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Amid lovely gardens, this museum was purpose-built to house Chagall’s 17 great works on the “Biblical Message” (see Marc Chagall). The collection was later supplemented by oils, sketches, pastels and gouaches, donated by the Russian artist himself. He also created stained-glass windows, a mosaic and tapestry for the museum. The whole provides the world’s best opportunity to appreciate Chagall and the spiritual themes which fascinated him (see Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice).

One of the jewels of Provence, this museum houses the world’s largest collection of works by Marc Chagall, including 17 canvases from his Biblical Message series (see Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall).

A bishop’s palace during the Dark Ages, this building then fell into the hands of the Grimaldi lords of Monaco, before becoming the seat of the royal governors of the region. Today, it is one of the finest art museums in the world, housing 300 works by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (see Pablo Picasso), who worked here in 1946 and donated 25 of his drawings and paintings and more than 100 ceramic pieces. Work by other artists, including Léger, Ernst, Modigliani and Miró, is also on exhibition (see Musée Picasso, Antibes).

Housed in the Château Grimaldi, used as a studio by Picasso in 1946, the museum contains more than 50 of his paintings, sketches, prints and ceramics, as well as works by Léger and Miró (see Musée Picasso, Antibes).

Auguste Renoir’s house at Les Collettes, where the painter came in hope that the climate would cure his rheumatism, houses 10 of his paintings. It also has works by Raoul Dufy and Pierre Bonnard (see Musée Renoir, Cagnes-sur-Mer).

The former home of artist Auguste Renoir has been preserved almost exactly as it was at the time of his death in 1919. Ten of his paintings are on display, including Les Grandes Baigneuses (1892), along with works by his friends Raoul Dufy and Pierre Bonnard. The house is surrounded by olive groves (see Venus Victrix).

Celebrated string quartets bring their music to the lovely Gothic, Baroque and Romanesque churches of the perched villages around Fayence. In a little-known but moving festival, the old stone buildings echo to the works of great masters.

Bonaparte landed at Golfe-Juan on 1 March 1815 to regain his empire, only to be defeated at Waterloo.

Scenes mix biblical characters with santon figures of Provençal villagers (see Santon Figures).

Chef Richard Neat excels with dishes such as snails with morel mushrooms and asparagus.