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The town of Grasse (06 Alpes-Maritimes, Provence) is famous for being the heart of the Provencal perfumery industry with evocative names such as Fragonard to entice you. Set up in the hills back from the Mediterranean coast, Grasse celebrates its 3-day Fete du Jasmin from 1-3 August 2008. The festival marks the beginning of the Jasmine harvest and features fireworks, dancing and a Jasmine parade.

Most visitors to Provence head for the spectacular Mediterranean coast and stylish seaside resorts, but you are missing much of the best of Provence if you don’t venture inland, where the scenery is stunning - and you can get great views of the sea.

The Côte d’Azur, the French Riviera: its sun, its beaches… and especially its backcountry, a true haven of well-being, brimming with authentic flavours and fragrances!!! Rising from the hills above the Mediterranean is the city of Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, surrounded by the charming Provencal landscape and villages of the Pays de Grasse, the regional name for this breathtaking and tranquil countryside. Together, they form the French Rivera’s most beautiful balcony.

For more info see www.ville-grasse.fr/jasminade

Against the setting of the Riviera and the Mediterranean, Cannes (06 Alpes-Maritimes, Provence) holds a series of spectacular pyrotechnic extravaganzas (Festival d’Art Pyrotechnique) in July and August 2008 with teams from around the world presenting their latest creations with accompanying soundtracks around the themes of legends, a live concert, Rhapsody in Rainbow, Lightning Dance and Franco-Russian history amongst others. Starting at 10pm these promise to be a real feast for the eyes.

From the Esterel mountains to the Pointe Croisette, the bay of Cannes forms a jewel case for great events. Cannes wanted to organize for its citizens, as well as for tourists, an international valued event in the very heart of the summer season, where it could take advantage of both : its magnificent natural scenery and its prestige.

These shows, given from a 300 meters seafront, in the splendid bay of Cannes, gave a surprising dimension to it. The reflection of the fireworks on the water and the acoustic relief, transported the public into a fairy tale world of successive frames.

For more info see www.festival-pyrotechnique-cannes.com

The Independent’s Simon Calder narrates an interesting and informative Podcast which you can download and take with you to the cosmopolitan city of Nice, an easy option with many budget airlines flying in from numerous UK airports - or take the TGV from London!

Beginning in the Promenade des Anglais, Simon Calder explores the Matisse Museum and admires the beautiful views of the hills of Provence. He also samples the region’s cuisine, trying traditional corn pancakes and dining at the luxurious Aphrodite restaurant, before tasting some locally produced wine.

The local wine is called Bellet AOC.The vineyards lie within the city limits in the hills above the town. Seldom seen in the UK, the whites are made from Rolle and some Chardonnay with Folle Noir for the reds with some Grenache and Cinsault. Rosé comes from Braquet and Cinsault. Yapp Brothers stock the Bellet AC wines of Domaine de la Source - the rosé 2007 being “a dry and fruity rosé with aromas of wild roses. On the palate, red berry flavours precede a clean, dry finish.”, whilst the 2007 Blanc is described as “An esoteric dry white wine with subtle hints of Provençal pine. The wine displays aromas of pear and wild flowers when young and quince and toasted almonds when it reaches maturity. The dry but fruity palate has balanced acidity and good fruit characteristics, preceding an alluring dry finish.”

Some Links:
Hi Hotel
Musée Matisse in Nice
Aphrodite Restaurant
Nice Official Tourist Office

Buy at AllPosters.com

Information on domestic flights in France is not easy to come by, one reason being that Air France has such a dominant position in France and already have flights on most internal routes.
Plus the French market is not as competitive. The French Railway system between major cities is both fast and competitive, especially if starting from Paris.
I have only been able to uncover a couple of airlines which offer domestic flights in France:-
http://www.easyjet.com/ - Toulouse to Lyon, Paris, Nice to Paris; Lyon to Biarritz, Bordeaux; Biarritz to Paris

http://www.twinjet.net/
Toulouse (32 Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees) to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse, Brest; Marseille to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse; Paris - Perigueux, Cherbourg

http://www.airlinair.fr/ Brest,(29 Finistere, Brittany) Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine), Agen (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes), Poitiers (86 Vienne, Poitou-Charentes), Brive (19 Correze, Limousin) Beziers (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) etc

http://www.ryanair.com/ now also has links from Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) to Lille (59 Nord, Nord-Pas de Calais) and Brest (29 Finistere, Brittany)

You can try sites like http://www.expedia.fr/ but even a price comparison site like http://www.baisse-de-prix.com/voyages.php seems to offer little new – it looks like Air France have cornered the market with little opportunity for discounting.

