Nice and the French Riviera

The French Riviera (or Côte d’Azur in French) is the name of an area which roughly extends from Menton, near the Italian border, to an unspecified point between Saint Tropez and Toulon, anyway east of Marseille.
Yet, to precisely define it geographically is not really important. Nice, Mougins, Saint Paul, Vence, Antibes, Monaco….the French Riviera has always been a special place for creative people and art lovers from around the world; a land where Mediterranean colors, light, landscape, and art intertwine since the days in which Auguste Renoir, Isadora Duncan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Henry Matisse, and Jean Cocteau chose this piece of southern France coastline as their home.
Such an enduring relationship between artists and territory is perfectly expressed by the museums, cultural centers, and exhibition galleries we can enjoy today in this extraordinary land.

Above: the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, view from the sea; photo by Tim Gage.