1.
Brignoles
Brignoles is a commune in the Var département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department and it was the summer residence of the counts of Provence. Their castle dates from the thirteenth century and it was the birthplace of, Antoine Albalat, writer specialising in French literature. Saint Louis of Toulouse, bishop of Toulouse, françois dArbaud de Porchères, poet born in Brignoles in 1590, died in Senevoy in 1640. Writer of numerous poems, he was made, in 1634, Louis Paul Baille, baron de Saint-Pol et de lEmpire, French soldier of the 19th and 20th centuries. Amy Cissé, former French international basketball player, manu Diaz, former rugby union player. Fabrice Hadjadj and dramatist, teacher at the Lycée Ste Jeanne dArc since 2002, joseph-Louis Lambot, the inventor of ferro-cement which led to the development of reinforced concrete. His first construction was a made of cement which he tested on the lake at Besse-sur-Issole in 1848. The original prototype is preserved in the museum at Brignoles and this boat was patented on January 30,1855, and presented at the 1855 Worlds Fair in Paris.
Jean-Baptiste Maunier, actor René Morizur, musician and buried in Brignoles, Victor Nicolas, sculptor who created many monuments in the departments of Var and Alpes Maritimes Joseph Parrocel, painter. Christian Philibert, film director and screenwriter, françois-Juste-Marie Raynouard, writer born in Brignoles in 1761. A bust of him by the sculptor Victor Nicolas, is in the Place St Pierre, Brignoles is twinned with the towns of, Communes of the Var department INSEE Official website of Brignoles Tourist Office
2.
Digne-les-Bains
Digne-les-Bains or simply and historically Digne is a commune of France, capital of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, and situated in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur. The name of the inhabitants is Dignois, Digne-les-Bains is the capital of the Department of Alpes de Haute-Provence. Placed in the centre of the Department, the commune is home to 17,400 inhabitants. The town centre is at 608 metres altitude, Digne is a sprawling commune in the plain formed around the Bléone Valley, given that the terrain that surrounds it is very rugged. The old town is built on a hill between the Bléone and the torrent of the hot springs, but the town has extended in the three directions of the valleys, especially downstream. Its geographical location is quite remarkable, given that it lies at the edge of the Prealps, a part of the town is completely enclosed in the Bléone Valley, while the town extends widely, on a gentler relief, downstream. With the annexation of neighbouring towns, especially downstream, the town extends over 8 kilometres in length, the districts of the town cover the alluvium of the streams which converge upstream of the cluse.
The most eastern suburbs joined a line of hills with flint of the Carixian age. The hot springs were captured, since ancient times, to the point where these carixian limestones are cut by the hack of the southernmost valley and their healing powers are linked to their ascent along the gypsiferous Triassic levels of the sole thrust of the Nappe de Digne. The most visible mountain of the commune is Le Cousson at 1,516 metres, many reliefs lie around Digne and are objectives for hikers. Some are radioactive, and contain sulfides and arsenic, the town is crossed by the Bléone and the Mardaric rivers. The town is served by Chemins de Fer de Provence via the Nice-Digne railway line and it is the Train des Pignes, which allows the railway to serve little inhabited places with many stations. Bus - Since 1992, Digne has the TUD, which manages the public transport, initially with six buses, this service increased its vehicle fleet in 1998 with the acquisition of two buses powered by natural gas. Currently, six bus routes are available to the people of Digne, none of the 200 communes of the Department is in the zero seismic risk zone.
Digne townships are located in zone 1b of the 1991 deterministic classification, based on the historic earthquakes, the town of Digne is exposed to a risk of technological origin, that of transport of dangerous goods, by rail and pipeline. With regard to the railway, the Saint-Auban to Digne railway line is disused and has no traffic, route nationale 85 and the departmental road RD900 can be used for the road transport of dangerous goods. Finally, the pipeline to supply gas is an additional risk factor to Digne. The foreseeable natural risk prevention plan of the town was approved in 2008 for the risks of flooding, movement of land and earthquakes and the DICRIM has existed since 2009
3.
Var (department)
The Var is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region in Provence in southeastern France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, Toulon is the largest city and administrative capital of the Var. Other important towns in the Var include Fréjus, Saint-Raphaël, Brignoles, Hyères, the Department of the Var was created at the time of the French Revolution, on March 4,1790, from a portion of the former Royal province of Provence. Its capital was originally Toulon, but this was moved to Grasse in 1793 to punish the Toulonnais for having handed the town to the British in 1793, subsequently the capital was moved to Brignoles in 1795, to Draguignan in 1797. It was not returned to Toulon until 1974,1815 - Following the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo the department was occupied by Austrian troops until November 1818. 1854 – The first railroad reaches Toulon and this move shifted the Var River, which had given the department its name, to the new Department.
