The epitome of elegance
It must be said – France has that je ne sais quoi! Paris is the City of Light, the City of Love, the star of films and capital
of fashion. The list of must-see sights is longue...
the towers of Notre Dame and Eiffel, the Louvre and the Pompidou, Versailles
and the châteaux of the Loire, the
vineyard-lined hills of Bordeaux and the unforgettable French Riviera,
lavender-laden Provence and the underdiscovered delights of Lyon… Not to
mention that French cuisine is just as famous as French couture. It can’t be defined, it must be experienced.
Châteaux in style
Versailles may be the ultimate expression
of the lavish lifestyle of kings such as Louis XIV, but that doesn’t make
France’s other châteaux any less
lovely. Chambord is a mere ‘hunting lodge’ with 440 rooms, moat and towers,
while Chenonceau, known for its arched gallery over the water, is the most
visited château after Versailles.
These are in the Loire Valley, worth a week or two in itself since there are
more than 300 châteaux to marvel at
here. The posh polish of 21st-century royalty, meanwhile, is on display on the
Côte d’Azur, in Cannes, Nice and Monaco. Get a taste of Riviera high life with
a walk along the iconic Cannes promenade, La Croisette, and yacht-studded Vieux
Port, where even if you don’t get a glimpse of a celebrity, you can feel like
one.
Wine and French
cuisine
There’s of course the other sort of château – the winemaking sort. As in Château
Lafite-Rothschild, in which case it refers to a single winery (with or without
an actual château), or
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which is a town in southeastern France with its own appellation d'origine contrôlée. Wine
connoisseurs may want to choose the Bordeaux region for a tasting tour to
charming towns boasting brilliant reds, such as Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and
Fronsac. Or head to the Médoc region to see the centuries-old châteaux including Mouton-Rothschild,
Latour and Margaux. As for cuisine, don’t worry, it keeps up with the wine in
these regions. Foodies should also visit Lyon, the country’s culinary capital,
for hearty meals in the signature bouchon
restaurant style, or haute cuisine
in the tradition of the city’s famous son, renowned chef Paul Bocuse. And did
we mention that the Côtes du Rhône wine region is also nearby?
All for art, art for
all
The Louvre, the Musée
d’Orsay, the Musée Rodin… it’s impossible to absorb all the art on offer in
Paris, but you can try. Fortunately, the Louvre has themed ‘visitor trails’ to
scale the 10,000-piece collection down to your size and interest, such as the
Masterpieces (Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading the People, et cetera) or
the Journey along the Nile. The Musée d’Orsay holds well-known works by Degas,
Monet, Renoir and Cézanne, and The
Thinker sits in the garden of the Musée Rodin. Not far from Paris, visit
Claude Monet’s home and gardens, where his famous water lilies bloom under the
familiar green Japanese bridge. In Lyon, meanwhile, peruse Rodin, Monet and
Picasso at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, or watch the history of film at the Art
Nouveau home of Antoine Lumière, father of the Lumière brothers of motion
picture fame. And just walk the streets of Lyon for marvellous murals including
the Mur du Cinéma, the seven-storey Fresque des Lyonnais and the Mur des Canuts
trompe l’oeil of daily life. What’s
more, Chagall, Renoir, Picasso and Matisse all enjoyed the sun and streets of
the French Riviera, so take a break from the beach to wander the inner streets
of Nice, into museums in villas and the old town.
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