A coastal town on Provence’s Côte Bleue, Martigues became a hang-out for artists in the 19th century. They were seduced by its clear light and canals, and Martigues was soon dubbed the Venice of Provence. You can decide for yourself if that’s a fair description, but you’ll definitely fall for the little channels, houses and …
Next to the timeless Loire River, Nevers is the capital of the quiet and rural Nièvre Department in central France. In the past the city was ruled by the Counts and Dukes of Nevers, whose opulent Renaissance house is now the Town Hall. If you know about decorative art you may already know about Nevers …
Resting in an epic bowl of mountains, the city of Gap is where Provence meets the Southern Alps. In the background there are peaks 3,000 metres high disappearing into the clouds, but on the streets of Gap with its pastel-painted houses and markets you’ll feel close to the Mediterranean. There are sights and museums to …
On a bend in the River Marne, Meaux is a cultured city that rose to prominence in the 17th century. This was when Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, the “Eagle of Meaux” was bishop. Bossuet was an influential theologian in the reign of Louis XVIII and one of history’s great orators. His episcopal palace has been preserved, along …
On the Loire Estuary, Saint-Nazaire makes no apologies for not being the prettiest city in France. Because this is a place where things get done, and it attracts people on exactly those terms. For big machinery, ambitious engineering works and military history there are few places that can hold a torch to Saint-Nazaire. The shipbuilding …
If the name of this town rings a bell it’s surely because of the Millau Viaduct, a record-breaking bridge that crosses the Tarn River valley. The Viaduct practically has its own tourist industry: You could take to the skies on a paragliding flight or drive along to the village of Peyre to see it bestriding …
This small town in central France’s Cher department is embedded in a pastoral landscape of vineyards, marshes and lakes. Vierzon was a railway town with its fair share of industry in the 19th and 20th centuries, like the Société Française de Vierzon, which manufactured tractors and farming equipment. Vierzon is now quaint and rural, and …
This sacred town in Normandy’s Calvados department hardly needs introduction for Catholics as it’s France’s second pilgrimage site behind Lourdes. The 19th-century Saint Thérèse spent nearly all her life in the Lisieux, first in an idyllic house with her father and then at the Carmelite convent from the age of 14. If you’re following in …
This medieval city is isolated atop a 100-metre-high limestone rock that punctuates the low, flat plains around. In the high town, encircled by eight kilometres of walls and formidable gates is France’s biggest protected historic centre. There are more than 80 historic monuments to discover in a city that was the capital of the Carolingian …
Embedded in the massive European Metropolis of Lille, Roubaix was an industrial boom town in the 19th century when it was boosted by a thriving textile trade. By the end of the 20th century this industry had dwindled and the city had to find a new identity. But a lot of the splendour from the …