We all need a bit of drama and excitement in our lives – and, since few of us get enough of it from our humdrum daily routines, we want our entertainment to take us on an emotional ride. But there are clearly limits. Even the most dedicated lovers of fruity melodrama would not want to…
Here is a strange thing: some neighbouring cities, although physically very close to each other, have a totally different look and feel. Take Nîmes and Arles, two close neighbours in the south of France. They share, inevitably, some characteristics, but it is the differences that stick out. Arles is the quintessential small town in Provence:…
Serendipity is a wonderful thing. The dictionary defines it as “finding something good without looking for it”. The concept apparently has a long tradition in the history of science and discovery, but is – in my view – specifically useful as a strategy for exploring a new or even an already familiar place: instead of…
When we drew your attention to some of the most beautiful “Gardens of the Riviera” a few weeks ago, we failed to mention any garden to the west of Grasse. Not because there were no gardens in this part of the world but only for the reason that we had never visited any. Now, however,…
Minds much greater than my own have wrestled with this question without ever finding a conclusive answer: Where does the Riviera start? It does not take a great mind to see where it ends. Even I can see that it comes to a grinding halt at Cinque Terre, southeast of Genoa. As to its start…
Oman, Qatar and San Marino are, officially, the least green countries in the world. In these three states – and in the territory of Greenland (clearly a case for the Trades Descriptions Act) – forests make up exactly 0.0 % of the surface area: none of them have any woodlands at all. But what about…
Once they were giants – Breil and the Roya River. From the train, Breil-sur-Roya looks incongruously large and imposing, with its tree lined riverside avenue and two large churches in the centre of town. Located in that part of the border country between France and Italy that is characterized by perched hilltop villages and their nervous…
Picasso spent the last 12 years of his life here, but there are many other reasons to visit this hilltop village north of Cannes. If the French Riviera is not exclusively famous for being a playground of people with more money than sense – from 19th century Russian aristocrats via eccentric East Coast heiresses during…
On country walk from St Paul-de-Vence to Vence, you can experience three different flavours of the fabled French “South” and get a taste of Provence. One of the French things that foreigners often struggle with is the fine distinction between the different regions in “the South”, a large area sometimes misunderstood as a single cultural…
What have the Romans ever done for the French Riviera? Not much, it appears. For our first proper walk of the year – one involving a forest, “big sky views” and mud under our feet – we picked a theatre of ancient local history. You would be surprised how difficult it can be to find real…
