.
Bayeux escaped war damage in 1944, so its lovely historic main street is remarkably intact.
The sublime Mont St-Michel.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
The most dramatic religious building in all France, indeed one of the wonders of the Western world, is Mont St-Michel 7 [map] , in a bay at the bottom of the Cotentin peninsula. The abbey (daily), built between the 11th century and the 16th century, is an extraordinary sight when seen from a distance. It stands at the summit of an island-rock, 75 metres (250ft) above the sea, and is reached by road along a dyke, although by 2015 this will be replaced by a bridge.
The Cotentin peninsula, jutting into the ocean north of Mont St-Michel, has Normandy’s most remote-feeling green landscapes inland, and often empty sand dunes along the coast. Ferries run from charming small ports like Granville to the British Channel Islands.
The beach at St-Malo.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Brittany
Jacques Cartier set off from the ancient port of St-Malo 8 [map] in 1534 on the voyage that led to the discovery of Canada. St-Malo’s most famous mariners were corsaires, semi-pirates, and carried on virtual private wars with the English and the Dutch. As a result the Old Town – much of which was destroyed in World War II, but has been carefully restored – was ringed by defensive walls, and you can still walk all around the ramparts to get a fine view across the estuary of the River Rance towards Dinard, one of Brittany’s most popular resorts.
But Brittany is appreciated most for the beauty of its craggy coastline. One of the most delightful stretches is the Côte de Granit Rose or “Pink Granite Coast” extending west from the little resort of Perros-Guirec, so called because of the distinctive colour of its massive rocks, which often have weird shapes like giant abstract sculptures. An easy footpath allows you to stroll all the way around the coast past the rocks, and along the way – but also accessible by road – there are gorgeous sheltered inlets with excellent beaches of swimming like Ploumanac’h or Trégastel.
To the west the Breton coast ends in the Rade or Bay of Brest, where the modern port city – rebuilt from ruins after 1944 – is surrounded by a series of beautiful and surprisingly tranquil bays and placid fishing and holiday towns. Douarnenez is one of the most characterful, and a road leads past it to dramatic ocean cliffs at the Pointe du Raz.
The gardens at the château of Villandry are beautifully designed.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
The Bretons maintain their own Celtic language and customs, most notably the Pardons, religious processions by local people in their rich regional dress, and traditional music and dance. The Pays Bigouden area south of Douarnenez is one where traditions are most vigorously maintained, and has some of the best Breton music and arts festivals each summer. In the late 19th century, western Brittany was still so remote that Post-Impressionist painters, most notably Paul Gauguin, came to the lovely village of Pont-Aven in search of a return to nature. The charming Musée de Pont-Aven (daily) has work by all the artists who painted there.
Brittany’s ancient origins can be seen in the extraordinary stone circles such as those at Carnac 9 [map] , where 3,000 giant stones were laid out around 5,000 years ago for some form of worship. The associated dolmens and tumuli are thought to mark burial sites. Carnac is also the region’s most popular beach resort, and the nearby “semi-island” of Quiberon, linked to the mainland by a long sandspit, is a centre for surfers and windsurfers. Just to the east, the Golfe du Morbihan is almost an inland sea of placid, shallow waters, dotted with tiny islands that are lovely to explore by boat.
Valley of the Kings: the Loire
Nantes ) [map] , the largest city in northwest France, stands at the point where the River Loire meets the tidal estuary that takes it to the Atlantic Ocean. The celebrated valley of the Loire has been praised as the garden of France. Most of all, however, in the 16th century it was the home of kings, princes and their courtiers, who have left a splendid mosaic of châteaux.
From Paris, a tour of the Loire Valley usually begins in Orléans A [map] , an hour’s drive south of the capital. The soul of Orléans, a modern city whose heart was bombed out during World War II, lives on in the cult of Joan of Arc; it was here that she successfully resisted the English army before being burnt at the stake in Rouen. The site where she stayed in 1429 has become the Maison Jeanne d’Arc (Tue–Sun), where scenes from her life are recreated.
The little town of Beaugency B [map] , 18km (11 miles) west of Orléans, has an 11th-century dungeon, 12th-century abbey and bridge, and Renaissance town hall. From here, the road leads to the very heart of château country. Altogether, the Loire region has about 3,000 stately homes from various periods. The oldest, such as the castle of Loches, began life as fortified towers during the Middle Ages; more recent ones, such as the opulent palace of Cheverny, were designed for comfort rather than defence, serving as pleasure grounds for the aristocracy. The châteaux built between the late 15th and mid-16th centuries rank as the apogee of Renaissance architecture in France.
In the 1420s, the future King Charles VII of France took refuge from the English in the castle at Chinon. It was there that he was visited by a peasant girl, Jeanne la Pucelle, who demanded entry and told him that divine voices had urged her to help Charles defeat the invaders and reclaim his throne. She then proved her worth by defeating the English at Orléans and becoming, as Joan of Arc, France’s national heroine. Later, as the threat of war receded, the Loire Valley became more popular with French monarchs as a place for hunting and relaxation, and so it was here that they began to build their most lavish pleasure-palaces.
The first château seen when entering the Loire Valley from Orléans is Chambord C [map] (daily), a fantasy palace that bewitched all who saw it. The building could be described as a gigantic stairway onto which a château has been grafted; this stairway, with its double turn, and supposedly designed by Leonardo da Vinci, is the structure’s pivot. It soars to the roofs, and offers an unmistakable symbol of the power of the French king. Everything about Chambord is colossal, but François I, who had it built, used it only to impress his most important guests. Henri IV never came near it, and his son Louis XIII dropped in but once. Louis XIV used it as a hunting lodge, but stopped coming after Versailles was built, in 1685. A son et lumière show during the summer celebrates its past glories, and around it there is a magnificent park.
Blois D [map] (daily) is next along the valley. In contrast to the other big Loire châteaux, Blois sits right in the middle of a charming historic town. This was the first major residential château in the Loire, its original wing built in late-Gothic style for King Louis XII in 1498 after he first began to move his court to the Loire for months at a time, preferring it to Paris. Later, François I added another wing in French Renaissance style, and then Louis XIV’s brother Gaston d’Orléans built another in Baroque style, so that Blois became a display case of architectural fashions. From outside the château there is a superb panorama over the river.
