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Côte d'Azur, French Riviera...
These names are synonymous with sun,
glamour and luxury and conjure up visions
of movie starlets stepping out of sports
luxury cars, of shapely young women tanning
topless on the beach, of elegant couples
in dinner suits and evening gowns sitting
at the Black Jack tables of small, stylish
casinos, of multi-million-dollar megayachts
tied up at glamorous marinas, and of
holidaying crowds wandering along the
Promenade des Anglais or the Croisette,
the famous waterfront streets of Nice
and Cannes.
But the region offers more contrasts
than probably anywhere else in the
world: unspoilt islands, rugged, rocky
inlets and fine |
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| beaches sit shoulder to shoulder with the
large cosmopolitan resorts of Cannes, Nice and
Monte Carlo. And who could miss out St. Tropez
with its famous clock tower, picturesque cobbled
streets and a collection of designer boutiques
to rival Bond Street! Here the ladies can - and
do - get the sand between their toes whilst wearing
their stilettos... |
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Biot is a very picturesque and
very popular medieval village that's
actually about 2500 years old.
It sits on a hilltop only 4 km
from the Mediterranean beaches
between Antibes and Nice.
Biot has been a source of pottery since antiquity. The region
is rich in fine clays, sand, manganese and even volcanic tufa
for making the kilns. Amphorae made in Biot were exported worldwide,
from Antibes and Marseilles, until the 18th century.
Biot is currently renowned for its glass works, typically a
clear or colored transparent glass with little bubbles. You
can watch the glass-blowing process as the pieces are made
in the glassworks of the village.
The center of an ancient volcano is located about 2 km northwest |
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village. Clearly visible on geographic
maps, there isn't much to see now,
except some of the typical rock
forms. The tufa stone from Biot
has been extracted for millennium
for building ovens. |
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Eze's history is typified in
its topography. Occupied from the
end of the bronze period, the eagle
nest perched up to 400 m above
the sea, has been fit up by the
Celto Ligurian, then reorganized
by Romans, Lombards and Saracens.
Part of the earldom of Nice and
Provence until 1388, Eze went under
the authority of the count of Savoy.
Eze suffered French invasions from
6th to 18th century. In 1792, before
the creation of the Alpes Maritimes,
Eze was a part of Monaco district,
and was united to France in 1860.
Known or unknown, Eze charms all visitors. Some just passed,
others, seduced by its characteristics and its landscapes,
stopped definitively or adopted it as a vacation place...
In 1780, the Countess of Genlis recalling her journey from
Nice to Genoa on the high road cliff described the "enormous
rocks as a sort of a wall rising up to heaven" and "precipices
of five hundred feet" around the village. In 1868, Georges
Sand after the evocation of the "enchantment" of
the panorama, described "the ruins of Eze, planted on
a cone of rocks, with a typical village as a sugar loaf, stop
the people. It is the most beautiful panorama of the road,
the most complete and wonderfully composed". 20 |
years
later, Frederic Nietzsche took
the path from the station at Eze
on the Sea to the village and composed
the draught of his "third
Zarathoustra" on his way to
this "marvelous moorish village
called Eza built in between rocks".
In 1887, Stephen Liegeard, the
inventor of the expression "Côte
d'Azur" compared the shape
of the village to a woman: "The
grooves of the path seem to be
the gold laces of her black blouse.
The sun has tanned her forehead,
the storm and the cannon when they
explode have jagged a ruined diadem".
Victorien Sardou, the academician prefers to admire the nuances
of the green vegetation, describing "the almond and peach
trees, the thick and luxuriant foliage of the carob trees,
the grey silvery of the olive trees". |
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The narrow and beautiful Gorges
du Loup cuts north-south through
the hills at the foot of Gourdon,
12 km from Grasse.
The road along the forested edge of the hills runs from Châteauneuf
Pré-du-Lac (near Grasse) through Le Bar-sur-Loup, Pont-du-Loup,
Tourrettes-sur-Loup and Vence.
Down in the bottom of the valley at Pont-du-Loup, where a little
road turns off to go up through the gorge, you see Gourdon
perched on the cliffs high above, and the tall pillars of the
bombed-out railway viaduct crossing the valley in a curve.
About 4 km up the deep valley, the Cascade de Courmes (waterfall)
comes down over a notch in a long feather of water blowing
in the nearly constant wind. The water then spills over large
mossy boulders into the pool, 40m below the top. |
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The castle of Gourdon has been
open to visitors since 1950, and
was classed as an historical monument.
Of particular note are its magnificent
gardens, designed by LENOTRE, and
its architecture dating from the
9th century, three centuries before
the first stone of the Louvre was
laid in Paris. With a guided visit
you can learn about its long history.
You will have the chance to admire the work of many different |
creators
(Glass artists, Glass blowers,
Painters on Silk and Enamel, Creators
of perfumes, toiletry products
and soaps, Pain d'épices
makers, etc...) and buy their products.
