A romantic medieval city, Rodez is stacked with culture and owes its magic to the vibrant pink sandstone used in its buildings. One of the grandest is the warlike cathedral that looks like no church you’ve seen before, and was made to keep attackers out as much as invite worshippers in. The city is the …
A rickety train ride away from the Bay of the Somme, Abbeville is a historic city whose beauty is undimmed by the litany of conflicts that have swept the region down the ages. The UNESCO belfry and extraordinary collegiate church are the top sights and make the headlines. But there are lots of smaller monuments …
In Saint-Pierre on Reunion’s south coast you’re within touching distance of places that need to be seen to be believed. You can venture to a volcanic caldera, natural amphitheatres with enormous basalt cliffs, waterfalls, ravines, lava tubes and an otherworldly plain that could be on Mars. Such is the weight of awesome scenery in the …
If you want the real Provence in a town that isn’t overrun with tourists, Draguignan could be just the place for you. All of the trademarks of the region are here: Rocky hills, vineyards and olive groves and perched villages. But the town’s isolation from the big sights keeps it off the itineraries of most …
The capital of Reunion is exactly the place to get a handle on this island’s unique culture. On just one street you’ll see a Buddhist pagoda, Mosque, Hindu Temple and Cathedral, and if you think that’s multicultural, wait until you visit the Grand Marché or tuck into some Creole cuisine. The city has museums and …
On both banks of its namesake river, Villeneuve-sur-Lot started life as a medieval bastide town. It was built quickly and fortified in the 13th century under the orders of Alphonse de Poitiers. And a lot of this heritage survives in small packages: You can ponder the gates, the old stone bridge and central Place de …
In the ancient Bigorre province in southwest France, Tarbes is an old garrison town with views of the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees in the distance. The army put horses and horse-breeding at centre stage in Tarbes, and France’s light cavalry was stationed here right up to the Second World War. The National Stud continues …
In central France’s Indre Department, Châteauroux is a town that was founded in the 10th century around a castle that is still there today. You might know a few of the famous people born in Châteauroux, like the actor Gérard Depardieu and one of Napoleon’s most trusted generals, Henri Gatien Bertrand. The latter spent a …
In French Flanders, Hazebrouck is a low key but likeable town that sums up the best things about the region. Hazebrouck’s superb museum is in a gabled 17th-century convent, and in and near the town are churches, open farms, breweries and windmills where you can slow down and get in touch with the old ways. …
The capital of French Guiana is an agreeable town with weathered Creole and colonial architecture. Throw in Cayenne’s museums and a buzzing market and there’s enough here to keep you engaged for a day or two. But the true marvels are offshore at islands that used to be France’s most feared penal colonies, or a …