The château at Chaumont E [map] (daily) lies in a setting that the Prince de Broglie transformed into a veritable pastiche of the Arabian Nights. Further west is Amboise F [map] , whose château (daily), once the home of Charles VIII, François I and Henri II, is considered one of the finest. Much of the palace has gone, but what is left still offers a striking contrast between the “Italianate” modifications of Charles VIII and the old medieval fortress. Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci lived in the manor house of the Clos Lucé (daily), beside the château, after François I gave him refuge in France in 1516. He died there in 1519, and is buried in St Hubert’s Chapel. Today, the house contains varied exhibits on the work of the great genius.
There is no clash of style about Chenonceau G [map] (daily), which achieves a perfect harmony in its Renaissance architecture. Anchored like a great ship in the middle of the River Cher, south of Amboise, and surrounded by broad fields, Chenonceau is a delicate jewel set in a green casket. It was the preferred home of Diane de Poitiers, the “eternally beautiful” mistress of Henri II. She was hated by his queen, Catherine de Médicis, who, after the king’s sudden death in 1559, promptly seized Chenonceau for herself. Chenonceau was famous for its festivities, such as the triumphal celebration on 1 March 1560 for François II and his young wife Mary Stuart. Today, the parties are all but forgotten, but there is still magic in the great classical gallery that straddles a bridge of five arches creating a lovely reflection in the waters of the river.
The exquisite château of Azay-le-Rideau, in the Loire Valley.
Downriver from Tours
Capital of the Touraine region, the university town of Tours H [map] is a lively city. The medieval quarter, centred on Place Plumereau, is a showcase of Gothic architecture. About 23km (14 miles) southwest is Azay-le-Rideau I [map] (daily), a small château of exquisite proportions partly built over the River Indre. This “multi-faceted diamond… mounted on pillars, masked with flowers”, as it was described by Balzac, is the quintessence of Touraine’s architecture. Not far away is the Château de Villandry (daily) and its famous 16th-century garden.
Chinon J [map] , 20km (12 miles) southwest of Azay, is one of the most historic Loire towns – surrounded by vineyards that produce superb red wines – and has one of the valley’s oldest castles. Most of its mighty fortifications were built in the 1150s for Henry II of Normandy and England, who made Chinon his foremost stronghold at the centre of his vast possessions in France. It was seized by the King of France after a long siege in 1205, and the castle reappeared in history in the 1420s as the refuge of King Charles VII, where he met Joan of Arc, but later it was too uncomfortable to become one of the royal pleasure châteaux. Large parts of its walls and moat remain, towering above the Old Town and giving a graphic idea of a medieval fortress.
Beyond Chinon is Saumur K [map] , where the surrounding woodlands are rich in mushrooms, and the local vineyards produce prestigious light red and dry, sparkling white wines. The town is dominated by its château (Wed–Mon) dating from the 12th century, and the Musée du Champignon (Feb–Nov daily) offers guided visits to the underground galleries where mushrooms are cultivated.
At Les Ponts-de-Cé, a road leads north to Angers L [map] . In the Old Town there are fine Renaissance houses, most notably the Logis Barrault (housing the fine arts museum, June–Sept daily, Oct–May Tue–Sun), and the Hôtel de Pincé (also art museum, but closed for some time for renovation). But pride of place must go to the tapestries in the château (daily), particularly the Tenture de l’Apocalypse, 70 pictures from a 14th-century work.
The Chapelle St-Michel at Le Puy-en-Velay.
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The Atlantic coast
Travelling south of Angers down the Atlantic coast brings you to the nature reserve of Le Marais Poitevin. Also known as La Venise Verte – Green Venice – it consists of 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of lush, green countryside threaded with 1,450km (900 miles) of waterways. At Coulon, 11km (7 miles) west of Niort, boatmen await tourists for river trips on flat-bottomed boats propelled by long forked poles (pigoulles).
The gracious port town of La Rochelle ! [map] is famous for Cardinal Richelieu’s ruthless siege of the Protestant population in the 17th century. Today it’s a favourite port of call for yachtsmen, and the houses of the Old Town have retained their 17th- and 18th-century charm, particularly along Rue du Palais. Tour St-Nicolas and Tour de la Chaîne face each other across the sheltered 13th-century port where a huge chain was drawn across every night to keep ships out.
Inland, the regional capital of Poitiers @ [map] is one of the oldest cities in France. The church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande, in the town centre, has a magnificent, richly sculpted Romanesque facade and 12th-century frescoes in the vault of the choir. The church of St—Hilaire-le-Grand is the oldest in Poitiers, with parts dating to the 11th century. Just outside Poitiers is Futuroscope (daily), a theme park on technology and the future.
Into the interior: the Massif Central and the Dordogne
France’s upland heartland, the Massif Central, is relatively little visited yet holds many fine sights and dramatically rugged landscapes. Its two great cities are Limoges £ [map] , famed for its enamel and porcelain, and Clermont-Ferrand $ [map] , which surrounds a massive cathedral built of black lava. Rising above the city is the distinctive volcanic peak of the Puy de Dôme (1,464 metres/4,800ft), which is easily ascended on foot or by minibus for spectacular panoramic views. The views are even more impressive from the summit of Puy Mary (1,787 metres/5,863ft), reached by steps from France’s highest road pass, the Pas de Peyrol, above the pretty town of Salers. Another high point – quite literally – of the Massif Central is the shrine of Le Puy-en-Velay % [map] , where the Chapelle St-Michel is built on a pinnacle of tufa rock and reached by a stone staircase.
Postcard-pretty La Roque Gageac in the Dordogne.
To the south and west, the Massif Central descends into a series of beautiful valleys, with rivers flowing in parallel towards the Atlantic. The most northerly, and the best known, is the Dordogne, which is postcard-perfect as it flows past the pretty towns of Domme, La Roque Gageac and Beynac-et-Cazenac. The capital of the département is Périgueux ^ [map] , with its five-domed Byzantine-Romanesque cathedral, but the one place not to miss here is Sarlat & [map] , a bustling, labyrinthine market town of atmospheric streets and squares.
Between Périgueux and Sarlat, the River Vézère carves what has become known as the Vallée de l’Homme (the Valley of Man) because of its extraordinary number of caves and rock overhangs decorated with prehistoric art. Lascaux is the world’s most famous painted cave, but its immense popularity threatened its conservation and it has been closed to visitors. A replica nearby, Lascaux II, is almost as good as the real thing. Further down the valley is Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, renowned as the “prehistoric capital of France”, and home of the Musée National de Préhistoire (July–Aug daily, Sept–June Wed–Mon).
