A Trip to France

Our holiday in Paris & Provence . . .

Known as the City of Light, Paris is considered by many people the world’s most beautiful city.  Its monuments and treasures are better preserved than those of any rival city.  But Paris is much more than that.  It is an international city that controls the larger part of France’s economy, and economy second only to Germany’s in Europe, and one that reaches far beyond Europe.

Paris is blessed with great natural assets:  Straddling the middle reaches of the Seine, the city lies at the center of Europe’s greatest sedimentary basin (the Bassin Parisien).  The basin’s agricultural resources, which exploit the rich alluvial soils of its plains and low plateaus, have traditionally been the backbone of the French economy.  The Paris region dominates a wide area extending from Normandy in the west, around Picardy and Champagne to the north and east, and through the Beauce country of Chartres between the Seine and the Loire to the south.

NEW ARTWORKS by Olivia Cameo Lewis . . . with a French twist

The Arts

Paris, the most visited city in the world, certainly owes its fame to its monuments and its history.  But above all, this vibrant city basks in a rich cultural heritage, and continues to attract leading exponents of literature, art, dance, theatre, and opera.

Literature.  Paris has always drawn writers looking for recognition and inspiration at the center of European intellectual society.  From the 15^th to the 17^th centuries, the long-established University of Paris was the home of scholastic philosophy, which tried to reconcile the thinking of the old Greek philosophers—particularly Aristotle and Plato—with Christian orthodoxy.  It also played a part in the French Inquisition, forcing independent thinkers like 17^th century philosopher Rene Descartes to choose their words carefully to avoid prosecution.  But theater flourished under Louis XIV—the plays of Jean Racine and Pierre Corneille elegantly retold the ancient Greek stories using classical French verse, while the satirist Moliere amused his aristocratic audiences with plays depicting the pretensions and ambitions of the growing middle classes.

Literary café life:  from post World War 1 Paris to the present.  After the war, a new generation of writers, philosophers, and intellectuals that included Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Boris Vian, and Simone de Beauvoir came to prominence.  They, in turn, were followed by what became know as the “nouveau roman”, a legacy from surrealism.

New theater also flourished in the plays written by Samuel Beckett, Arthur Adamov, and Eugene Ionesco, who continued in vein initiated by Antonin Artaud.  These writers, some not French-born, were soon joined by other expatriates from America and Britain, who produced small magazines in English for another movement in literature, the “Beat” writers (whose starting place was thus as much in Paris as in San Francisco).

Although there has been a decline in literary café life in the last decade, there are still cafes that recall this vibrant past, such as those circling the Place du Tertre in Montmartre—La Coupole and Le Select; the Dome I Montparnasse; and the Deux Magots, Flore, and Brasserie Lipp in St. Germain, where Sartre held court.  The stones of Paris seem alive with a creativity that still lures artists today.

Art.  Paris’s reputation as one of the world’s leading art capitals has suffered, particularly since the 1980’s. 

The art market collapsed during the recession, with many galleries closing and previously successful artists suddenly left without clients.

Yet art is alive and well in Paris, if the 500 or more galleries in the city are any indication.  Most are concentrated in one of three main areas:  St. Germain-des-Pres, the Marais/Bastille, and the eighth arrondissement, just behind the Champs-Elysees, which is now filled with galleries showing traditional, recognized artists.

Artists’ open houses.  It is possible to see artwork outside the galleries:  A number of artists display their work in the square at Montmartre, and there are also several artists’ associations who organize ‘portes ouvertes’, or open houses, welcoming the public into their studios. 

Architecture.  The architectural history of Paris is densely layered.  Time an time again old buildings and monuments have been knocked down, or transformed or reused to make way for new ones. 

Streets of Paris

For centuries, travel was arduous through Paris’s dark, muddy streets, then unmarked and unnumbered.  Store signs came into use by the 15^th century, and these served as addresses.  At first they were unwieldy, sheet-metal plaques suspended on a long, iron arm.   They were also enormous—a tooth-puller’s molar was as big as an armchair, and a glove-boutique’s glove could fit a small child into each ginger.  They made the dark streets even darker, and were noisy and dangerous on windy days.  By the mid-18^th century, signs were smaller and fixed above the stores.  Some brilliant store signs can be seen at the Musee Carnavalet.

