1.
Communes of France
–
The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
Communes of France
–
Road sign marking the end of the village of
Y in the
Somme department of
Picardy
Communes of France
–
Map of the 36,569 communes of metropolitan France
Communes of France
–
Mittelhausbergen in
Alsace
Communes of France
–
Vacqueyras in
Provence, showing double French/
Provençal name
2.
Glanum
–
Glanum was an oppidum, or fortified town in present day Provence, founded by a Celto-Ligurian people called the Salyes in the 6th century BCE. It became officially a Roman city in 27 BCE and was abandoned in 260 AD and it is particularly known for two well-preserved Roman monuments of the 1st century B. C. known as les Antiques, a mausoleum and a triumphal arch. A shrine was built at the spring to Glanis, a Celtic god, the town grew, and a second wall was built in the 2nd century BC. The people of Glanum were in contact with the Greek colony of Massalia, present day Marseille. The contact influenced the architecture and art of Glanum- villas were built in the Hellenic style, but by the 2nd century BC conflicts and wars arose between the Salyens and the Greeks of Marseille, who not having a powerful army, called upon the assistance of their Roman allies. In 125 BC the Salyens were defeated by the army of the Roman consul Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, many of the old monuments of Glanum were destroyed. Due to its commercially useful location on the Via Domitia, and the attraction of its healing spring, the city produced its own silver coins and built new monuments. The prosperity lasted until 90 BC when the Salyens again rebelled against Rome, the public buildings of Glanum were again destroyed. The rebellion was crushed this time by the Consul Caecilius, in 49 BC Julius Caesar captured Marseille, and after a period of destructive civil wars, the Romanization of Provence and Glanum began. A triumphal arch was built outside the town between 10 and 25 BC, near the end of the reign of Augustus, as well as a mausoleum of the Julii family. Glanum did not survive the collapse of the Roman Empire, after its abandonment Glanum became a source of stone and other building materials for Saint-Remy. Since the Roman system of drains and sewers was not maintained, the mausoleum and triumphal arch, together known as Les Antiques, were famous, and were visited by King Charles IX, who had the surroundings cleaned up and maintained. Some excavations were made around the monuments as early as the 16th and 17th centuries, finding sculptures and coins, the first systematic excavations began in 1921, directed by the architect of historic monuments, Jules Foremigé. From 1921 until 1941, the archeologist Pierre LeBrun worked on the site, discovering the baths, the basilica, from 1928 to 1933, Henri Roland worked on the Iron Age sanctuary, to the south. From 1942 until 1969, Roland took over the work and excavated the area from the forum to the sanctuary, the objects he discovered are on display today at the Hotel de Sade in nearby Saint-Remy. New excavation and exploration began in 1982, devoted mainly to the preservation of the site. The Mausoleum of the Julii, located across the Via Domitia, to the north of, and just outside the city entrance, dates to about 40 BCE, the mausoleum is built in three stages. The upper stage, or tholos, is a chapel with Corinthian columns
Glanum
–
Excavations of ancient Glanum, at the foot of Mont Gaussier. The church spire of modern
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence can be seen in the middle distance to the left.
Glanum
–
A circular fountain in the Hellenic style, built near the old Agora, or public square (2nd-1st century BC).
Glanum
–
A Roman road paved with blocks of stone ran from north to south through the center of Glanum. Under the street was a water conduit which carried away rainwater and sewage.
Glanum
–
Mausoleum of the Julii (about 40 BCE)
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
4.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
5.
Regions of France
–
France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
Regions of France
6.
Departments of France
–
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
Departments of France
–
Geometrical proposition rejected
Departments of France
–
The 101 departments of France
Departments of France
–
The three Algerian departments in 1848
7.
Daylight saving time
–
Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
Daylight saving time
–
Ancient
water clock that lets hour lengths vary with season.
Daylight saving time
–
G. V. Hudson invented modern DST, proposing it first in 1895.
Daylight saving time
–
Retailers generally favor DST.
United Cigar Stores hailed a 1918 DST bill.
Daylight saving time
–
William Willett independently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.
8.
Central European Summer Time
–
It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
Central European Summer Time
–
light blue
9.
