Photos
The photos are all supplied with metadata in RDF (mostly
in Dutch) and are available in small format (max 640x480 pixels)
and large format (various). Some touristic
tips are available as well.
- Abbaye du Thoronet
- One of three famous Cistercian abbeys in the Provence. Built
in the 12th century, austere (and therefore quite
modern-looking) but beautiful.
- Abbaye Notre
Dame de Sénanque
- Another one of the three famous Cistercian abbeys, but this
one is still in use. The abbey lives, among other things, of
the cultivation of lavender (and the visitors, of course).
- Aigues-Mortes
- Aigues-Mortes is a small town inside a square wall, in the
south-western corner of the Camargues. These photos were taken
from the air.
- Aix-en-Provence
- There is a lot to see in Aix-en-Provence (the colorful
markets, for a start) and the terraces are ageeable. [tourism]
- Allemagne-en-Provence
- Don't ask me why it is called this, but Allemagne-en-Provence
(Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) is a small village with a castle, not
far from the Lac de Sainte Croix.
- Annot
- Annot is a small village on the Train des
Pignes train line from Nice to Digne. It is famous for its
sandstone rocks and there is a nice walk to be made to those
rocks and the Chambre du Roi.
- Antibes
- Antibes (Alpes Maritimes), partially referring to the book
“Antibes au debut du siècle” (1995), that
contains photos of Antibes around 1900. [tourism]
- Antibes — bataille des fleurs
- Every year in June, Antibes organizes a flower parade.
- Antibes — street
theatre
- “Déantibulations” is a street theatre
festival, the 2009 edition was from May 29 to June 1
(the pentecost weekend).
- Antibes —
gardens
- The Jardin Thuret is a botanical garden of
the INRA. The Villa Eilenroc is a villa with
its park, now owned by the town.
- Apt
- At the lavender farm Les Agnels you can get
a guided tour of the lavender distillery.
- Aups
- Between Aups and Tourtour, along the
D77, lies the Musée de Faykod, the sculpture garden and artist's
workshop of sculptress Marie de Faykod.
- Avignon
- Avignon, city of the bridge,
the popal
palace (both from the Middle Ages) and of the festival. [tourism]
- Bagnols-en-Forêt
- Bagnols-en-Forêt is a small, old village with a view.
The Gorges du Blavet are located a little to the west.
- Beaulieu-sur-Mer
- At 1 km as the crow flies from that other neo-historical
villa, the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild,
stands the Villa Kérylos. From the same period (around 1903),
but based on classical Greek villas from Delos.
- Biot
- The old village of Biot (Alpes-Maritimes) is a Monument Historique. It has narrow streets on
top of a hill and especially many artists and galleries. [tourism]
- Bonson
- Bonson is a small village on top of a cliff high above the
Var. Every year (since 2003), it organizes an exhibition of
contemporary art with installations throughout the village, the
Festival du
Peu (“festival of little”).
- Bouches-du-Rhône
- The Bouches-du-Rhône is a department with famous
cities, such as Marseille, Aix-en-Provence and Arles, but it is
also known for its wines. Chateau la Coste in
Le-Puy-Ste-Réparade is one of the bigger vineyards of
the “Côteaux d'Aix-en-Provence.” The
Calanques are steep, white cliffs along the coast between
Marseille and La Ciotat. [tourism]
- Cabris
- Cabris is a small hilltop village offering a wide panorama
towards both Antibes and the Lac de St. Cassien.
- Cagnes-sur-Mer
- The old town of Cagnes-sur-Mer isn't on the sea, but on a
hilltop. It does have a medieval castle, however.
- Camargue
- The Camargue (Bouches-du-Rhône) is a swamp area in the
delta of the Rhône. It is a nature reserve, partly used
for making salt, rice fields and other agriculture. You can
find there, among other things, flamingos and wild horses.
- Cannes
- Cannes is mostly known for its “Croisette,” the
boulevard along the beach, the well-know hotels and the Palais
des Festivals. But it is not shown in these photos. [tourism]
- Cap-d'Ail
- Cap d'Ail is on the coast, just before Monaco. There are
expensive villas and a couple of rocks that can serve as beach.