In 1728, street names were ordered to appear on corners; plaques went up al over the city, with names also carved into stone on street corner buildings.  In 1844, the blue, enameled iron plaques currently in use began to bear street names.  Many streets have been named and renamed—after noted merchants or residents, such as Galande; surrounding villages, like Belleville or Charonne; churches; professions (Coutellerie for the knifemaking area); landmarks like fountains or horse markets (Cul-de-sac du Ha! Ha!, now Cul-de-sac-Royal ?St. Antoine); store signs (Chat qui Peche, Pot-de-fer); historic milestones and events (Avenue Quatre-Septembre); heroes; victories; leaders; and even Metro stations.  The new streets around the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in 1994 were named after writers such as Francois Mauriac and Raymond Aron.

Paris is best seen at a slow stroll—as you go along and look up at the rooftop gardens, pilasters, caryatids, and mosaics, you’ll also find a series of cityscape frescoes scattered throughout Paris.  The idea for frescoes stemmed from 1930s ads painted onto walls billing the aperitif “Dubo Dubon Dubonnet” —still visible on Rue de Sevres—or the chocolate drink Banania.  In the 1970s, artists were commissioned to decorate walls with trompe l’oeil frescoes or figures. 

Musee du Louvre

The largest art museum in the world.  The Louvre began in 1190, when King Philippe-Aususte constructed a massive fortress surrounded by a wall and towers on the western edge of Paris before setting out on a crusade.  In the 14^th century, Charles V commissioned Raymond du Temple to turn the medieval keep into a royal residence.  It expanded under two visionary Renaissance builders:  Kings Francois I, who tore down the medieval keep; and Henri IV, who constructed the immense gallery bordering the Seine, thus linking the Louvre to the Tuileries Palace begun in 1564 by Catherine de Medici (for whom the Louvre was far too drafty and inelegant).  The Louvre at this time consisted of a string of buildings that stretched over a quarter of a mile along the Seine—a long passageway linking the city palace to the country home.

In 1608, Henry IV, opened up the palace to artists, granting them studio space, living quarters, and the status of official recognition.  When Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles in 1682, the Louvre was overrun by sculptors, painters, and architects who left the palace in a pathetic state by the mid-18^th century.  Among them were Jean Honore Fragonard, Jean Chardin, Francois Boucher, Jean-Louis David, and Guillaume Coustou, who, along with Antoine Coysevox, sculpted the famous “Horses of Marly”.

Champs-Elysees

When it was created by Andre Le Notre in 1667 for Louis XIV, the Champs-Elysees was meant to be a visual extension of the Tuileries gardens.  The Champs-Elysees is divided into two sections: the pretty, garden-lined avenue that leads from Place de la Concorde to the Rond-Point, and the commercial area from the Rond-Point to the Arc de Triomphe.

Place de la Concorde

Once the site of revolutionary bloodbaths, today’s Place de la Concorde is framed by the American Embassy and the luxurious Hotel Crillon, and offers a breathtaking view up the Champs-Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe.

The Obelisk

After a series of name changes, the square was renamed the Place de la Concorde in 1795. 

Louis-Philippe erected statues and fountains representing the great cities of France, and placed a central monument in the square—a 3,300 year old obelisk, a twin of the one that stands in front of the Temple of Luxor, given to France in 1829 by Egyptian Viceroy Mohammed Ali—which had no link to the royal or revolutionary past.

Arc de Triomphe

Parisians still call the square surrounding the Arc de Triomphe l’Etoile (“the star”), despite its name changing in 1970 to the Place Charles-de-Gaulle. 

It gets its name from the 12 avenues radiating from it.  At its center stands the Arc de Triomphe, the ultimate symbol of French pride and military power—a striking landmark in the middle of Paris’s longest vista.  The Arc de Triomphe is engraved with the names of great French military victories, along with the names of 666 senior officers who participated in the Revolution and wars of the Empire.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame stands out as a symbol of Paris itself.  Like the city, it sprang up along the banks of the Seine, its magnificent west façade rising up like “a vast symphony of stone,” as Victor Hugo described it.

The cathedral’s site is rich in history.  It stands over the ruins of a Gallo-Roman temple to Jupiter, a fourth-century church, and a sixth-century basilica, in whose foundations were found 12 stones originally used in the construction of the Roman temple.

The legend of the great bell.  The great bell in the south tower (the other bells were melted down during the Revolution) only tolls on solemn occasions.  Legend describes how, when the church bell was taken down and recast in the 17^th century, ladies sacrificed their gold and silver jewelry by tossing it into the molten mixture—hence the purity of the F-sharp tone.