In this environmentally-aware age, there are new considerations when planning your trip to France - the Eurostar probably is the winner London-Paris in terms of both time (city centre to city centre) and lack of hassle. Even on overall cost it probably wins especially if you can book ahead.

But, on a longer journey to the Mediterranean coast and the Cote d’Azur? The dash between rail terminals in Paris (e.g. Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon) can be a significant disincentive for the train and adds time on an already long journey.

Sheila took the journey from London to Antibes (06 Alpes-Maritimes, Provence) by Eurostar and TGV, and here are some of her observations:

We were advised to go 1st class as it was a long journey…. St. Pancras to Antibes, changing at Lille - definitely worth the extra for the wide comfortable seats. Toilets on both the Eurostar and the following TGV were disgusting - but fine on the return journey. Food on Eurostar was good and pleasantly served. The staff were very obliging and efficient. Food on the Lille/Antibes train was just from the buffet car and not at all interesting - just sandwiches and snacks.It seemed that most people brought their own and ate on the journey but, being French, they did this at lunch time - not grazing constantly as the British seem to do.
Even in 1st class the TGV was full, and people tend to anticipate their station and prepare (with huge cases and luggage) several minutes before arrival at the station. The train does not stop for very long.
The train is very fast, but very smooth - it is a long journey so very necessary to have reading matter, ipod, or whatever to pass the time - scenery in the North rather flat, but becoming more interesting as it progresses through to the South.
We were on the top deck on the way out and it was a single decker on the return journey, but not really any noticeable difference except when coming in to a station and people’s heads were below eye level, only the stairs made it more difficult to get the luggage ready by the door when preparing to leave the train.
Despite the horribly early start, I think I’d do the same again rather than the alternative flight from Heathrow.

For example mid-week in late May 2008 you can leave London St Pancras at 07.00 and arrive in Antibes at 17.27 (local time) - a journey time of 9h27m with a 1 hour wait in Lille (59 Nord Nord-Pas-de-Calais) (but no dash across town just a saunter across the platform!). Return fare is £189.00 (£349 First Class).

The Tour de France 2008 (21 stages, 3500 km) Stage 16 is on Tuesday 22 July 2008 and starts from Cuneo on the Italian side of the Alps and runs for 157 km through the mountains to finish back in France at Jausiers (04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence) via Isola (96 Alpes-Maritimes, Provence).
For more on the Tour de France 2008 see www.letour.fr/
For details of coverage on ITV see www.itv.com

The number of budget airline routes to France from the UK is continuing to grow, as is the number of French destinations - no longer restricted to the major cities. This really does open up some of the less well-known parts of France.
The list below shows the extent of the coverage - and this excludes flights to Paris which are available from most local airports. Some flights are seasonal, so please check with the airline for timetables and availability.

Those folks on the French Riveria really know how to make us northern Europeans envious of their benign climate - February witnesses a whole series of festivals (Menton Lemons, Nice Flowers & Carnival, Mimosas) - and they hold them outside, whereas we dare not venture outside without hat, gloves, overcoat, scarf and thermal undergarments!

At Villefrance-sur-Mer (06 Alpes-Maritimes, Provence) they celebrate with a Battle of the Flowers on water - in the Port de la Sante (which literally translates as Health Port) on 27 February 2006.
Traditional fishing boats (“pointus”) decorated with local flowers (carnations, mimosas) arranged in different motifs are in the harbour and a flower battle ensues between the boats whilst there are various other attractions on the quayside.

Villefranche is a pretty little coastal port with a natural deep harbour - the town feels more real than some of its bigger and more glitzy Riviera neighbours.

The local tourist office website is not one of the best I have seen and clearly someone has translated from the French into English using a dictionary word for word - hence “Moreover, you can savour its greedy treasures resulting from the sea in the restaurants in edge of sea.” - perhaps beware of paddling in case you get eaten?
If you must, see www.villefranche-sur-mer.org

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