Painters of prehistory
Sealed off in prehistoric times, the famous Grotte de Lascaux was not rediscovered until 12 September 1940 – during the search for a dog that had disappeared down a hole. Due to the preoccupations of World War II and ensuing hardships, crowds only started flocking to the site some years later. When an astute official learnt in 1963 that a green fungus was growing over the paintings, the cave was immediately closed to the public and a replica, Lascaux II, was built.
Most of the paintings, in black, yellow and red, are thought to date from the Aurignacian period, between 30,000–20,000 BC. The colour friezes use a range of techniques to obtain perspective, texture and movement. They cover the walls and roofs of the cave and represent a number of animals including bulls, cows, deer, bison and horses.
Outstanding as it is, Lascaux is just one of many decorated prehistoric caves in southwest France, mostly in the Dordogne but also in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Often the paintings are in inaccessible places and must have demanded great ingenuity and determination to execute. They also display extraordinary skill. Frequently the painters make use of the natural contours of the rock to produce particularly naturalistic effects. Exactly why prehistoric people went to such lengths to paint their pictures remains a mystery.
In recent decades the Dordogne has been colonised by incomers, particularly the British, drawn by the beauty of its landscapes and the promise of a bucolic lifestyle, but this influx is really nothing new, and its innate charm has long been appreciated, as witnessed by the exquisite châteaux that accumulated here over the centuries. One of the most magnificent is the Château de Hautefort (Apr–Sept daily), built in the 17th century.
South of the Dordogne is the Lot. The valley’s highlights include the Romanesque abbey and treasury of Conques, the pretty perched village of St-Cirq Lapopie, the prehistoric cave paintings of Pech-Merle (Apr–Oct daily), the handsome medieval bridge over the river at Cahors * [map] , and an enormously deep pothole, Gouffre de Padirac, which is descended by stairs or lift to reveal an amazing cave system and underground river. Above all, don’t miss the medieval Christian pilgrimage centre of Rocamadour, an extraordinary village built on the almost sheer side of a deep gorge, with an accretion of crypts, chapels and houses picturesquely clinging to the cliffs.
Far to the southeast is the River Tarn, which flows out of the wild and beautiful schist and granite uplands of the Parc National des Cévennes to carve the spectacular, meandering Gorges du Tarn ( [map] between Florac and Millau. The gorges are a magnet for the outdoors enthusiast with kayaking, canoing, hiking and a myriad of other activities on offer against beautiful vistas.
Where
The Millau Viaduct, taking the A75 motorway across the valley of the River Tarn, is the world’s highest road bridge. Designed by architect Norman Foster and engineer Michel Virlogeux and opened in 2004, it has become a popular tourist attraction in its own right, with a visitor’s information centre on the RD 992 going towards Albi.
The River Tarn flows through a series of rapids and pools, a stunning location for white-water rafting, canoeing and kayaking. Further downstream the landscapes become much tamer as the river passes through the handsome redbrick town of Albi ‚ [map] . Next to the massive cathedral is the old bishop’s palace, which is now the superb Musée de Toulouse-Lautrec (Apr–Sept daily, Oct–Mar Wed–Mon), in commemoration of the artist’s birthplace.
The Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux.
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These rivers join the much larger Garonne, on which stands the port of Bordeaux ⁄ [map] , self-styled – with good reason – as the “world’s wine capital”. It is a handsome, harmonious city of mainly 18th-century buildings epitomised by the Place de la Bourse on the riverbank, the Palais Rohan (now the city hall) and, above all, the Grand-Théâtre on the Place de la Comédie, at one end of the Cours du 30 Juillet. At the other end of this street is the Monument aux Girondins, commemorating the parliamentarians of Bordeaux who were put to death in 1793 after they clashed with Robespierre’s radical Jacobins during the French Revolution. A statue of Liberty looks down from the top of a 50-metre (164ft) high column onto the Esplanade des Quinconces, leading from the monument to the riverbank.
Rocamadour in the Dordogne.
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While most of the city speaks of the Enlightenment and the age of commerce, there are some older monuments hidden in the tangle of streets and squares south of the Place de la Bourse. Two old gateways here, the Porte-Cailhau and the Grosse Cloche, are particularly worth seeking out.
Away from the river, you emerge from the Old Town near the Cathédrale St-André (11th-century but much altered) and its free-standing Gothic belltower, the Tour Pey-Berland. Nearby is the Musée de l’Aquitaine (Tue–Sun), a regional museum with the focus on archaeology.
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In each region, most large vineyards – especially in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne – welcome visitors and provide tours. Regional and local tourist offices will have full details, and also often provide tours to several vineyards along “wine routes”. Many travel companies also offer specialist wine tours of different regions.
No one comes to Bordeaux just to see monuments: invariably, the city is used as a starting point for a tour of the vineyards that dominate the surrounding landscape. The Bordeaux wine region is divided into more than 30 sub-regions of greater or lesser prestige, and these in turn contain hundreds of estates, some surveyed by aristocratic châteaux. North of the city, on the Médoc peninsula, are the most famous wine estates, such as Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild. The wine and tourist information office in Pauillac is the best place to arrange visits to the various wine producers.
To the south and southeast of Bordeaux are the wine regions of Graves and Sauternes and to the east Entre-Deux-Mers, Pomerol and St-Emilion. At the heart of this last region, St-Emilion is an attractive town with an ancient underground church.
The département of which Bordeaux is capital, the Gironde, has more to it than wines. Its other attractions include the 12th–14th-century Château de Roquetaillade and the Bassin d’Arcachon, a lagoon open to the sea which is at once a holiday resort, sailing lagoon, bird reserve and oyster farm. On the coast just south of the lagoon is Europe’s highest sand dune, the Dune du Pyla.
Sunbathing on the beach at Biarritz.
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The French Basque Country
The extreme southwestern corner of France is the Basque Country, inhabited by a people with ancient roots and a strong sense of identity. Bayonne, its capital, stands at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers and is built around a large Gothic cathedral. It forms a conurbation with the elegant resort of Biarritz ¤ [map] , which once offered a combination of fashion and pleasure that attracted famous visitors such as Emperor Napoleon III, his wife Eugénie and Britain’s Edward VII, while still Prince of Wales. The heart of the town is the Promenades, where steep cliffs fall to the ocean, and romantic alleys shaded by tamarisk trees lead to the Rocher de la Vierge (Rock of the Virgin), with beautiful views of the Basque coast. Biarritz is famous for its huge waves, and some of Europe’s most important surfing competitions are held here. Nearby, St-Jean-de-Luz is a smaller but similar resort town.