1884 – A cholera epidemic struck Toulon, the leader of the fight against the epidemic was Georges Clemenceau, a doctor and a member of the National Assembly for the Seine region. He was elected Deputy from the Var from 1888 to 1893 and Senator from 1902 to 1920, 1914–1918 – The First World War stimulates growth in shipyards and military industries in the region, but weakens the agricultural and food industry. 1942 – The German Army moves from Occupied France into the Unoccupied Zone, the French Fleet is sabotaged in Toulon Harbor to keep it from falling into German hands. The Maquis Vallier, a group of resistance fighters, is active. August 15,1944 – American and Free French forces land at Cap Nègre, at Trayas, at Saint-Tropez, at Sainte-Maxime, the Free French fleet arrived at Toulon on September 13. 1960s – About one hundred thousand French citizens were repatriated from Algeria following the Algerian War of Independence, the Department of the Var has a surface area of 6,032 km2, and 420 km of coastline, including the offshore islands.
56% of the Var is covered with forest and its geological formations are divided into two regions, one composed of limestone to the north-west of a line between Toulon and Draguignan, and of crystalline rock to the south-east. The department is in the foothills of the Alps and is largely mountainous, the major mountains include, Massif des Maures and Massif de lEsterel, along the coast, are made of quartz rock. The Sainte-Baume mountain ridge, which lies in the west, mountain of Lachens, in the northwest of the department, and the highest point in the Var. The Plateau of Canjuers is located in the northeast of the Var, in the south and west there are several plateaus, such as the plateau of Siou Blanc to the north of Toulon, which rise from 400 to 700 metres in altitude. The Canyon du Verdon, the gorges of the Verdon River, is a place for hikers, kayakers. The Îles dHyères is a group of three islands off Hyères The islands are named Porquerolles, Port-Cros, and Île du Levant, they make up an area of 26 km2
4.
Aups
Aups is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region in southeastern France. Located in Provence at 500m alt, Aups is in the first foothills of the Alps, the town is at the gates of Verdon River, at 60 km from the sea and 80 km from the snow stations. Aups is named Capital of Haut-Var and Capital of the truffle and was made a part of the Parc naturel régional du Verdon in 2000 and its typically Mediterranean climate makes the village a healthy place to live. The village was named Oppidum de Alpibus Castrum de Alpibus, castrum de Almis, the place was colonized by the Oxybians during the time of Ancient Rome, near Via Aurelia going from Fréjus to Riez. Julius Caesar visited Aups on his way to conquering Gaul and he is supposed to have said, « I would rather be the first man in Aups than the second in Rome ». In 1574, the town was looted by the Huguenots, who massacred 18 residents, a statue called Maiden of the Massacre was erected on square where the massacre took place, in Clock Street.
Aups was the centre of the Var Republican insurgency in 1851 against the coup détat of Napoleon III, Aups was a stronghold of the French Resistance during World War II. The city earned the Croix de guerre avec palmes, Aups has the third largest black truffle market of France, known for its quality and importance. This market is held every Thursday from November to February, there is a colourful Provençal market, every Wednesday and Saturday featuring local products and handicrafts. J. R. R. Tolkien had a house near the village. Communes of the Var department INSEE
5.
Paris
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, fashion and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is a rail and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly.
Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has been known as Panam in French slang.
Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
6.
Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez is a town,100 kilometres west of Nice, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southeastern France. It is the town in the canton of Saint-Tropez. Saint-Tropez is located on the French Riviera and it was a military stronghold and an unassuming fishing village until the beginning of the 20th century. It was the first town on this coast to be liberated during World War II, after the war, it became an internationally known seaside resort, renowned principally because of the influx of artists of the French New Wave in cinema and the Yé-yé movement in music. It became a resort for the European and American jet set and a goal for tourists in search of a little Provençal authenticity, the inhabitants of Saint-Tropez are called Tropéziens, and the town is familiarly called St-Trop. In 599 B. C. the Phocaeans founded Massilia and established other coastal mooring sites in the area, in 31 B. C. the Romans invaded the region. Their citizens built many opulent villas in the area, including one known as the Villa des Platanes, the first name given to the village which became Saint-Tropez was Heraclea-Caccaliera, and the mouth of its gulf was named the Issambres.
The town owes its current name to the early, semi-legendary martyr Saint Torpes, the legend tells of his decapitation at Pisa during Neros reign, with his body placed in a rotten boat along with a rooster and a dog. The body landed at the location of the town. Toward the end of the century, long after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West and privateers began a hundred years of attacks. In the tenth century, the village of La Garde-Freinet was founded 15 km to the North of Saint-Tropez. From 890 to 972, Saint-Tropez and its surroundings became an Arab Muslim colony dominated by the nearby Saracenic settlement of Fraxinet. in 940, Saint-Tropez was controlled by Nasr ibn Ahmad. From 961 to 963, son of Berenger, the pretender to the throne of Lombardy who was pursued by Otto I, in 972, the Muslims of Saint-Tropez held the abbot of Cluny, Maïeul, for ransom. In 976, William I Count of Provence, lord of Grimaud, began attacking the Muslims, in 1079 and 1218, Papal bulls mentioned the existence of a manor at Saint-Tropez.