- Cap-Ferrat
- A footpath goes round the Cap-Ferrat and offers beautiful
views of the Mediterranean Sea, the Alps and Cap-Ferrat itself.
- Carros
- Carros has two parts, a new village with a vast industrial
zone along the Var, and a medieval hilltop village. These
photos depict the latter.
- Cassis
- Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône) is a small, picturesque
village with a harbour, not far from Marseille. A steep cliff
of 360 m high rises from the sea right next to the
village.
- Castellane and the
Clue de Chabrières
- View of Castellane (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) and its rock.
The Clue de Chabrières is a narrow passage in the rocks
between Castellane and Digne, along the Route Napoléon.
- Châteauneuf-Villevieille
- From the 6th to the 18th century, the inhabitants of
Châteauneuf lived on the hilltop, then they returned to
the old village. The ruins lend themselves to a picnic or to
ghost stories.
- Coaraze
- Coaraze is an old village on a hill top, famous for its sun
dials. In the context of the manifestation “L'art contemporain et la Côte d'Azur
1951-2011,” it invited four artists to create
temporary art works in the village.
- Courmes
- Courmes is a tiny little village on a
dead-end road, but the plateau between Courmes and the Col de
Vence is ideal for hikes, especially in autumn.
- Durance
- A few places along the river Durance: Chateaux-Arnoux,
Ganagobie (the monastery), Lurs and Forcalquier.
- Entrevaux
- Entrevaux (Alpes-Maritimes), a little town on the Var, with
the ruines of a citadel high above it, at one time made a
stronghold by Vauban,
architect to Louis XIV. [tourism]
- Esterel
- The Esterel is an area of low mountains made up of red rocks,
along the coast between Fréjus and Cannes. Red rocks against
blue sea equals wonderful panoramas. It's also an ideal area
for walking, especially in winter, when further inland it can
be quite cold.
- Eze
- Eze lies on top of a hill on the coast between Nice and
Monaco. A lot of tourists, but outside the season it is not so
bad.
- Fontanalbe
- The valley of Fontanalbe is part of the “Vallée
des Merveilles,” an area at an altitude of 2000 m
around the mount Bégo in the Mercantour nature reserve,
on the French side of the French-Italian border to the north of
Nice. Thousands of rock carvings date from 5000 years ago.
- Fréjus
- Fréjus is an old Roman town. Just outside the town one
can see, apart from a Roman aquaduct, the remains of a dam, the
Barrage de
Malpasset, that collapsed shortly after it was put into
operation in 1959 and killed more than 400 people in
Fréjus.
- Gattières
- Another hill-top village, this one with a view over the Var
river.
- Gilette
- Near Gilette, at the bottom of a 20 minute walk down to the
Esteron river, is a bridge, the Pont de La Cerise, and below it
a rocky “beach,” which is quite popular on warm
days.
- Golfe-Juan
- When Napoleon landed here in 1815, after his banishment to
Elba, Golfe-Juan was a hamlet with a handful of fishermen. It
is different now, but Napoleon still lands here every year in
March.
- Gorges du
Cians
- The Gorges du Cians (Alpes-Maritimes) are one of the most
surprising canyons of the Provence. When you follow the narrow
ravine upstream from the Var valley to Beuil, you start between
gray rocks, which suddenly turn into red rocks, and finally,
when the ravine widens, you find yourself in an alpine
environment. (Beuil is a ski resort.) The road is occasionally
closed for repairs; the red rock (formed from iron-rich clay)
is not too stable...
- Gorges du
Loup
- Along the Loup, one finds the tiny village of Pont-du-Loup,
with its back against the rock, a waterfall, and some nice
views.
- Gorges
du Verdon
- The Gorges du Verdon, or “Grand Canyon du
Verdon,” is a deep ravine worn out by the river Verdon,
with an artifical lake at the end, on the border between the
departments of Var and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
- Grasse
- Grasse is a town on a mountain slope. It has an old centre
(less visited than the towns closer to the coast) and a couple
of nice museums.
