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Ochre mining and erosion have fashioned the multicoloured earth into cliffs and fantastic shapes, creating a bewitching setting for a romantic perched village (see Roussillon).

The tiny street used to be home to dye-workers (hence the waterwheels). It now buzzes with arty cafés.

Sailing classes all year round.

Jean Cocteau decorated this room in Menton’s town hall in 1957, adorning it with colourful pictures of a fishing couple and the tragic story of Orpheus and Eurydice. More of his work can be seen in the Musée Jean Cocteau on the seafront (see Musée Jean Cocteau, Menton).

The prettiest harbour in the Var remains a proper fishing port, bobbing with boats. Beyond, palm trees fringe a frontage of pastel façades. Activity varies from relaxed to intense, notably during the morning market which enlivens the Allées d’Estienned’Orves. The beach is nearby. So, too, are plaques commemorating Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht and other German writers who took refuge from the Nazis here in the 1930s.

The clifftop location rivals Gourdon’s for dizzying effect, and the village is a little changed crescent of 15th–17th-century pastel houses. It has two pretty churches, and magnificent views.

When the lavender flowers in July and August, the valley below the little town presents one of the loveliest landscapes in France. It’s a tapestry of blue and purple, together with yellow broom, golden cereals and white rock. The town has an excellent Lavender Garden.

A guided underwater “trail” gives close-ups of marine life.

Encircling its hillside like a belt, Séguret stares out from the edges of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains across the nearby wine plain. It’s an almost impossibly pretty spot of tiny, pedestrianized streets, medieval edifices and contemporary artists and artisans (see Séguret).

This remarkable medieval settlement hugs its hillside like a tight belt (see Séguret).