Occitan language
–
Occitan, also known as lenga dòc by its native speakers, is a Romance language. It is spoken in southern France, Italys Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Spains Val dAran, collectively, Occitan is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese. However, there is controversy about the unity of the language, others include Catalan in this family, as the distance between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. In fact, Catalan was considered an Occitan dialect until the end of the 19th century, today, Occitan is an official language in Catalonia, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken in the Val dAran. Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be the preferred language for use in the Val dAran. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or Spanish, there is no written standard language called Occitan. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility, the long-term survival of Occitan is in grave doubt. According to the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages, four of the six dialects of Occitan are considered severely endangered. The name Occitan comes from lenga dòc, òc being the Occitan word for yes and this was not, of course, the only defining characteristic of each group. The word òc came from Vulgar Latin hoc, while oïl originated from Latin hoc illud, Old Catalan, and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have hoc. Other Romance languages derive their word for yes from the Latin sic, thus, etc. such as Spanish sí, Eastern Lombard sé, Sicilian and Italian sì, or Portuguese sim. French uses si to answer yes in response to questions that are asked in the negative sense, the name Occitan is sometimes considered a neologism, however, it was attested around 1300 as occitanus, a crossing of oc and aquitanus. For many centuries, the Occitan dialects were referred to as Limousin or Provençal, after Frédéric Mistrals Félibrige movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. The term first came into fashion in Italy, currently, linguists use the terms Provençal and Limousin strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitania, keeping the name Occitan for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal, NO·L LI TOLRÀ NO·L LI DEVEDARÀ NI NO LEN DECEBRÀ. Nec societatem non AURÀ, si per castellum recuperare NON O FA, et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo LO TORNARÀ, carolingian litanies, both written and sung in Latin, were answered to in Old Occitan by the audience. Occitan was the vehicle for the poetry of the medieval troubadours and trobairises, At that time
Occitan language
–
Main cities of Occitania, written in the Occitan language
Occitan language
–
Occitan
Occitan language
–
"Speak French, Be Clean" written across the wall of a Southern French school
Occitan language
–
This bilingual street sign in
Toulouse, like many such signs found in historical parts of the city, is maintained primarily for its antique charm; it is typical of what little remains of the lenga d'òc in southern French cities.
10.
Occitan
–
Occitan, also known as lenga dòc by its native speakers, is a Romance language. It is spoken in southern France, Italys Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Spains Val dAran, collectively, Occitan is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese. However, there is controversy about the unity of the language, others include Catalan in this family, as the distance between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. In fact, Catalan was considered an Occitan dialect until the end of the 19th century, today, Occitan is an official language in Catalonia, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken in the Val dAran. Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be the preferred language for use in the Val dAran. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or Spanish, there is no written standard language called Occitan. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility, the long-term survival of Occitan is in grave doubt. According to the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages, four of the six dialects of Occitan are considered severely endangered. The name Occitan comes from lenga dòc, òc being the Occitan word for yes and this was not, of course, the only defining characteristic of each group. The word òc came from Vulgar Latin hoc, while oïl originated from Latin hoc illud, Old Catalan, and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have hoc. Other Romance languages derive their word for yes from the Latin sic, thus, etc. such as Spanish sí, Eastern Lombard sé, Sicilian and Italian sì, or Portuguese sim. French uses si to answer yes in response to questions that are asked in the negative sense, the name Occitan is sometimes considered a neologism, however, it was attested around 1300 as occitanus, a crossing of oc and aquitanus. For many centuries, the Occitan dialects were referred to as Limousin or Provençal, after Frédéric Mistrals Félibrige movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. The term first came into fashion in Italy, currently, linguists use the terms Provençal and Limousin strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitania, keeping the name Occitan for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal, NO·L LI TOLRÀ NO·L LI DEVEDARÀ NI NO LEN DECEBRÀ. Nec societatem non AURÀ, si per castellum recuperare NON O FA, et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo LO TORNARÀ, carolingian litanies, both written and sung in Latin, were answered to in Old Occitan by the audience. Occitan was the vehicle for the poetry of the medieval troubadours and trobairises, At that time
Occitan
–
Main cities of Occitania, written in the Occitan language
Occitan
–
Occitan
Occitan
–
"Speak French, Be Clean" written across the wall of a Southern French school
Occitan
–
This bilingual street sign in
Toulouse, like many such signs found in historical parts of the city, is maintained primarily for its antique charm; it is typical of what little remains of the lenga d'òc in southern French cities.
11.
