The fashionable Marais district in the 4th arrondissement, also known as SoMa (South Marais), is filled with hip boutiques, galleries, and gay bars. Once the city’s Jewish quarter, the area still hosts numerous kosher restaurants. The grassy Place des Vosges is home to elegant arcades and the Musée Victor Hugo, where the writer lived. Streets around Saint-Paul metro lead to the Maison Européenne de la Photographie.
Filmed in September 2022.
In the southern French city of #Nîmes, the passion for #AncientRome is more alive than ever. For the past decade, the city has been holding the Great Roman Games show every spring. Legionaries, centurions and gladiators invade the city and bring its incredible Roman monuments back to life: in particular the arena, where the Great Games are organised. Thousands of people, young and old alike, turn out to be transported back to the Rome of #JuliusCaesar.
Nîmes, a city in the Occitanie region of southern France, was an important outpost of the Roman Empire. It’s known for well-preserved Roman monuments such as the Arena of Nîmes, a double-tiered circa-70 A.D. amphitheater still in use for concerts and bullfights. Both the Pont du Gard tri-level aqueduct and the Maison Carrée white limestone Roman temple are around 2,000 years old.
Approached to design the new municipal office in Nice, architect Sasha Sosno had a clear vision: a giant building shaped like the bust of a man with a solid box for a head. How to actually build it would require a brilliant blend of architectural innovation and improvisation.
La Tête Carrée Library, is a massive sculpture that stands at a staggering 85ft (or 28m) in height and was designed by French artist Sacha Sosno and made by two architects – Francis Chapus and Yves Bayard – for the Central Library in Nice. Entitled “Thinking Inside the Box,” the work is an accusatory and clear metaphor and hasn’t always been the most beloved work in the city, with locals often citing it as “ugly”. However, in spite of this, the building remains a fascinating tourist attraction and extraordinary structure, housing four storeys of offices and three storeys of book shelves.
Sosno, a sculptor and peer of other famous local artists such as Henri Matisse and Yves Klein, had long held hope to build such an unusual construction-sculpture but only got a chance to do so in 1997 when his idea was chosen for an administrative office of Louis Nucéra Library. Inaugurated in 2002, it was the first inhabited monumental sculpture in the world.
Located on the corner of Promenade des Arts, La Tête Carrée looks out over Place Yves Klein from the Jardin Maréchal Juin, a small public garden full of colourful flowers and a few more (albeit far, far smaller) sculptures. During the day, it simply looks like a massive sculpture of a head but, if you’re passing La Tête Carrée at night, it is lit from within by a lighting scheme devised by French light artist Yann Kersalé and you can make out the floors of the library inside.
As a town of Art and History, Loches cultivates the art of strolling around, from one street to the next, stopping to look at views of the inaccessible courtyards of the beautiful residences, the Indre River, the bell towers and the elegant surrounding countryside.
A medieval keep, royal apartments from the Renaissance period: in the royal city of Loches, you travel through history in just a few dozen metres.
So close to the great châteaux, and so far from the tumult of the cities, southern Touraine is a wonderful breath of fresh air, brimming with authenticity and charm. A sensitive natural area, the Louroux lake is a good example.
Filmed in Summer of 2022.
Like a medieval duel, but on the water: Contestants use lances to try to knock each other out of their boats. Since 1666, water-jousting events have been held yearly in the port city of Sète, southern France.
After a two-year break on account of the coronavirus pandemic, the traditional fisherman’s jousting event has returned. It’s considered the most important event of its kind – the the sport’s world championships. Each year, thousands of spectators and fans flock to the city to take part in the spectacle. The competition rules haven’t changed since 1666!
This week’s top stories of the week include: 0:16 This teenager’s invention could change the world of electric cars 02:59 France is paying it’s drivers to get on their bikes 04:22 The psychological phenomenon that is hampering our response to climate change 05:33 Paris’s Riverside Booksellers are thriving once more
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In the town of Saumur in France’s Loire Valley, the riders of the Cadre Noir represent excellence in the world of French equestrianism. The military-style academy trains elite riders who take part in top international competitions. Its expertise has been recognised by UNESCO, which listed it as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011. FRANCE 24 takes you behind the scenes of the stables.
The Cadre Noir is a corps of ecuyers, or instructors, at the French military riding academy École Nationale d’Équitation at Saumur in western France, founded in 1828. It also performs as an equestrian display team. Its name comes from the black uniforms that are still in use today.
Tours is a university town between France’s Cher and Loire rivers. Once a Gallic-Roman settlement, today it’s a university town and a traditional gateway for exploring the chateaux of the Loire Valley region. Major landmarks include the cathedral, Saint-Gatien, whose flamboyant Gothic facade is flanked by towers with 12th-century bases and Renaissance tops.
This month, the world’s greatest couturiers will descend on New York and Paris for Fashion Week. For the occasion we bring you stories about la mode and the people behind it. Read about Lee Miller (“A Fashion Model in Combat Boots”), Condé Nast (“The Man Behind the Empire”), and how young, urban creatives in France and America have adopted le bleu de travail – the French worker’s jacket. Also in this issue, travel to the South of France and the Camargo Foundation, which was created in 1971 by American filmmaker Jerome Hill; read our editorial on the Uberization of the world, and meet Belgian “food alchemist” Pascal Baudar, who spends most of his time in the hills around Los Angeles looking for his next meal: plants, fruit, seeds, grains, and even insects!
The Bay of Villefranche, reputed as one of the five most beautiful bays in the world, is embraced by the Cap of Nice to its west and Cap Ferrat to the east. The village of Villefranche sur Mer, perched on the bay, is located just over the hill from Nice (5 minutes away) and 10 minutes away from Monaco.
The charming Old Town of Villefranche cascades down the hillside to the sea, and the bay’s sandy one-kilometer long beach offers great recreation throughout the year.