Inland, the Basque Country has exquisitely pretty towns, most notably Ainhoa and Sare, which stands beneath the mountain of La Rhune, ascended by an old cog railway. Pilgrims from all over France converge on the historic town of St-Jean-Pied-de-Port before crossing a pass over the Pyrenees on their long way to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Hikers at Vigmale in the Pyrenees.
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Few international borders are as clearly marked as that between France and Spain, which follows the Pyrenees, a 400km (250-mile) mountain chain from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean. The range is clearly visible across much of the southwest, particularly in winter when the air is clear and the peaks capped with snow. Although lower than the Alps, the Pyrenees are still a popular winter sports destination, with over 40 resorts to choose from. In summer, the mountains are busy with hikers, some of them making the trek along the GR10 footpath from coast to coast, The exceptional gradients make the Pyrenees popular also with cyclists, who come to tackle the high passes (cols) – some over 2,000 metres (6,500ft) – that provide gruelling obstacles for competitors in the Tour de France.
The mountains reach their highest elevations due south of the cities of Pau, Tarbes and Lourdes ‹ [map] . The last is one of the most important Catholic shrines in the world and a sacred site which is overrun with pilgrims in search of miracle cures, as well as curious sightseers. Part of the Pyrenees is protected as a national park for its fragile flora and fauna. If your time in the mountains is short, make for the Cirque de Gavarnie, a stunning natural rock amphitheatre formed by glaciation; the Pont d’Espagne, an easily accessible beauty spot with marked walking trails; or the Pic du Midi (2,872 metres/9,423ft), with an observatory on top which is reached by cable car from the ski resort of La Mongie. Below it, the mountain village of Arreau is made up of picture-perfect balconied houses.
Moving eastwards along the range you pass through the thickly forested département of the Ariège. In the foothills there are a great many impressive castles associated with the Cathars, a heretic sect persecuted to extinction by the Catholic Church in alliance with the nobles of northern France in the 13th century. They made their last stand at the castle of Montségur, southeast of Foix, today an atmospheric ruin. The Ariège’s other major attraction is the caves at Niaux, with prehistoric paintings comparable to those at Lascaux, but much less well known.
Colourful streets in Collioure, Pyrenees.
SYLVAINE POITAU
French Catalonia
The French part of Catalonia (which, like the Basque Country, is a nation without a state) occupies the Mediterranean end of the Pyrenees and has its capital at Perpignan. It was united with the rest of Catalonia to the south until 1659, when a treaty gave it to France.
Before the mountains finally descend to sea level, they throw up the striking silhouette of the Pic du Canigou (2,784 metres/9,134ft) above the towns of Prades and Villefranche-de-Conflent. On the slopes of the Pic is the rebuilt 11th-century monastery of St-Martin du Canigou, reached by an uphill slog of half an hour or more, depending on your fitness. Two choice places to visit here are Ceret, a cherry-producing town inland, and Collioure › [map] on the coast – both famous for inspiring visiting artists, including Matisse and Picasso.
The Languedoc
The ancient city of Toulouse fi [map] stands on the banks of the River Garonne, geographically and culturally midway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In recent decades it has grown into France’s sixth-largest metropolis on the back of its aerospace industry.
Most of the older buildings are made of the local brick, earning Toulouse the epithet of the “Ville Rose”, or Pink City. From the central square, the Place du Capitole, which contains the 18th-century town hall, all the other sights are within an easy walk. Chief among them are the massive Romanesque pilgrimage church of St-Sernin, its tiered tower acting as a landmark, and the fine arts museum, Musée des Augustins (daily), housed in a glorious 14th-century convent with a Gothic cloister.
Contemporary attractions include the Cité de l’Espace (Apr–Aug daily, Sept–Mar Tue–Sun), a museum dedicated to space exploration.
From Toulouse, the A61 motorway towards the Mediterranean runs beside a much older channel of communication, the Canal du Midi. Built in the 17th century and kept topped up with water by an ingenious hydraulic system, it is now used as a green artery for leisure cruising, walking and cycling. An information centre is located off the A61 motorway at Avignonet-Lauragais.
Fact
The name denim derives from the “Serge de Nîmes”, a cotton twill that that uses two different colours for the warp and the weft. Originally, the fabric was reserved for the clothes (“les bleus”) of workers due to its strength and durability; now of course, it can be found in the wardrobes of everyone from students to fashionistas.
The motorway also passes alongside the magnificent walled city of Carcassonne fl [map] , one of the undeniable glories of France. Ringed by a double set of ramparts and guarded by myriad pepperpot towers, it is a stunning example of a self-contained medieval town. What you see today is due more to imaginative reconstruction than preservation, but it still conjures up the mood of its times, especially when seen from afar.
Most of the coast of the Languedoc region, from Perpignan almost as far as the Rhône Delta, is one long beach, much of it along sandbars separated from the mainland by shallow lagoons. It is interrupted by some historic towns, such as Narbonne, once the Roman capital of the whole of southwest Gaul, and Sète, an atmospheric fishing port much visited for its exceptional seafood restaurants. There are also a number of large holiday centres, especially around Cap d’Agde, including one of Europe’s largest naturist resorts. Since the sandy beaches are so open here, unlike the sheltered rocky coves of the Côte d’Azur further east or Corsica, they often experience very high winds, which make them favourites for wind- and kitesurfers, and serious sunbathers. North of Sète the A75 highway, built in the early 2000s, runs north through the Massif Central across the Millau Viaduct, a stunning example of modern engineering.
Two more great ancient cities of France’s south – the Midi – stand just east of the Rhône Delta. Montpellier, with its thriving university, and striking contemporary architecture, is considered one of the liveliest and most artistic places to live in the south. It also has an important collection of French painting in the Musée Fabre (Tue–Sun).