Portals.  Three portals grace the west façade of Notre-Dame, which, from left to right, represent the Virgin Mary, the Last Judgment, and Saint Anne.  The statutes decorating the portals once were brilliantly painted and stood out against a gilt background.  The Saint Anne portal contains the oldest, carved about 1170.

Rose Windows.  The size and brilliance of the glorious rose windows testify to the splendor of Gothic architecture.  The North rose, 68 feet (21m) in diameter, with its nearly intact 13^th-century glass, features Old Testament figures surrounding the Virgin.  The 43 foot high (13m) South Rose, which faces the Seine, was greatly restored in 1737; it depicts Christ surrounded by saints, apostles, and angels. 

Sculptures.  The cathedral’s sculpted works include 13^th-century architect Jean Ravy’s ancient choir-screen carvings; Nicolas Coustou’s “Pieta”; and Antoine Coysevox’s statue of Louis XIV.  The cathedral’s treasures include the Crown of Thorns, a Holy Nail, and a fragment of the True Cross from Ste. Chapelle.

Eiffel Tower & Les Invalides

Extending west of St. Germain-des-Pres, the elegant seventh arrondissement—a former haven of aristocratic mansions, many of which are now government buildings and embassies—prides itself on its wealth of museums and on the greatest tourist site of them all, the Eiffel Tower. 

Eiffel Tower

Parisians typically greet any new monument in their urban landscape with a mixture of horror, criticism, and public dismay for a few years, after which it becomes a cherished national symbol—the Eiffel Tower is a perfect example.

In 1887, Gustave Eiffel’s cast-iron monument design was selected to showcase in the 1889 Universal Exposition celebrating the centennial of the French Revolution.  He used the same techniques for construction as in his bridges in France and abroad.  All 15,000 metal parts were prefabricated and numbered for assembly, and most of the 2.5 million rivets were already in place before the tower went up.  His well-laid plans and technological wizardry ensured that, with 300 steelworkers toiling 7 days a week for 26 consecutive months (and without a single fatal accident), the world’s (then) tallest building was completed just 7 days before the exhibition opened.

The Bohemian Montmartre

There is no other place in Paris quite like Montmartre, high on a hill (known to Parisians at the “Butte”), it has a unique village atmosphere, enclosing both Pigalle’s neon lights and the lyrical, winding streets and charming houses just steps away.  Music, art, and wine—along with a touch of the licentious and an irreverence for authority and tradition—have all contributed to the myth of Montmartre.  But its roots are much older than its legendary 19^th century cabarets, which include the famous Moulin Rouge.

The ubiquitous portrait painters on the Place du Tertre make this square one of the more renowned tourist traps in Paris.

This bohemian area of Paris may have lost some of its romantic appeal, but here are times when a stroll around the quaint old streets can take you back a hundred years or more to an age when it was a renowned artist’s quarter.  The steps and steep streets make this rather a strenuous walk for some, another option is t take the small train that leaves Place Blanche (opposite the Moulin Rouge at 82 Boulevard de Clichy).

Walk east on Boulevard de Clichy and turn left up Rue des Martyrs, the street once climbed by many illustrious Christian pilgrims on their way to the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur, to reach 9 Rue Yvonne le Tac.  Here Saint Denis was supposedly beheaded in the third century, and Ignatius of Loyola founded the order of the Jesuits in 1534.
 

Tournus

Un detail d’abord, mais qui a son importance: la pronunciation.  On dit Tournu et non Tournusse – comme on dit Pari et non Parisse.

Tournus possede une prehistoire, attestee par la presence de quelques menhirs qui dressent, dans la campagne voisine, leur stature effilee.  Et il est bien probable que, sur le cours d’eau qui s’appelle aujourd’hui la Saone, les riverains disposaient d’un passage a l’emplacement de la ville actuelle.

A l’epoque celtique, en tout cas, il y avait un peage ou transitait deja une partied u sel provenant des salines de la region de Lons-le-Saunier.  Les Romains, seduits par la topographie, par le fait aussi qu’il y avait la une terrasse de faible altitude, a l’abri des crues, y etablirent un castrum. Ce casstrum se trouvait au sud de la ville actuelle, dans le quaartier qui est de nos jours celui de la Madeleine.