From 1436, Count René I tried to repopulate the Provence and he created the Barony of Grimaud and appealled to the Genoan Raphael de Garezzio, a wealthy gentleman who sent a fleet of caravels carrying sixty Genoese families to the area. In return, Count René promised to exempt the citizens from taxation, the city became a small republic with its own fleet and army and administered by two consuls and twelve elected councillors. In 1558, the Captain of City was empowered to protect the city, in 1577, the daughter of the Marquis Lord of Castellane, Genevieve de Castilla, married Jean-Baptiste de Suffren, Marquis de Saint-Cannet, Baron de La Môle, and advisor to the Parliament of Provence. The lordship of Saint-Tropez became the prerogative of the De Suffren family, in September 1615, Saint-Tropez was visited by a delegation led by the Japanese samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga who were on their way to Rome but obliged by weather to stop in Saint-Tropez
7.
Toulon
Toulon is a city in southern France and a large military harbour on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-dAzur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department, the Commune of Toulon has a population of 165,514 people, making it the fifteenth-largest city in France. It is the centre of an area with 559,421 inhabitants. Toulon is the fourth-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille, Toulon is an important centre for naval construction, wine making, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment, maps, tobacco, printing and electronic equipment. The military port of Toulon is the naval centre on Frances Mediterranean coast, home of the French Navy aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle. The French Mediterranean Fleet is based in Toulon, archaeological excavations, such as those at the Cosquer Cave near Marseilles, show that the coast of Provence was inhabited since at least the Paleolithic era. The Ligurians settled in the beginning in the 4th century BC.
In the 2nd century BC, the residents of Massalia called upon the Romans to help pacify the region. The Romans defeated the Ligurians and began to start their own colonies along the coast, Toulon harbour became a shelter for trading ships, and the name of the town gradually changed from Telo to Tholon and Toulon. Toulon was Christianized in the 5th century, and the first cathedral built and Gratianus of Toulon, according to the Gallia Christiana, were the first bishops of Toulon, but Louis Duchesne gives Augustalis as the first historical bishop. He assisted at councils in 441 and 442 and signed in 449 and 450 the letters addressed to Pope Leo I from the province of Arles, a Saint Cyprian and biographer of St. Cæsarius of Arles, is mentioned as a Bishop of Toulon. His episcopate, begun in 524, had not come to an end in 541, in 1095, a new cathedral was built in the city by Count Gilbert of Provence. As barbarians invaded the region and Roman power crumbled, the town was attacked by pirates. In 1486 Provence became part of France and his Italian campaign failed, and 1497, the rulers of Genoa, who controlled commerce on that part of the Mediterranean, blockaded the new port.
However, a few months the commander of the new fort sold it to the commander of an Army of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1543, Francis I found a surprising new ally in his battle against the Holy Roman Empire. He invited the fleet of Ottoman Admiral Barbarossa to Toulon as part of the Franco-Ottoman alliance, the residents were forced to leave, and the Ottoman sailors occupied the town for the winter. This fleet carried aboard an army of 8,000 infantry and 800 cavalry and its baggage under Thomas of Savoy, king Louis XIV was determined to make France a major sea power. In 1660, his Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert ordered Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban to build a new arsenal and to fortify the town
8.
Flayosc
Flayosc is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region, in southeastern France. Flayosc is far 7 km from Draguignan, and about 35 km from the Mediterranean sea, the village is located on a rocky hill, near the church. Three very small rivers crosses the village, the Pontchalade, the Florieyes, the place allowed to watch over the valley and to protect villages in the neighbourhood, for example Saint-Lambert. After the destruction of Antea, a village in the neighbourhood, by Roman Empire, the lord of Flayosc lost his powers and his castle during the French Revolution. In the 19th century, the became a place where shoes were made. The village had, thanks to this activity, a prosperous period. About 3,000 people lived in Flayosc in 1914, the village is classified in Zone Natura 2000 and in Zone Naturelle dIntérêt Ecologique, Faunistique et Floristique. Vezza dOglio since 2002 Charles-Laurent Salch, Dictionnaire des châteaux et fortifications de la France au Moyen Âge, ed.
Publitotal, reprint 1991, page 478
9.
Fayence
Fayence is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region in southeastern France. Fayence is one of a series of perched villages overlooking the plain between the southern Alps and the Esterel massif, which borders the sea between Cannes and Saint-Raphaël, the village is located on the road to Mons, which on joins the Route Napoléon. Some high-standing resorts have settled nearby the village in the recent years, the aerodrome of Fayence-Tourettes is one of the most active in Europe for Gliding. The village contains a school and a highschool. Fayence-Tourettes Airport is the biggest glider planes center in Europe, communes of the Var department INSEE AAPCA Official site of the city of Fayence Photos of Fayence on photoenligne Photos of Fayence on Pbase
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