Nearby Nîmes ‡ [map] is another city that strives to be up-to-date, although its greatest assets are its Roman buildings built in the 1st century AD, especially the exceptionally well-preserved amphitheatre of Les Arènes, built at the end of the 1st century AD to accommodate over 16,000 spectators and which is still used today for bullfights and rock concerts. The Maison Carrée, a temple in a superb state of conservation, is another Roman edifice of note, but one of the greatest engineering and aesthetic achievements of Roman civilisation, however, is 20km (12 miles) north of Nîmes. The three-tiered Pont du Gard aqueduct (daily) is France’s most visited ancient monument. It is 275 metres/yds at its longest part and almost 50 metres (164ft) high. Built of large stones that were fitted together without mortar, it once carried water flowing at 400 litres (110 gallons) per second.
Street theatre at Avignon’s annual arts festival.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Gateways to Provence
Cross the Rhône and you are in Provence, France’s sensuous southern region, which has always attracted well-heeled foreign settlers and artists.
The lively town of Avignon ° [map] offers a great summer theatre festival in and around its superb Palais des Papes (daily). This 14th-century edifice was built at a time when the popes were in the pocket of the kings of France, and moved here rather than stay in Rome. Its silent cloisters, cavernous halls and imposing ramparts are a delight to explore. In contrast, the famous bridge (“Sur le pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse, tous en rond”), now only reaching halfway across the River Rhône, is a disappointing four-arch ruin. (In fact, the people didn’t dance on it as the French song says, but underneath it.)
The Place d’Albertas, lined with 17th-century townhouses in Aix-en-Provence.
Wadey James/Apa Publications
North of Avignon, Orange was a favoured resort for the Romans when it was a colony of their empire, with a population four times the size of its present-day 25,000. The Roman theatre, graced by a statue of Emperor Augustus, is regarded as the most beautiful amphitheatre of the classical era. Surrounding Orange, the area of the Vaucluse is richly fertile. The fascinating ruins at Vaison-la-Romaine provide a glimpse of the private side of Roman life in some well-preserved houses of 2,000 years ago. Mont Ventoux has a view over the whole of Provence down to Marseille and the Mediterranean or clear across to the Swiss Alps. One of the great attractions of this mountain region is the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, where the underground River Sorgue suddenly springs into sight in a spectacular setting of grottoes.
The region’s most picturesque relic of ancient Roman life is Arles, which, besides its fine amphitheatre and arena, has the fascinating necropolis of Les Alyscamps in a lovely setting. Arles is perhaps best known nowadays as the town where Vincent Van Gogh came to paint in the southern light in 1888, and produced many of his most famous works in the shaded cafés and heat-swirled fields. Many locations associated with him can still be recognised around the hot, sleepy little town.
South of Arles is the Camargue, the wild, windswept wetlands of the Rhône Delta. It’s an entrancing place because of its birdlife – this is a good place to see flamingos in the wild, and many other water birds – and special way of life, which revolves around rearing bulls and horses. The principal town of the Camargue is Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer, which hosts a spectacular gypsy festival every May attracting Roma, Gitans and other gypsies from all over Europe. There’s a visitor centre for this fascinating region at La Capelière, to the south of Villeneuve.
Heart of Provence
Aix-en-Provence A [map] , the most serene of university towns, with its wonderful arcade of plane trees across the Cours Mirabeau, is the intellectual heart of the region. Zola grew up in the city, along with his friend Paul Cézanne. One of the best ways to see Aix is by taking the Cézanne trail, following a free leaflet from the tourist office. L’Atelier Paul Cézanne (daily) preserves the artist’s studio and house – his cape and beret hang where he left them.
Marseille’s harbour.
Wadey James/Apa Publications
South of Aix, Marseille B [map] is France’s oldest and second-largest city. Founded by Greek traders in 600 BC, the gateway to the Mediterranean, the Orient and beyond has been a bustling port for centuries. Today the Vieux Port has a colourful fish market and many seafood restaurants. The streets around La Canebière, Marseille’s most famous thoroughfare, which leads from the port, are the liveliest in the city, especially in the evening.
Between Marseille and Toulon, the shore is distinguished by Les Calanques, steep-sided fjords carved out of cliffs, best viewed by boat from Cassis C [map] . This chic resort of restored houses with a popular golden beach is known for its fragrant white wines, which tantalise the palate with hints of rosemary, gorse and myrtle – the herbs that cover these hills.
Over the sea: Corsica
Across the Ligurian Sea, reached by ferry from Marseille, Toulon or Nice, is Corsica (La Corse) · [map] , the Mediterranean’s fourth-largest island. Although it has been part of France since 1769, the home of Napoleon has a distinct culture and its own language – a dialect of Italian – and often feels as much Italian as it does French. Ruggedly mountainous, it is an extraordinary bundle of landscapes within a small space, from chilly mountain summits to subtropical palm groves. Most of all, it draws holidaymakers for its unspoilt villages, lazy pace of life and beautiful beaches washed by clear waters. Around the coast there are thousands of rocky coves, ideal for relaxed swimming and sailing, and the scuba-diving is among the best in Europe.
The island’s capital, Ajaccio, is a charming city with the Maison Bonaparte (Tue–Sun), Napoleon’s birthplace, but more characterful are the historic towns further north, like Corte and Bastia. Some of the most beautiful beaches are on the west coast around Porto, from where you can climb inland up a deep rift in the mountains, the Gorges de Spelunca. The whole of Corsica is wonderful for hiking, and the GR20 trail, along the whole island from north to south, is one of France’s most challenging long-distance footpaths.
The sun-drenched Côte d’Azur meanders lazily from Toulon D [map] , home to France’s Mediterranean naval fleet, to the Italian border along rocky lagoons and coves. Modern Hyères E [map] , east of Toulon along the coast, is made up of a vieille ville and a newer area of modern villas and boulevards with date palms. This was once an ancient and medieval port, but it is now 4km (2½ miles) from the sea. Hyères was the first “climatic” resort on the Côte d’Azur, its subtropical climate encouraging sailing, scuba-diving, windsurfing and waterskiing. Within the Old Town, entered via its 13th-century gate, is the Place Massillon, where there is a food market every day that is especially good for Arab and Provençal specialities.
The once-tiny fishing village of St-Tropez F [map] , made famous by Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s, is still packed with visitors in summer, and a sort of Mediterranean extension of Paris, with its very expensive restaurants permanently crowded. French painters and writers had discovered it by the late 19th century; some of the paintings from this time, showing the village in its pre-touristy state, are on display in a lovely converted chapel, the Musée de l’Annonciade (Wed–Mon).