Orange

Orange’s Roman Theatre is one of the best preserved of the entire Roman empire in Europe.  It was constructed at the beginning of the Christian era against the natural height of the Colline-St-Eutrope.  Its stage doors were hollow so that actors could stand in front and amplify their voices.  In Roman times the theatre was also used for meetings and lectures.  The cavea, or tiered semicircle, held up to 7,000 spectators, seated according to their social status.

The Great Wall.  Built of red limestone, this massive construction is 103m (338ft) long, 36m (11ft) high and over 1.8m (5ft) thick.  Emperor Augustus.  A 3.5m (11ft) statue, with a hand raised in greeting, dominates the stage at the third level.  At its base kneels a figure in breeches, possibly a defeated enemy.  Stage Wall.  The inner face of the stage wall (Frons Scaenae) still bears fragments of marble friezes and mosaics.  A frieze of centaurs framed the royal doorway in the centre.  Marble Columns.  The stage wall had three levels, the two upper levels with 76 marble columns, of which only two remain.  The wall’s many surfaces broke up sound waves, so that the actors could speak without their voices having an echo.

Avignon

Bordered to the north and west by the Rhone, the medieval city of Avignon is the chief city of Vaucluse and gateway to Provence.  Its walls cover nearly 4.5km (3 miles) and are punctuated by 39 towers and seven gates.  Within the walls thrives a culturally rich city with its own opera house, university, several foreign language schools and numerous theatre companies.  The streets and squares are often filled with buckers, and the Avignon festival in July, which includes theatre, mime and cabaret, has now become a major international event.

Massive ramparts enclose one of the most fascinating towns in southern France.  A stroll around the streets reveals trompe l’oeil windows and mansions such as King Rene’s house in the rue du Roi-Rene.  This street leads to the cobbled rue des Teinturiers, named after the town’s dyers and textile-makers, where a bridge crosses the river Sorgue to the 16^th century Chapelle des Penitents Gris.

Provence

Provence is situated in the sun-blessed southeast corner of France, edged to the south by the Mediterranean.  Its most illustrious stretch of coastline, roughly from Menton to Bandol, is also known as the Cote d’Azur although, the nearer to Italy it gets, the more likely it is to be referred to as the Riviera.  To the east are Italy and the Alps, to the west, the Rhone river.  The region covers an area of over 30,000 sq km (18,650 miles) with a population of about 4.25 million.

Jean-Luke and Norton “Les Bumpkins?”

A generation or two ago, Provence was to the French, a place of indolent southern bumpkins.  To foreigners, it was an idyllic spot, but one reserved, it seemed to many, for the rich or artistic.  Now, Provence, more than any other region, is where the French would choose to live and work, and its holiday routes buzz with traffic all year around.

Once engaged in conversation, Provencals are the most generous and warmest of hosts.  There is an all-pervading Frenchness, of course, which means that people are polite and punctual.  Shopkeepers always greet you as you enter, but will close at the stroke of noon.  Other institutions open and close on the dot, too.  Lunch, in Provence, is sacrosanct.

Traditions are important to the people of Provence.  Local crafts are not quaint revivals, but respected, time-honoured occupations.  Artists who came here for the light and the scenery found other inspirations, too.  Picasso himself learned the potter’s art at the wheel of a Provencal craftsman.  Homes have hand-turned local chestnut or oak furniture, terre rouge clay pots, Moustiers faience, Biot glassware and furnishings using the traditional indiennes patterns of Arles and Nimes. 

The home is run as it has been for generations.  Provencal kitchens, at the heart of family life, are famous.  Combining simplicity with bounty, they mix the aroma of herbs with the generosity of wine.  In the envious and admiring eyes of visitors, they are the epitome of taste.

Good taste is inbred.  In this rural community, the familiarity of the weather, the seasons and the harvests are sources of constant discussion.  Gardens, full of fruit trees, vegetables and flowers, are a matter of pride.  Even city-dwellers know how the best produce should be grown, and may well have access to a country relation's plot.  Market stalls are beautifully laid out and carefully scrutinized and, no matter how abundant the fruit, the vegetables or the wine, they are all grist for debate.

Liz Brown is in fruit heaven

 

Superstitions linger in the countryside.  An egg, salt, bread and matches, humble representations of elemental concepts, may be given to a newborn baby, while carline thistles may be seen nailed to front doors for good luck.

