Cote dAzur and Provence

A few kilometres back from the Riviera coast is a world of romantic hill towns and perched villages balanced on craggy peaks. Worn stone steps and cobbled streets lead through clusters of narrow-fronted houses. Roman ruins, modern museums and perfume centres cling to steep hillsides. Here, olive groves and pine woods stretch for miles down to the shore. Perfumed foothills are carpeted with flowers in the luminous light that inspired generations of painters from Renoir to Matisse and Picasso. Now a gentle, subtle resort-life flowers in soft air and sun above the Mediterranean. For many others, today's shoreline Riviera offers all the grandeur of old: casinos, splendid hotels and stunning villas. As long as anyone can remember, this is Europe's classic resort. Graced by palms and sub-tropical flowers, since the turn of the century European society would talk of a magical land where winter never came. The well-named Azur Coast is the preferred playground for those willing to settle for nothing less than the best. The Region comprises the Departments of [05] Haute Alpes, [04] Alpes de Haute Provence, [06] Alpes Maritimes, [84] Vaucluse, [13] Bouches di Rhone & [83] Var.