- Hyères
- The Villa Noailles, on the castle hill overlooking the town,
was the country house of Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles
between 1925 and 1976. The villa, designed by Robert
Mallet-Stevens, is now home to an association that supports
contemporary art.
- Juan-les-Pins
- Juan-les-Pins (Alpes-Maritimes) is alive mostly in the
summer. Then it is the capital of party-goers and sun
worshippers (and jazz fans, mid-July.)
- Lac de
St. Cassien
- The Lac de St. Cassien is an artifical lake on the border
between the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Var. In de
summer a sought-after place to cool down.
- La-Colle-sur-Loup
- The last of the canyons of the river Loup is surprisingly
close to the coast, between La-Colle-sur-Loup and
Villeneuve-Loubet.
- Lacs de
Prals
- The
area between the Madone de Fenestre, the
Lacs de Prals and the Baisse
des Cinq Lacs [fr] is a popular place for walking.
The circuit takes about 4 hours. In July and August, it is
wise to start early: there are thunderstorms most afternoons.
- La Penne
- A beautifully set small village. Remains of a defense wall
date from the Middle Ages.
- Le-Bar-sur-Loup
- The village celebrated the “Fête de
l'oranger” of 2007 on April 9.
- Lucéram
- Luceram is a picturesque village at a height of about
600 m in the valley of the Paillon, 25 km from Nice.
Since 1998 it shows every December and January a few hundred
nativity scenes dispersed in the village. [tourism]
- Malaussène
- Malaussène is a small village at the end of a dead-end road.
The high part, south of the church, is since 1930 only ruins.
- Marie
- A small village of less than 100 inhabitants on a steep
mountain high above the Tinée river. Picturesque, well
maintained, and a good place to start walks, but without any
shop or restaurant.
- Mazaugues
- Mazaugues is a small village not far from the Saint-Baume
mountain range. It possesses an ice museum.
- Menton
- Menton (Alpes Maritimes) is the town with the mildest climate
in France, on the Mediterranean Sea at the border with Italy.
- Metz
- Metz (Moselle) is a town in northeast France with, since May
2010, an impressive museum for modern art, both with respect to
its collection (from the the Centre Pompidou
in Paris) and to its architecture.
- Mini-France
- The “Mini France” park just west of Brignoles
(Var) showed the best-known and most typical buildings of
France as miniatures. I've had reports that the park is
closed since 2002.
- Monaco
- Monte-Carlo is a curiosity. The old town looks like a
Provençal village, except that it is unnaturally clean
and freshly painted. All around are skyscrapers that appear to
be built on top of other skyscrapers. Price per square meter
means that roads go underground and gardens on the roof. Worth
a visit, though. See the exotic garden and especially the
maritime museum.
- Mouans-Sartoux
- Mouans-Sartoux is a small village on the train line between
Cannes and Grasse, which reopened in March 2005. It has a small
castle (now museum for concrete art) and regularly organises
festivities (book fairs, flower shows, etc.)
- Mougins
- The old village of Mougins sits on top of a round hill. It's
full of restaurants and art shops.
- Moustiers-Ste-Marie
- At the end of the Gorges du Verdon, close to the Sainte Croix
lake, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (Var) is a village full of
souvenir shops, half in a crack in the rocks and definitely
worth photographing.
- Nice
- Nice has a pyramid. Few people know it, but it absolutely
exists, near Falicon, to the north of Nice. Speleologues know
it as the pyramid that marks the entrance of the Ratapignata
cave. Mystics think it is mystic, but it is above all
enigmatic.
- Nîmes
- Nîmes (Gard) has some well-reserved Roman buildings,
among which the arena, still in use today.
- Opio
- The French comedian Coluche was killed in a motor accident on
the road between Valbonne and Opio, in May 1986. A little
monument has been erected a little further down the road.
- Peille
- Peille is another picturesque hilltop village. It has a
station (from which it is 90 minutes walking uphill to the
village), it was once an important town, but now most of the
people who live there work somewhere else, and most of the rest
only live there during weekends.