Provence has a typically Mediterranean landscape: the mountains drop down to the sea; communities perch on crags or cling to remote hillsides.  It is little wonder that traditions live on here.  For centuries, too, it was a place for outlaws from France, who could assume new identities here and carry on with their lives.

Traditional architectural features are reminders of how influential the weather is on living conditions in rural Provence.  Great efforts are made to ease the biting gusts of the Mistral and the relentless heat of the summer sun.  Thick stone walls, small windows and reinforced doors are all recognizable characteristics.  Traditional farmhouses were built entirely from wood, clay, stone and soil, all locally found materials.  Rows of hardy cypress trees were planted to act as a windbreak on the north side; plane and lotus trees provided shade to the south.

Artists of Provence

Provence inspired many of the most original 19^th and 20^th century painters.  They were attracted by the luminescent quality of the light here, and the consequent brilliance of the colours.  Cezanne, who was a native, and Van Gogh, a convert, were both fired by the vibrant shades of the landscape.  It Impressionists Monet and Renoir came early, and followers included Bonnard, Signac and Dufy.  The two giants of the 20^th century painting, Matisse and Picasso, both settled here.  The artistic tradition is kept alive by small galleries in almost every town, as well as major museums throughout the region.

Artists in Provencal History

Provence was home to great artists long before the advent of modern art.  In the Middle Ages, the Schools of Avignon and Nice flourished.  The latter was dominated by the Brea family, whose works can be seen in the churches throughout the region.  Sculptor Pierre Puget (1620-94) is called the “Michelangelo of Provence”.  His birthplace, Marseille, has several of his works.  But Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) is most Provencal of them all—his Romantic paintings are filled with Grasse flowers.

Writers in Provence

The Nobel Laureate Frederic Mistral (1830-1914) was the champion of the Provencal language, but better known are the local writers who have captured the Provencal character: Alphonse Daudet, Jean Giono, Emile Zola and Marcel Pagnol.  French writers such as Dumas and Hugo used Provencal backdrops for their fiction, and writers from many other countries found inspiration in the region.

Beaches of Provence

From the untamed expanses of the Rhone delta to the hot spots of the Riviera, via the cliffs and coves of the Var, the coastline of Provence is extremely varied.

Season of Spring

Provence is at its prettiest in spring, when flowers bring livelihoods to perfume-makers and pleasure to passers-by.  Summer fruit and vegetables are both abundant and beautiful, filling the local markets. 

 Mallemort-en-Provence

Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  The best-known of the Cotes-du-Rhone wine labels takes its name from an unassuming yellowstone village on a small hill, given over to cellars and restaurants selling the products of the local growers entitled to the appellation controlee.  At the top of the village are the ruins of the Chateau des Papes, mostly burned down in the 16^th century Wars of Religion.  From the remaining walls there is a superb vie of Avignon and the vineyard-lined clay fields where smooth stones deposited by the Rhone reflect the sun’s heat onto 13 varieties of grapes.  The chateau was built in 1317 by John XXII, an Avignon pope who planted the first vineyards, but it took some 400 years for the wine’s reputation to spread.  Today, there are 350 Chateauneuf-du-Pape domains.  The nearby town of Pernes-les-Fontaines is know for its 40 fountains, in particular the 18^th century Fontaine du Cormoran.  Until 1914, each of the fountains had an individual keeper.

Mallemort

Marseilles

France’s premier port and oldest major city is in a surprisingly attractive setting, centered on the Vieux Port, which fishing boats enter between the guardian forts of St. Jean and St. Nicolas.  On the north side are the commercial docks and the old town, rebuilt after World War II.  People have lived here for 26 centuries, its mixture of cultures being so varied that Alexandre Dumas called it “the meeting place of the entire world”. 

	Chateau d’If

 

Chateau d’If.  Fact, fiction and leend mingle in this island castle in the bay of Marseille.  Up until the 16^th century, it was a barren island, only visited by local fishermen.  On a trip to Marseille in 1516, Francois decided to make it a fortress.  It was built in 1529, and turned into a prison in 1540 till World War I.  Famous inmates have included Alexander Dumas’ fictional Count of Monte Cristo, the legendary Man in the Iron Mask and the real Comte de Mirabeau.  Nine years before the chateau was built, the first rhinoceros ever to set foot in Europe was brought ashore here, and drawn by Albrecht Durer.