The plateau town of Fréjus G [map] , like Hyères, used to lie on the sea. Its name derives from Forum Julii; it was founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BC. Important Roman ruins here include the 10,000-seat arena where Picasso used to watch bullfights.
The Gorges du Verdon.
Wadey James/Apa Publications
For fewer crowds, head north into the hills to the Gorges du Verdon H [map] , France’s Grand Canyon. The Verdon cuts through limestone cliffs that plunge to the torrent 600 metres (2,000ft) below. The Norman Foster-designed Musée de Préhistoire (Feb–mid-Dec Wed–Mon) at Quinson is the largest of its kind. From here stretch the Alpes de Haute Provence, a wild, barren landscape leading up into the French Alps.
Heading back towards the coast, stop if you can at Grasse I [map] , where there have been perfume distilleries since the 16th century. The Musée International de la Parfumerie, in an elegant 18th-century mansion, tells the industry’s history. You can also visit the commercial Parfumerie Fragonard (daily), opposite the Villa-Musée Fragonard (June–Sept daily, Oct–May Wed–Mon), where the Grasse-born artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard lived.
The International Film Festival held each May in Cannes J [map] is one of the highlights of an annual series of events that attracts a set of celebrities and a media circus. Cannes has made the most of its fashionable cachet since Lord Brougham, the Lord Chancellor of England, was stranded here in 1834 because of an outbreak of cholera in Nice, where he was headed for a winter holiday. It pleased him so much he built a house on Mont Chevalier and encouraged other British aristocrats to do the same. Le Suquet is the ancient quarter around Mont Chevalier. At dinner hour in high season, elegant couples emerge from yachts anchored in the old harbour and struggle up Rue St-Antoine to the fashionable restaurants for which Le Suquet is noted.
Dinner will be followed by a stroll along the Boulevard de la Croisette for the magnificent views of Le Suquet silhouetted against La Napoule Bay, with the chunky red hills of the Esterel in the background.
Antibes K [map] and Cap d’Antibes face Nice and St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat across the Baie des Anges (Bay of Angels). Here the magnificent yacht harbour rests at the foot of an enormous brick citadel built in the 16th century to protect the infant town from assaults by Barbary pirates. The Château Grimaldi on a terrace overlooking the sea, originally a 12th-century building but much reconstructed in the 16th, is now home to the Musée Picasso (Wed–Mon). It contains a remarkable collection of works painted by Picasso during his stay here in 1946, and the ceramics that were a major part of his output while he lived in Provence.
Matisse’s Chapelle du Rosaire (daily) at Vence, northeast of Grasse by the D2210, is considered his masterpiece, a finely tuned synthesis of architectural elements, the most important being stained glass and the white walls on which their coloured light falls. The artist gave it much of his time between 1948 and 1951.
Directly south of Vence, the walled town of St-Paul-de-Vence was discovered by artists in the 1920s, and many came to live here, notably Marc Chagall. Their presence attracted actors, musicians and celebrities of different kinds, many of whom patronised La Colombe d’Or café, now an exclusive hotel and restaurant with a priceless collection of works originally donated by visiting artists. St-Paul itself is a perfectly formed hill village with a vista of villas and cypresses as far as the eye can see, but its popularity means that its narrow winding main street becomes jammed with visitors.
Just outside the village, the Fondation Maeght (daily) occupies a white concrete and rose-brick structure designed by the Catalan architect J.L. Sert. The collection includes paintings by Braque, Bonnard, Kandinsky and Chagall, and several outdoor sculpture areas with works by Giacometti, Calder, Miró, Arp and others.
A legacy of fine art and sculpture
Painters have been especially fascinated by the Côte d’Azur because of its unique sunlight. The quality of the light is due largely to the Mistral, a cold, dry, strong wind that often blows in from the Rhône Valley, sweeping the sky to crystal clarity, enriching colours and deepening shadows. Earlier art of the south, such as Roman and Greek remains, also provided the inspiration for 20th-century artists.
Matisse, Picasso, Dufy and Chagall were all devoted to the region, and the products of their fidelity are displayed in museums and private collections along the Riviera.
Picasso spent 27 years on the Côte d’Azur, more than half of them at Vallauris behind Cannes, where he established a ceramics studio, the Madoura Pottery, where copies are still sold. There is also a Musée Picasso in Antibes. At the village of Biot between Nice and Cannes, the Musée Fernand Léger (Wed–Mon) houses hundreds of works by the artist, who contributed to the creation of Cubism.
Auguste Renoir spent the last 12 years of his life at Cagnes-sur-Mer, where his home, now the Musée Renoir (Wed–Mon), remains exactly as it was when he died. Nice has several important art galleries, including the Musée Chagall and the Musée Matisse. Another mecca for art-lovers is the Fondation Maeght in St-Paul-de-Vence.
Nice to Monaco
“The English come and pass the winter here to take the cure, soothe their chronic spleens and live out their fantasies,” wrote an observer of the budding Anglo-Saxon social scene in Nice L [map] in 1775. They can thus take credit for establishing this city as the first centre of the Riviera. The Promenade des Anglais, the striking waterfront roadway embellished with flower beds and palm trees, was originally built in 1822 by the English for easier access to the sea. Queen Victoria enjoyed morning constitutionals along the coastal path on several occasions; in later years, she was carried along in her famous black-and-red donkey cart.
Today, the promenade is bedecked with luxury hotels, high-rise apartment blocks and trendy cafés. A short stroll away are the narrow winding alleyways of the vieille ville (Old Town), where the visitor gets a salty taste of older Provençal lifestyles, heightened by aromas of garlic, wine and pungent North African spices emanating from couscous parlours. A diminishing number of plain but traditional restaurants around the flower market on the Cours Saleya specialise in soupe de poissons and bourride, a native variation of bouillabaisse.
The Fernand Léger Museum at Biot.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
North of the Old Town is the Musée Chagall (Wed–Mon), containing many of the artist’s drawings and all his bronzes. The building was specially designed to house his masterpiece, Messages Bibliques – 17 monumental paintings depicting scenes from the Old Testament. There are also three stained-glass windows depicting The Creation and a 6-metre (20ft) mosaic of Elijah in his fiery chariot.