- Plateau de Caussols
- The Plateau de Caussols is a plateau (at about 1000 m)
near Gourdon (Alpes-Maritimes) and ideal for walks.
- Pont-du-Gard
- The Roman aquaduct and bridge over the river Gard is still
almost completely intact. A marvel of Roman engineering, built
around 15 BC.
- Puget-Théniers
- Puget-Theniers is a small village along the Var with, among
other things, still a house from the 11th century.
- Quinson
- Quinson is a tiny village just downstream of the Gorges du Verdon and the
Lac de St-Croix. It has some gorges of its
own, but most of all it has a brand-new (2001), big and very
nice prehistory museum, housed in a building designed
for the purpose by sir Norman Foster.
- Rallye
d'Antibes
- The Rallye d'Antibes is a car rallye that counts for the
European championship. The event lasts three days and includes
tests in the mountains around Antibes.
- Rocca-Sparviera
- The ruins of
Rocca-Sparviera can be reached on foot from Duranus,
Coaraze or L'Engarvin (quickest). The village was abandoned
around 1600, but there are still plenty of ruins. And the view
to all sides is good, too.
- Roquebrune-sur-Argens
- The red rock of Roquebrune is a landmark for people following
the motorway, but it also has some things to explore, such as
ruins of a church and a chapel.
- Roquefort-les-Pins
- Roquefort consists of a group of hamlets now attached to each
other, without any centre. A castle and a village were
destroyed in 1341, but some ruines are still visible.
- Roudoule
- The Roudoule is a small river that joins the Var at Puget-Théniers. Puget-Rostang
has a museum for regional history, the Ecomusée du
Pays de la Roudoule.
- Roya valley
- The Roya starts in France and ends in Italy in the
Mediterranean Sea. On its way it flows past many beautiful
landscapes and photegenic villages and small towns.
- Rustrel
- Near Rustrel lies the Colorado Provençal, a
former ochre mine, now a hiking spot, with red, yellow and
white rocks
- Saorge
- Saorge (Alpes-Maritimes), is built against the mountain in
such a way, that cars cannot penetrate it.
- Sarreguemines
- Sarreguemines (Moselle) is a small town on the Saar at the
German border. Formerly a centre for the manufacture of
porcelain.
- St.-Cézaire-sur-Siagne
- St.-Cézaire-sur-Siagne is a good spot for a walk down
to the Siagne river and on the other side of the village is a
cave, les
grottes de Saint-Cézaire, where you can admire
stalagtites and stalagmites in beautiful and bizarre shapes.
- St.-Jeannet
- St.-Jeannet is a hilltop village, more popular with tourists
than neighbour Gattières (though not necessarily more
beautiful) and the starting point for walks up to the Baou de
Saint-Jeannet or the Baou de la Gaude.
- St.-Paul-de-Vence
- St-Paul-de-Vence is one of the many hilltop villages, except
that this one is since the middle of the 20th century full of
artists and galeries, and meanwhile the whole year round full
of tourists.
- St.-Tropez
- St.-Tropez (Var), is rich and therefore well-maintained.
Outside of the summer season you can get there without spending
3 hours in a traffic jam and there is room enough to take
pictures.
- Ste-Agnès
- Ste-Agnès (Alpes-Maritimes) is a tiny hilltop village
near Menton. It's worth a visit for its view (over Menton and
the sea), its narrow alleys, castle ruins and Maginot fort.
- Seillans
- Seillans is a small hilltop village with narrow alleys,
fountains and a museum, the
Maison Waldberg
,
with works by Max Ernst, Dorothea Tanning and Stanislas
Appenzeller.
- Siagne
- De Siagne emerges from a group of sources (on private
property, so not accessible), not far from St-Vallier-de-Thiey.
- Sospel
- Sospel is a medieval village on the Bevera river (an affluent
of the Roya). It has a church with a baroque front, several
fortifications (the latest from the Maginot line of the 2nd
World War) and an 11th century bridge
- Tanneron
- Tanneron is a small village surrounded by mimosa nurseries.