From la Place Victoria you will have a magnificent view of
the the whole Riviera,of an impressive size and depth, with
colours that change with the time and the season. On the horizon,
the sea blends with the sky. To the left glimmers Cape Ferrat,
Nice, the mouth of the Var, Cagnes and the Hippodrome, Antibes
and the Cape of Antibes, Juan les Pins, the Lérins Islands,
Cannes, La Napoule, St Tropez, les Maures and l'Estérel,
lost in the azure. At our feet, the mule track from Heaven
on the rock known as "Le Grougne". Below and to the
left, the entrance to the Gorges du Loup and the Pont du Loup
Hamlet. Above, the Courmette mountain. In the middle, the immense
green valley crossed by the Loup To the left, the la Colle
road and, higher up, the road to Nice via Vence. At the bottom
the large plateau of the Rouret closes off the valley. You
can make out Roquefort, Mougins and le Castellaras on the brow
of a hill. To the right is the pretty, ancient village of Bar
sur Loup. To the right, closer to us, is the large bare plateau
of la Sarrée, then the bois de Gourdon. At the bottom
of a deep gorge bubbles the Riou de Gourdon. |
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"Stand on the large public
terrace across from the road from
the Palais de Congrès and
the bay of Cannes opens up before
you". Nearly 200 years ago
Napoléon's sister, Pauline
Bonaparte would contemplate the
view and enjoy the rich bouquet
which rose up from the sweetly
scented plain. Even then, Grasse
was reknowned throughout Europe
as the perfume capital of the world.
A series of limestone terraces spreads outwards and upwards
from the bay of Cannes like a natural ampitheatre, and Grasse
has the best seat in the house. But there's a lot more to do
than simply take in the view.
The most chattered about piece of Grasse's past is to do with
it's position on the Route Napoléon and the lengthy
and tumultuous stay of Pauline Bonaparte when she was separated
from Prince Borghese.
And then there's the perfume industry. |
Fragonard
(1731-1806), the painter son of
a glove tanner, is one of the towns
favourite sons, along with the
Amiral de Grasse. The Fragonard
museum and perfumerie which bears
his name are well worth a visit,
as are the Galimard and Molinard
sites.
As well as visiting the surrounding villages and golf courses
, make sure you have time to visit the provençal market
in the Place aux Aires. |
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The Iles de Lérins is
a small archipelago just off the
coast of Cannes and part of its
commune, with the two main islands
of Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat
and the two micro-islands of Tradelière
and St-Féréol. The
islands are pedestrian-only; no
motor vehicles are allowed.
Ile Sainte-Marguerite is the larger, and nearer, island. It
is covered by a lovely forest of Allepo pine and eucalyptus,
with wide paths criss-crossing the length and breadth. The
port area, where the ferry lands, has cafés and restaurants,
and it's a short walk to the Fort Royal where you can see the
now-bare little cell where the Man in the Iron Mask was incarcerated.
Ile Saint-Honorat is the smaller, further, island, an additional
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minutes
by boat from the ferry landing
of Sainte-Marguerite. Although
small, the walks are still nice,
and there's the Cisterian abbey
to visit, which includes a gift
shop of locally produced products.
Between the islands is a shallow, protected passage, the "Plateau
du Milieu", a popular anchor point for the pleasure boats
of the region. During the summer you can just about walk across
from island to island over the closely packed nautical adventurers. |
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Stretching for 24 miles of coast
from La Napoule to St-Raphaël,
this mass of twisted red volcanic
rock is a surreal landscape of
dramatic panoramas. Forest fires
have devastated all but a small
section of cork oak, adding barrenness
to an already otherworldly place.
Following the path of the ancient Roman Aurelian Way, N7 traces
the area's northern edge, running through the Estérel
Gap between Fréjus and Cannes. To get to the massif's
summit, Mont Vinaigre (elevation 1,962 ft.), turn right at
the Testannier crossroads 7 miles northeast of Fréjus.
A parking area allows you to leave your car and make the final
15 minutes of the ascent on foot, climbing to the observation
deck of a watchtower for a view stretching from the Alps to
the Massif des Maures.
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route offers the massif's most
stunning vistas, first turning
inland just beyond Le Trayas at
Pointe de l'Observatoire, where
you can ascend to the Grotte de
la Ste-Baume for the views that
inspired the medieval hermit St.
Honorat, who once dwelt in the
cave. Farther along N98, at Pointe
de Baumette, is a memorial to the
French writer/aviator Antoine de
St-Exupéry. At Agay, turn
inland again to reach the rocky
Gorge du Mal-Infernet, a twisted
rut in the earth, offering a contrast
to the surrounding peaks with their
overview of the region. Continuing
along this inland route leads you
to Pic du Cap-Roux, at 1,438 feet,
and Pic de l'Ours, at 1,627 feet,
both offering sweeping views of
land and sea. |
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Tanneron is a quiet little village
situated in the extreme east of
Var, next to the Alpes Maritimes.
It is the capltal of the Tanneron
Massif so well known for the abundance
of its fine mimosa.
This little village sits on the top of a hill in the middle
of a huge forest of mimosa. Tanneron is at the eastern edge
of the Var, next to the village of Auribeau-sur-Siagne in the
Alpes-Maritime. As lovely as this region is, Tanneron isn't
a typical tourist site, and much of the large population (of
over 1000) reside in the surrounding area rather than in the
center of the village, including in 13 nearby forest hamlets.
From different parts of the village sitting up on the hill,
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view
in nearly every direction, including
all the way up the front of the
hills to the northeast past the "Baus" of
Vence and St. Jeannet to the beginnings
of the Alps.
Nearby sites include as waterfall (the Cascade de la Siagne)
down the hill at St. Cassien to the northeast. |
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Two words which evoke a magical
dream world.
The Principality of Monaco offers many facets. Monaco's exceptional
location, between mountain and sea, its gardens, its athletic
and cultural events...all qualities which make it the ideal
destination for a romantic vacation or an unforgettable conference.
Although not always recognized and sometimes misunderstood,
Monaco's economy is in fact very dynamic and oriented towards
the future. An independant state in the heart of Europe, the
Principality of Monaco offers investors and businessmen an
exceptional and secure lifestyle while simultaneously offering
them all of the advantages of an attractive fiscal system.
In 1997, Monaco was dressed up to the nines for the 700th |
| anniversary
of the Grimaldi Family Dynasty. |
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