No the Tobacco Museum isn’t intended to promote tobacco; nor is it meant for smokers alone! Its collections, which are unique in Europe, evoke the saga of a plant with an amazing destiny, sometimes blessed and sometimes cursed; originating and used in America more than 3,000 years ago before conquering Africa and then the world. […]
Where to go
The Château de Châlucet (sometimes written as Chalusset), a ruined castle, is in the commune of Saint-Jean-Ligoure, about 10 km to the south of Limoges, in the département of Haute-Vienne, and less than 2 km from the Pôle de Lanaud. The ruins dominate the confluence of the rivers Briance and Ligoure. The castle is a medieval fortress, with a purely defensive goal; it is composed of two parts: a castle, on […]
The Musée national Adrien-Dubouché is a French national museum focusing on Limoges porcelain and the history of ceramics . Founded in 1845 and located in Limoges ( Haute-Vienne ), it is part of the public establishment Cité de la Céramique – Sèvres & Limoges . The Adrien-Dubouché National Museum preserves nearly 18,000 works in ceramics (pottery, stoneware, earthenware and porcelain) and glass from various periods, from Antiquity to the present day, and […]
Temple Neuf, meaning “New Temple” is a Protestant church in Metz, France. It is located on place de la Comédie (next to Opéra-Théâtre), at the center of the Jardin d’Amour on the southwestern edge of Île du Petit-Saulcy, which is surrounded by the Moselle. The church was built by Glod, with the first stone being laid on 25 November 1901 (when Metz […]
The cave of Saint-Cézaire is a cavity fitted out for tourism, located in the Alpes-Maritimes , 15 km west of Grasse , 2 km from the village of Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne . The cave of Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne is located in a geological ensemble dating back about 140 million years. This horizon constitutes a thick set of 70 to 170 meters of limestone with a light gray patina, in regular banks often rich in ammonites . The cave sinks […]
The International Perfume Museum is a museum, labeled “ Musée de France ”, located in Grasse , in the Alpes-Maritimes . The museum presents to the public the techniques and the know-how of the creation of perfumes, as well as their uses throughout history. The museum’s mission is to conserve and offer the public collections which present the history of perfumery from Antiquity: soap, […]
The hanging gardens of Le Havre , abbreviated the Hanging Gardens occupy a site of 17 hectares in the Sanvic district in Havre . This botanical garden is located on the heights of Le Havre inside the old fort of Sainte-Adresse . They dominate the lower town, the estuary and the English Channel . In total, the Hanging Gardens in 2010 had some 3,700 plant species. The spirit of the garden is to pay homage to […]
Le Volcan est un centre culturel situé au Havre ouvert en 1982 composé de deux salles de spectacles, l’une de 800 places l’autre de 125 places. D’abord nommée Maison de la Culture (la première créée par André Malraux en 1961), puis scène nationale en 1991, Le Volcan est aujourd’hui une des plus importantes scènes nationales en France. C’est un lieu de production et de […]
The Montpellier Zoological Park (formally Parc Zoologique de Lunaret) is a French zoological park located in the region Occitanie, in the north of the city of Montpellier. The greenhouse opened in 2007 as part of the Montpellier Zoo with a footprint of about 2,600 m2. It represents 7 climatic zones and habitats, with a large aviary, and with an artificial rainstorm every two hours […]
The promenade du Peyrou , also called Place Royale du Peyrou , is an esplanade of 4.59 ha located to the west of the Écusson district in the city of Montpellier ( Hérault ), on the edge of the former “commune” wall. -fencing “. This set, classified among the historical monuments , represents a conjunction of five works: the promenade and its terraces allowing to contemplate the Cévennes and the Pyrenees which was fitted out […]
The Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental music. Performances are given in a variety of locations, including: the Théâtre de l’Archevêché, in the courtyard of the former archbishop’s palace the Grand Théâtre […]
The Camp des Milles was a French internment camp, opened in September 1939, in a former tile factory near the village of Les Milles, part of the commune of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). In October 2015, the site was chosen by UNESCO as the headquarters for its new Chair of Education for Citizenship, Human Sciences and Shared Memories. Since 1993, the sites serves as a World War II memorial. The “Fondation […]
The Palais des Papes is a historical palace located in Avignon, Southern France. It is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was the seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century.