The remains of a Roman amphitheatre, capable of seating 4,000 spectators, and three public baths have been uncovered at Cimiez, atop a hill 1.6km (1 mile) northeast of the city centre. In a villa in the same district is the Musée Matisse (Wed–Mon), one of the finest collections in the world of paintings and other works by the artist.
Monaco.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
East of Nice, you suddenly leave France and enter the microstate of Monaco M [map] . From the days of its early Genoese rulers, the principality of Monaco has survived as a political curiosity on the map of Europe. It exists under the protection of France but has remained a mini-monarchy of the Grimaldi family, with its own tax privileges, national licence plates and coat of arms. This tiny country of less than 1.5 sq km (1 sq mile) and a population of 32,000 has tried to live down its reputation as a sunny place for shady people. Today, it still dotes on the super-rich and trades on the fading glamour of its royal dynasty, now headed by Prince Albert, but also tries to attract other tourists.
If you’re feeling lucky you might want to head straight for the sumptuously decorated gaming rooms of the world’s most famous Casino, a Belle Epoque survivor which is open to visitors as well as to its habitual clientele of social butterflies. The western section was built in 1878 by the same architect who designed the Paris Opéra. The centre section is a tiny 529-seat Rococo-styled theatre, the home of the Monte-Carlo Opera.
Monaco’s major historic monument is the Palais des Princes (Apr–Oct daily) a part-Moorish, part-Italian Renaissance castle on a rocky promontory jutting into the sea. Beneath the palace is the Old Town (Monaco-Ville), tinted with Provençal pink, orange and yellow hues, which surrounds a neo-Romanesque cathedral.
On the seashore stands the Musée Océanographique (daily), incorporating one of the finest and best-kept aquariums in Europe.
For an overview of Monaco the best place to go is the tiny village of La Turbie, behind the principality’s yawning harbour. Here are the remains of one of the most impressive, yet least known Roman monuments, the Alpine Trophy. In 6 BC Rome commemorated the final subjugation of the warriors of the Alps region by raising an enormous stone trophy, a Doric colonnade that is still standing.
La Turbie is one of several medieval mountain villages along the giant ridge of rock above the Côte d’Azur with mesmerising views over the coast below. Consequently, they have long been favourites with visitors.
Eze, the best known because it is near the sea, is easy to reach and offers a splendid panoramic overview from its 470-metre (1,550ft) elevation. It has an intriguing history of pirate assaults and Moorish massacres that can be traced back to the 1st century AD, when a colony of Phoenicians unnerved their Roman neighbours by consecrating a temple to their goddess Isis. In addition to the crowds, Eze is noted today for the crumbling ramparts of its 14th-century castle.
Close to the Italian frontier, the 17th-century town of Menton N [map] is probably the warmest winter resort on any French coast and offers one of the most typical townscapes in Provence. In the narrow, twisting, vaulted streets overhead balconies jut out over the alleyways until they almost bump balustrades.
Menton lies close to the Italian border.
To the Alps and the Rhône Valley
A scenic highway (N85) traces Napoleon’s journey after he landed on French shores in 1815 following his Elba exile, and is known as the Route Napoléon. It begins at Cannes and goes through Grasse to Grenoble º [map] , the capital of the French Alps. The best view of the city can be had from the Fort de la Bastille, reached by cable car. Further north and further into the mountains, Chambéry is an elegant mountain city, but less attractive than Annecy further up, which has a lovely Old Town on a mountain-ringed lake that is a favourite for boat trips.
Roads continue from Annecy or direct from Chambéry into the heart of the French Alps at Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ¡ [map] , one of the world’s most fashionable winter sports resorts for well over a century. It sits, as its name suggests, at the foot of the awe-inspiring giant mass of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Western Europe, at 4,808 metres (15,780ft). Though most famous for skiing, Chamonix and its valley also offer a wealth of hiking and other mountain sports possibilities in summer. To the south, and reached from Chambéry, is another of the Alps’ most popular winter centres in the Val d’Isère, an area that was developed more recently than Chamonix but is now preferred by many skiers. Just west of the valley is the Parc National de la Vanoise, a huge expanse of Alpine wilderness that is home to France’s largest surviving population of Alpine Ibex mountain goats, and which attracts great numbers of hikers each summer. Further south again, the equally wild Parc National des Ecrins near Briançon is home to a recently reintroduced population of wolves.
A typical restaurant in Lyons known as a bouchon.
Routes from the mountains lead down to the Rhône Valley and France’s third-largest city, Lyon ™ [map] . It is often said to be the country’s gastronomic capital, and where southern France begins. Standing astride the rivers Sâone and Rhone, its layout can be somewhat confusing, with the city centre on a peninsula, the Presqu’Ile between the two rivers. The most interesting part is Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon), on the west bank of the Saône, which has some fine Renaissance houses linked by covered passages unique to Lyon, known as traboules. A funicular railway runs from here up the hill of Fourvière, where there are two Roman amphitheatres and an ostentatious 19th-century basilica, and tremendous views over the city.
For centuries, Lyon was Europe’s silk capital, and its history can be seen in the Musée Historique des Tissus (Tue–Sun). Another excellent museum, the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Wed–Mon), has an exceptional collection of French and other European paintings.
South of Lyon, the Rhône Valley is lined with more and more fruit orchards and vineyards the further you head south. Near Montélimar the main river is joined by the Ardèche, an exquisitely beautiful river that runs through a deep limestone gorge riddled with caves and tunnels. A guided canoe trip is a great way to discover the gorge and secluded beaches along the river.
Regional foods of France
General de Gaulle is famously said to have asked: “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” His figure is probably an underestimate, and as with cheese so with food in general: there is such a bewildering diversity of things to eat and drink that you could be tempted to forget about sightseeing altogether and spend your time in restaurants and bistros instead.
Many regions of France are proud producers of some particular speciality or other: truffles in the Dordogne; foie gras and garlic come from Gascony; cured ham is produced in the southwest; mustard is made in Dijon; and good fish and seafood are landed at ports almost anywhere along the coasts. And everywhere there will be a local dish to try on the menu – crêpes are a staple of Brittany; cassoulet is the typical meat and bean casserole of Toulouse; bouillabaisse the fish soup that distinguishes Marseille; and quiche the dish to order in Lorraine.
