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Rustic open-air restaurants produce wonderful food out of little corner kitchens, served by eccentric waiters who never want to bring a bill. The scenery has inspired world renowned artists, such as Renoir and Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse, to live and work in Provence and the neighbouring Côte d'Azur, which offers some of the finest art galleries and museums in France. Cannes, Nice, Monaco and Saint-Tropez each has a magnetic atmosphere of its own, an energetic glamour and a parade of beautiful people partying until dawn. Behind this exotic shop window lies the `arrière pays', or back-country, within easy reach of the Côted'Azur but far less frenetic. Some of the most popular places Eze, Grasse, Mougins and St-Paul-de-Vence attract large numbers of summer visitors, but only a kilometre or two away are other equally delightful towns and villages untouched by the mass tourist market. Their ancient streets have breathtaking, distant views of the sea, from houses hugging deep gorges or sheltered by rugged mountain outcrops. Provençal life continues here undisturbed and unthreatened, at its own singular pace.
Only in southeast France can visitors gaze in awe at Roman ruins, be swallowed up by the timeless Provence countryside, and engage in the vibrant pleasures of the Riviera, all in a single visit. Such contrasts are its ceaseless and captivating charm.
Languedoc
When Julius Caesar pushed out the frontiers of the Roman Empire, Latin gradually replaced all native tongues except Basque and Breton, and in southern France provided the future basis of its unique dialect. Provençal derives directly from vulgar Latin, in which `Oc' was the word originally used for `yes'. The language thus spoken became known as `la langue d'oc', giving its name to Languedoc. From the capital of the Aude, Carcassonne, the largest medieval fortified city in Europe, the scenic route to Spain and the sea follows the river through perpendicular gorges and forested ravines to the spectacular harbour of Collioure in the PyrénéesOrientales.
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