Cassis

A favourite summer resort of such artists as Derain, Dufy and Matisse, Cassis is a lovely little port, tucked into limestone hills.  The Romans liked it, too, and built villas here, and when Marseille prospered in the 17^th century a number of mansions were erected.  It was also a busy, prosperous fishing centre in the 19^th century, and is still known for its excellent seafood.  The local delicacy is fresh sea urchins, enjoyed with a glass of Cassis’ reputed AOC white wine.   Here, Winston Churchill learned to paint.

 

Aix-en-Provence

Provence’s former capital is an international students’ town, with one of the regions’s most cosmopolitan streets of restaurants and bars, rue de la Verrerie.  The university was founded by Louis II of Anjou in 1409 and flourished under his son, Good King Rene.  Another wave of prosperity transformed the city in the 17^th century, when ramparts, first raised by the Romans in their town of Aquae Sextiae, were pulled down, and the mansion-lined cours Mirabeau was built.  Aix’s renowned fountains were added in the 18^th century.

Atelier Paul Cezanne.  Ten minutes’ walk uphill from the cathedral is the modest house of artist Paul Cezanne.  The studio, designed by Cezanne himself, is much as he left it when he died in 1906.  He painted Les Grandes Baigneuses, and not far from here you can see the Ste-Victoire, a favourite subject.

French Riviera

Ste. Maxime

Surrounded by hills and vineyards, St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume is dominated by the basilica Ste-Marie-Madeleine and its attached monastery.  According to legend, the basilica was built on the site of the tombs of St. Mary Magdalene and of St. Maximin, martyred first bishop of Aix. 

St. Tropez

Clustered around the old port and nearby beaches, the centre of St-Tropez, partly rebuilt in its original style after World War II, is full of fishermen’s houses.  In the port itself, traditional fishing boats are still to be seen moored side-by-side with sleek luxury cruisers of all shapes and sizes.

Behind the port-side cafes of the quai Jean-Jaures, the narrow, bustling streets are packed with boutiques and restaurants.  The town is overelooked by the church’s wraught-iron belltower in the centre and the citadel just outside.

Behind the port-side cafes of the quai Jean-Jaures, the narrow, bustling streets are packed with boutiques and restaurants.  The town is overelooked by the church’s wraught-iron belltower in the centre and the citadel just outside.

	Fashionable motorcycles pose along the narrow streets

 

 

Arles

The city of Arles was a Greek site expanded by the Romans into a “little Rome”.  Here, on the most southerly crossing point on the Rhone, they build shipyards, baths, a racetrack and an arena.  Then the capital of the three Gauls—France, Spain and Britain—Arles remains one of the most distinctive towns in Provence with fine relics from its Gallo-Roman past. 

Cathedral St. Trophime

 

Many of the tourist sites in Arles bear the stamp of their Roman past, and all are within comfortable walking distance of the central place de la Republique.  On its north side is the Hotel de Ville, behind which is the place du Forum.  This convivial square is the heart of modern life in Arles.  Another place to sit at a café and observe the Arlesiens promenade is the boulevard des Lices, where the lively twice-weekly market is held.  Some of the shops here sell bright Provencal fabrics. 

Van Gogh in Arles

Vincent Van Gogh painted over 300 canvases in the 15 months he lived in Arles, but the town has none of his work.  In belated appreciation of this lonely artist, the Hotel-Dieu has been turned into L’Espace Van Gogh, with a library and exhibition space.  Several sites are evocative of him, however; the Café Van Gogh in the place du Forum has been renovated to look as it did in his Café du Soir.

Les Baux de Provence

Les Baux sits on a spur of the Alpilles (bau in Provencal means escarpment), with views across to the Camargue.  The most dramatic fortress site in Provence, it has nearly two million visitors a year.   

Gordes

Expensive restaurants and hotels provide a clue to the popularity of this hilltop village, which spills down in terraces from a Renaissance chateau and the church of St. Firmin.  Its impressive position is the main attraction, although its vaulted, arcaded medieval lanes are also alluring.  The village has been popular with artists ever since the academic Cubist painter Andre Lhote began visiting in 1938.