The French love not only eating, but talking about what they are eating, and an interest in food on the part of the visitor is the quickest way to the heart of the country. Show curiosity about anything on your plate or on a market stall and you will be given a lecture on the geography, climate, farming and lifestyle of the region. And, of course, there is always a wine to accompany your meal, but that is another universe in itself…
Beaune # [map] has been at the heart of Burgundy’s wine trade since the Middle Ages, and the auction at the Hospices de Beaune in L’Hôtel-Dieu (daily) – a charity hospital historically financed by wine produced on land donated by benefactors – is still the high point in the local wine calendar. Under its splendid multicoloured roof, the long ward of the hospital contains the original sickbeds. The halls off the courtyard house artworks and tapestries, crowned by a magnificently detailed painting of The Last Judgement by Rogier van der Weyden.
Burgundy’s capital is Dijon ¢ [map] . The monumental Palais des Ducs, where the 14th- and 15th-century dukes of Burgundy rest in grandiose tombs, is in Dijon’s busy city centre. The oldest part of the palace houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Wed–Mon), one of the finest in France, with French, German and Italian statuary and paintings from the 14th–18th centuries.
One of the world’s most illustrious wine routes runs along the Côte d’Or or “Golden Slope”, about 50km (30 miles) long, from Dijon through Beaune to Châlons-sur-Saône. It’s very easy to navigate, as the country road is lined with villages whose names have become celebrated world-wide such as Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-St-Georges and Vougeot. Many vineyards welcome visitors, and many wine tours are available.
Burgundy, and Dijon in particular, is also the hub of France’s network of canals, built to link up the rivers on the Atlantic and Mediterranean sides of the country, and one of the most enjoyable ways of seeing the winelands is on a barge cruise along these now very placid tree-lined waterways. Most popular is the Canal de Bourgogne, which runs from the River Saône at Dijon to meet the Yonne, a tributary of the Seine, near Auxerre.
Tip
Many companies offer cruises on France’s canals. LeBoat (www.leboat.com) offers boats of different sizes and different routes throughout France, and the rest of Europe. Locaboat (www.locaboat.com), experts in the Burgundy canals, provide cruising itineraries in pénichettes, traditional French canal boats.
Around 45km (28 miles) northwest of Dijon, the Abbaye de Fontenay (daily) makes for a welcome moment of peace in its 12th-century cloisters. Intended to be piously modest, without ornament of any kind, the bare paving stones and immaculate columns acquired, in the course of time, a look of grandeur.
West of here, set high on a hilltop, Vézelay ∞ [map] is one of Burgundy’s most spectacular monuments. The majestic Basilique Sainte-Madeleine was founded in the 9th century as an abbey, and was a major pilgrimage centre in the Middle Ages.
In the Jura mountains of Franche-Comté east of Dijon, the town of Besançon nestles in a sweeping curve of the River Doubs. The 16th-century Palais Granville was the aristocratic home of the Chancellor to Habsburg Emperor Charles V. This pleasant town also has an impressive 70-dial astronomical clock in the cathedral and a formidable 17th-century citadel built for Louis XIV’s eastern defences.
Colmar in Alsace.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Alsace and Lorraine
Lorraine and Alsace have been historic bones of contention between France and Germany. Germany seized Alsace and most of Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, but France reclaimed them in 1918.
Belfort owes its glory to its successful resistance against the Prussians in 1870, commemorated by the monumental lion designed by Auguste Bartholdi, creator of New York’s Statue of Liberty. Nearby, stop at Ronchamp to admire Le Corbusier’s striking chapel Notre-Dame-du-Haut, a landmark of 20th-century architecture.
The point where you enter Alsace is very recognisable, since the traditional buildings have a very un-French, and decidedly Germanic look. Colmar § [map] has a quiet but irresistible charm, and its 16th-century houses, like something out of a German fairy tale, are the very essence of Alsatian tradition. Most cherished of its treasures is Mathias Grünewald’s celebrated Issenheim altar painting in the Musée d’Unterlinden (May–Oct daily, Nov–Apr Wed–Mon). Above the town is the mountain ridge of the Vosges, a charming countryside of forests, orchards and vineyards, among which the villages of Riquewihr and Kaysersberg are true medieval gems.
Strasbourg ¶ [map] is Alsace’s dignified capital and one of the seats of the European Parliament. The River Ill encircles the lovely Old Town where Goethe was a happy student in 1770. The graceful cathedral, with its intriguing asymmetrical steeple, is enormously impressive, particularly for its central porch and the stunning stained-glass rose window above.
Nancy • [map] is graced by a beautifully harmonious main square, the 18th-century Place Stanislas, its palatial pavilions flanked by magnificent gilded iron gates. In the Old Town, the renovated houses of the Grande Rue lead to the Porte de la Craffe, whose two towers and connecting bastion are impressive reminders of earlier fortifications. Along the way, the Palais Ducal contains the Musée Lorrain (Tue–Sun). Housed in a separate museum is the unique Ecole de Nancy (Wed–Sun), the epitome of French Art Nouveau.
Metz, at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers, is the capital of Lorraine. It has a Gothic cathedral and what is claimed to be the oldest church in France, St-Pierre-aux-Nonnains, dating from the 4th century.
To the French, the name Verdun ª [map] symbolises heroic national resistance. One of the bloodiest battles of World War I was fought here in 1916; a German offensive intended to end the deadlock of trench warfare on the Western Front ended in failure, but only after nearly 600,000 men had died. There is an excellent museum, the Mémorial de Verdun (Feb–Dec daily), and other sites around the battlefield.
Saucisson for sale in Colmar.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Similarly of deep symbolical significance, although for difference reasons, is the city of Reims q [map] . In 496 Clovis, first King of the Franks, was baptised in Reims, and thereafter each new French monarch would make his way here to be crowned in this city’s magnificent Cathédrale Notre-Dame, which has superb stained-glass windows ranging from the 13th-century rose window to 20th-century windows by Chagall. Administratively, modern Reims is only a sub-prefecture but more prestigiously it is the commercial centre for the production of a unique style of wine to which the region has given its name: champagne. If you can only take one souvenir home, it should surely be a bottle of the authentic stuff.
The most famous champagne houses such as Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot or Möet & Chandon are mostly in Reims itself or in Epernay a little to the south, where, in the middle of town, there is a monument to Dom Pérignon, the 17th-century monk credited with inventing champagne. Most offer tours of their opulent cellars, though it’s advisable to book. Other champagne-makers and their vineyards are spread along the roads between the two main towns through the Montagne de Reims, a lovely countryside of rolling green hills.