- Tende
- Tende is a village with narrow streets, squeezed between the
mountains in the Roya valley, a station on the railway
Nice-Cuneo, and the home of the Musée des
Merveilles, an archeological museum dedicated to the
Vallée des Merveilles and elder
sister of the museum in Quinson.
- Théoule-sur-Mer
- Théoule-sur-Mer is a small village on the coast near Cannes,
sandwiched between the mountains of the Esterel. It has a small
beach, a small harbour and a few restaurants on the waterfront.
- Thorenc
- Thorenc is a village with an architecture that you would
expect more in Switzerland than in the Provence. Le Domaine du Haut-Thorenc is a bison reserve
and horse breeder. And the Castellaras was a medieval village
on a rock with a view over both.
- Tinée valley
- The Tinée valley has narrow ravines ("gorges") and also a very nice arboretum, in
Roure, high above the river.
- Tourettes-sur-Loup
- Tourettes is a “village
perché” with a view until the sea.
- Tourtour
- Tourtour is a small village in the centre of the Var, with a
few narrow little streets and two castles.
- Trams
- From the end of the 19th century until about 1950 a number of
tramways and trains connected the villages and towns up to far
into the mountains. The many tunnels and viaducts are still
visible.
- Utelle
- The Madone d'Utelle is a chapel on a mountain top above
Utelle (Alpes-Maritimes), where in 850, according to legend,
Maria made a light that guided three sailors lost on the
Mediterranean Sea to safe harbour. On a clear day, you can
indeed see all the way to the sea. The Gorges de
la Mescla in the Var also belong to Utelle.
- Valbonne,
Châteauneuf-Grasse
-
Châteauneuf-Grasse is an old hilltop village with narrow
stair streets and, outside the village, the church Notre Dame du Brusc and the Trinity chapel. To
the south-east of Valbonne, at the edge of Antibes, two roman
aquaducts that once brought water to Antibes can be found next
to the motorway A8 (as shown on this map [or
a copy]).
- Var
- Some aerial and other photos of the Var coast.
- Vence
- Vence possesses a (former) cathedral with parts from the 11th
century, a chapel (chapelle du Rosaire) of
which the interior has been designed by Matissse, a walled old
town, and festivities: the photos show the flower parade in
April.
- Villa Ephrussi
- The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild (St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat,
Alpes-Maritimes) is the work of the baroness Ephrussi de
Rothschild from 1903, but harks back mostly to the 17th and
18th centuries. The gardens are varied and particularly well
situated.
- Villefranche-sur-Mer
- Small town squeezed between the mountains and the sea, which
makes good use of its old citadel for various events, including
a garden show.
- Villeneuve-Loubet
- Villeneuve-Loubet has a zone of shops along the RN7, next to
Marina Baie des Anges. But it has more than that.
- Zoo
Cap-Ferrat
- St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat had until September 2009 a small but
cosy zoo. But the prices of ground on the Cap Ferrat are too
high (44,000 &euro/m2 in 2009) and a real
estate developer bought the land…
- Detmold
- Detmold and Horn-Bad Meinberg (Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Duitsland) lie in the heart of the Teutoburgerwald, where,
according to legend, Arminius beat the Roman general Varus.
- Dolceacqua
- Dolceacqua is a medieval town along the Nervia river in
Liguria (Italy), near the French border. An old bridge and the
castle ruins define its image.
- Groningen
- To the north of the Paddepoel quarter (Groningen, The
Netherlands) one just finds a few scattered buildings of the
university, but for the rest it is grassland, with the Van
Starkenborgh canal in between.
- Hanbury Garden
- The Hanbury Botanical Garden is an English garden with
thousands of local and exotic plants on a slope going down some
75 m to the Mediterranean Sea, between Ventimiglia and
Menton.
- Saarbrücken
- Some photos near the Saar river.
- San-Remo
- San-Remo (Liguria, Italy) may be best known for its Italian
song festival, or for its casino, but it also has an old town,
referred to as “La Pigna.”
- Seville
- Some photos of Seville (Spain) from 1996.
- Ventimiglia
- Ventimiglia is not especially beautiful. The French go there
mainly to shop.
Bert Bos
Created: 26 januari 2002