Versailles

For sheer glitter, nothing beats Versaille.  An extravagant palace built during Louis XIV’s reign, it is not the oldest or largest of the French chateaus, but it illustrates the essence of a royal palace more than any other.  Although Louis XIV (known as the Sun King) constructed the chateau and the famous gardens, the property had originally belonged to his father, Louis XIII.  An enthusiastic hunter, Louis XIII built a lodge in 1623 in the middle of the forest; it was so modest that one of his contemporaries described it as “a miserable manor in which even a simple country squire would not take pride”.  Louis XIII built more spacious quarters in 1634.  When he died nine years later, his son Louis XIV was only five years old.  The boy loved the small chateau, but his reasons for later spending so much time and money—and ultimately moving the court to Versailles—had more to do with the turbulent politics of the day than the chateau’s bucolic attractions.  Thoughout his 72-year reign, Louis XIV spent lavishly to build the chateau, hiring the best designers France had to offer: the architect Louis Le Vau (succeeded by Jules Hardouin-Mansart), the landscape designer Andre Le Notre, and the painter Charles Le Brun, all of whom had worked on the sumptuous, but ill-fated Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte.  The finished chateau perfectly mirrored the ambitions of the Sun King, whose reign typified the absolutism of the monarchy, guided by the principle of la gloire (glory).  When Versailles became the seat of government in 1682, it had to be expanded to house the entire court, along with all the civil servants.

Gardens.  Making the most of the steep, marshy ground, Angre Le Notre designed what has been called the most perfect example of a formal French garden.  In a era that believed that nature was to be mastered by man, Le Notre undertook immense drainage work, shifting masses of earth to form the terraces that begin with the Parterre d’Eau (two symmetrical pools) just below the windows of the Hall of Mirrors and lead down to the Bassin d’Apollon and the Grand Canal.  The king was so proud of his gardens that he wrote a detailed description of the best way to visit them.  Although formal in design and organized around two main axes—one running east to west, the other north to south—the gardens contain charming groves, fountains, and labyrinths with names like the “Bacchus Basin”, the “Apollo Baths”, and the “Room of Chestnut Trees.”  The groves were equipped with a highly sophisticated system of fountains, created to accompany the festivities organized by Louis XIV.  Louis demanded that the flowers in his gardens flourish all year long.  Through the ingenuity of Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinye, the king ate strawberries in March and lettuce in January. 

Giverny

In 1883, Claude Monet moved with his family to this house, where he remained until his death in 1926.  The house and gardens were an unceasing source of inspiration for the painter, who devoted much time and money to his landscaping projects.  Wherever he lived, Monet had always had a garden, but at Giverny it became his life’s work:  There he created in nature the motifs that became his obsession transposing the water lilies, boats, and bridges of his garden onto his canvases. 
 

 

Caberet

Moulin Rouge!

Paris has continually invented and reinvented new forms of entertainment, perfecting the art of whetting both the appetite and the eye.  The cafes chantants or goguettes popular during the Revolution gave way during the Second Empire and belle époque to concert-cafes, the forerunners to the 20^th century music halls and irreverent caberets artistiques launched in Montmartre at the turn of the century.

In the 1960s, a new form of expression surfaced in the café-theatres, which combined comedy and satire performed in close-quartered cafes.  The café-theatre was responsible for launching such diverse talents as the late comedian Coluche, Gerard Depardieu, and the Theatre du Splendide troupe.

However, the most typically French tradition in this hub of hedonism is the legendary music hall revues—throwbacks to the champayne nights of the bell époque era.  The Crazy Horse Saloon on Avenue George V evolved fromma Wild West-style barroom, with swinging doors and signs like “Check Your Guns Here”, into a theatre flaunting the wildest of risqué apparel, with features such as Betty Buttocks and Nouka Bazooka.

Moulin Rouge ‘kitsch’ still offers up a cancan or two.  The Moulin is usually associated with the cancan (which originated in Montparnasse) due to Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings of Jane Avril and Yvette Guibert, but it is believed that it was the striptease that actually originated here in 1893.  Supposedly, during a contest between artists’ models at the yearly Bal des Quat’z Arts held by the Fine Arts School students at the caberet, one of them leapt up on a table and threw off her clothes.  Outraged upon learning of this new  phenomenon, the president of the Ligue Contre la Licence des Rues—the league in charge of cleaning up the streets —took the case to court.  The model was arrested, thus sparking protests by students demanding the right to “artistic nudity”.  The publicity surrounding the case led to a spate of risqué sketches in neighboring cabarets, such as the Divan Fayouau, where the star, Yvette, undressed and got ready for bed each night on stage—at least in the spectator’s imagination; another demoiselle perused her body in a most sensual way as she searched for a flea bite in “La Puce.”

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