The Pont Saint-Bénézet, also known as the Pont d’Avignon, is a famous medieval bridge in the town of Avignon, in southern France. A wooden bridge spanning the Rhône between Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and Avignon was built between 1177 and 1185. This early bridge was destroyed forty years later in 1226 during the Albigensian Crusade when Louis VIII of France laid siege to Avignon. Beginning in 1234 the bridge was rebuilt with […]
Notre-Dame-la-Grande is a Romanesque collegiate church located in Poitiers . Characteristic of the Poitevin Romanesque style, its sculpted facade is a unanimously recognized masterpiece of religious art from this period. The interior walls are painted. The plan of the church consists of a central nave with very high side aisles according to a pattern common in the Romanesque architecture of Poitou. From the inside one has the effect of a […]
The Musée Sainte-Croix is the largest museum in Poitiers, France. Planned by the architect poitevin Jean Monge and built in 1974, it stands at the site of the former Abbaye Sainte-Croix, which was moved to Saint-Benoît, Vienne. It is a constructed of concrete and glass, in the 1970s style. The museum hosts a permanent exhibition on periods from prehistory to the contemporary art, through the medieval period and the Fine arts. […]
The Roman Theatre of Orange is a Roman theatre in Orange, Vaucluse, France. It was built early in the 1st century AD. The structure is owned by the municipality of Orange and is the home of the summer opera festival, the Chorégies d’Orange. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman theatres, and served the Roman colony of Arausio (or, more specifically, Colonia Julia Firma Secundanorum […]
As you go west the scenery behind the beach becomes more rural and you enter the Parc Naturel Régional des Caps et Marais d’Opale a large protected area that stands in marked contrast to the industry and strip malls east and south of Calais. Further towards the port is a promenade with mini golf, bars […]
Calais Lighthouse (French: Phare de Calais) is located in Calais in Pas-de-Calais. The Lighthouse is located in the residential streets near the Port of Calais and is a significant landmark as well as a navigational aid to ships and ferries using the Straits of Dover. The lighthouse is 53m high, its tower is octagonal outside and round inside with walls 1.90m at the base and 1.50m at […]
Calanques National Park is a French national park located in Bouches-du-Rhône, in Southern France. It was established in 2012 and extends over 520 km2 (201 sq mi), of which 85 km2 (33 sq mi) is land, while the remaining is marine area. It includes parts of the Massif des Calanques stretching between Marseille, Cassis and La Ciotat. Several of the park’s best known features include the Calanque de Sormiou, Calanque de Morgiou, Calanque de Port-Miou, Calanque de Sugiton, […]
Notre-Dame de la Garde, in French for Marseille’s citizens “la bonne mère” (the good (holy) mother), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, and the city’s best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assumption Day pilgrimage, it was the most visited site in Marseille. It was built on the foundations of an ancient fort at the highest natural point in Marseille, a 149 m […]
Cap Ferrat is a cape situated in the Alpes-Maritimes department in Southeastern France. It is located in the commune of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Hospitius lived there as a recluse during the 6th century. Thus, the cape is sometimes called Cap-Saint-Hospice or Cap-Saint-Sospis. Once the domain of King Leopold II of Belgium, Cap Ferrat is now graced with a number of magnificent villas, most notably the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. A byword for […]
The Promenade des Anglais is a promenade along the Mediterranean at Nice, France. It extends from the airport on the west to the Quai des États-Unis (United States Quay) on the east, a distance of approximately 7 km (4 miles). Administratively speaking, it forms part of Route nationale 98, which runs between Toulon and Menton. For the local inhabitants, the Promenade des Anglais has simply become the Promenade or, for […]
The Cailhau door ( porta deu Calhau in 1450 ) or Palace gate is a gate of the city of Bordeaux , in the French department of Gironde . It served as both a defensive door and a triumphal arch (presence of a niche bearing the image of the king). It has been classified as a historical monument since May 28 , 1883. On its facade, on the city side, we can see in the center a theatrical scene […]
Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France. Bordeaux is centered on the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde and covering the whole area of the Gironde department, with a total vineyard area of over 120,000 hectares, making it the largest wine growing area in […]
The Place du General de Gaulle is an urban public space of the city of Lille in the French department of Nord in the region of Hauts-de-France . The square is of the grand-place type which is characterized by a completely mineral aspect that can be found in many towns in the old Netherlands . This is the historic and main square of the city. The square is bordered by various buildings; eight are […]
La Piscine (French for “the swimming pool”) is a museum of art and industry, located in the city of Roubaix in northern France. It is more formally known as La Piscine-Musée d’Art et d’Industrie André Diligent or Le musée d’Art et d’Industrie de la ville de Roubaix, but its common name derives from the fact that it is housed in a former […]
The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris’ ancient stone quarries. Extending south from the Barrière d’Enfer (“Gate of Hell”) former city gate, this ossuary was created as part of the effort to eliminate the city’s overflowing cemeteries. Preparation work […]
The Palace of Versailles was the principal royal residence of France from 1682, under Louis XIV, until the start of the French Revolution in 1789, under Louis XVI. It is located in the department of Yvelines, in the region of Île-de-France, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of the centre of Paris. The palace is now a historical monument and UNESCO World Heritage site, notable especially for the ceremonial […]
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed “La dame de fer” (French for “Iron Lady”), it was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair and was initially criticised by some of France’s […]
The Parc de l’Orangerieis a public park in the city of Strasbourg . It is located opposite the Palais de l’Europe and close to the other European institutions in the district known as the Orangerie , within the Neustadt . Its area is 26 hectares. Naturally there’s a lot more to this fantastic park than that: You have a large boating lake, lots of long, leafy avenues, lawns, […]
Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg , also known as Strasbourg Minster, is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely considered to be among the finest examples of Rayonnant Gothic architecture. Architect Erwin von Steinbach is credited for major contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318, and beyond through his son Johannes […]
The Château de Vincennes is a massive 14th and 17th century French royal fortress in the town of Vincennes, to the east of Paris, now a suburb of the metropolis. Two kings were married at Vincennes in the 1200s, and three kings died here, including Henry V of England, who died from dysentery in 1422. After his fall from grace […]
The Cannes Festival, until 2003 called the International Film Festival (Festival international du film) and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around the world. Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals […]
The Ancient Theatre of Fourvière is a Roman theatre in Lyon, France. It was built on the hill of Fourvière, which is located in the center of the Roman city. At its peak it would have held 10,000 spectators, but only the middle and lower terraces of the cavea remain. Where the seating has been lost though, you can see the […]
Nantes Cathedral, or the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul of Nantes, is a Roman Catholic Gothic cathedral located in Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France. Construction began in 1434, on the site of a Romanesque cathedral, and took 457 years to finish in 1891. It has been listed since 1862 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. The plain façade is […]