Saint Remigius
–
Saint Remigius, Remy or Remi, was Bishop of Reims and Apostle of the Franks. On 25 December 496 he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks and this baptism, leading to the conversion of the entire Frankish people to Catholic Christianity, was a momentous success for the Church and a seminal event in European history. Remigius was born, traditionally, at Cerny-en-Laonnois, near Laon, Picardy and he is said to have been son of Emilius, count of Laon and of Celina, daughter of the Bishop of Soissons, which Clovis had conquered in 486. He studied at Reims and soon became so noted for his learning and sanctity, and his high status and he was both Lord Chancellor of France and Référendaire of France. King Clovis granted Remigius stretches of territory, in which Remigius established and endowed many churches, in 530 he consecrated Medardus, Bishop of Noyon. The chroniclers of Gallia Christiana record that numerous donations were made to Remigius by the Frankish nobles, though Remigius never attended any of the church councils, in 517 he held a synod at Reims, at which after a heated discussion he converted a bishop of Arian views. The reply of Remigius, still extant, is able and convincing, few authentic works of Remigius remain, his Declamations were elaborately admired by Sidonius Apollinaris, in a finely turned letter to Remigius, but are now lost. Four letters survive, one containing his defence in the matter of Claudius, the Testament of St. Remigius is apocryphal. A brief and strictly legendary Vita was formerly ascribed to Venantius Fortunatus, another, according to Jacobus de Voragine, was written by Ignatius, bishop of Reims. A Commentary on the Pauline Epistles is not his work, St Remigius relics were kept in the Cathedral of Reims, whence Hincmar had them translated to Épernay during the Viking invasions and thence, in 1099 to the Abbey of Saint-Rémy. His feast is celebrated on October 1, apparently when the sepulcher containing the body of St. If one recalls that when St. Remigius’ corpse during his funeral, Remigius combined to suggest to those present that these two vials were the miraculously filled vials of the legend. It should be remembered as well that it was not uncommon for chalices, patens, Hincmar adroitly combined the discovery of the two vials the Legend of the Moribund Pagan and the historical memory that St. Remigius had baptized Clovis, into the Legend of the Sainte Ampoule. Hincmar used the new legend to strengthen his claim that his own archepiscopal see of Reims should be recognized as the chosen site for all subsequent anointings of French kings. The fate of the vial is uncertain. List of Catholic saints Vase of Soissons Saint Abran, hermit of Brittany Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend, October 1, St. Remigius
Saint Remigius
–
Saint Remigius baptizes
Clovis I, by the
Master of Saint Gilles, c. 1500 (
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
Saint Remigius
–
Statue of Saint Remigius at the
Saint Remigius Church, Simpelveld, Netherlands
Saint Remigius
–
Baptism of Clovis by
Paul Dubois, 1896, at the side of the
Abbey of Saint-Remi, in Reims
Saint Remigius
–
Late Carolingian ivory binding, c. 870, with miracles from the life of St Remi. Top: The dying pagan asks Saint Remi for baptism, Centre: the
Hand of God fills the two vials, Bottom: the dove of the
Holy spirit delivering the
Sainte Ampoule at the Baptism of Clovis. The plaque manages to cover two versions of the story.
12.
Avignon
–
Avignon is a commune in south-eastern France in the department of Vaucluse on the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 90,194 inhabitants of the city, about 12,000 live in the ancient town centre enclosed by its medieval ramparts. Between 1309 and 1377, during the Avignon Papacy, seven popes resided in Avignon. Papal control persisted until 1791 when, during the French Revolution, the town is now the capital of the Vaucluse department and one of the few French cities to have preserved its ramparts. The historic centre, which includes the Palais des Papes, the cathedral, the medieval monuments and the annual Festival dAvignon have helped to make the town a major centre for tourism. The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns, the earliest forms of the name were reported by the Greeks, Аὐενιὼν = Auenion Άουεννίων = Aouennion. The Roman name Avennĭo Cavarum, i. e. Avignon of Cavares accurately shows that Avignon was one of the three cities of the Celtic-Ligurian tribe of Cavares, along with Cavaillon and Orange. The current name dates to a pre-Indo-European or pre-Latin theme ab-ên with the suffix -i-ōn This theme would be a hydronym - i. e. a name linked to the river, but perhaps also an oronym of terrain. The site of Avignon has been occupied since the Neolithic period as shown by excavations at Rocher des Doms and the Balance district. In 1960 and 1961 excavations in the part of the Rocher des Doms directed by Sylvain Gagnière uncovered a small anthropomorphic stele. Carved in Burdigalian sandstone, it has the shape of a tombstone with its face engraved with a stylized human figure with no mouth. On the bottom, shifted slightly to the right is an indentation with eight radiating lines forming a solar representation - a unique discovery for this type of stele. There were also some Chalcolithic objects for adornment and an abundance of Hallstatt pottery shards which could have been native or imported, the name of the city dates back to around the 6th century BC. The first citation of Avignon was made by Artemidorus of Ephesus, although his book, The Journey, is lost it is known from the abstract by Marcian of Heraclea and The Ethnics, a dictionary of names of cities by Stephanus of Byzantium based on that book. He said, The City of Massalia, near the Rhone and this name has two interpretations, city of violent wind or, more likely, lord of the river. Other sources trace its origin to the Gallic mignon and the Celtic definitive article, Avignon was a simple Greek Emporium founded by Phocaeans from Marseille around 539 BC. It was in the 4th century BC that the Massaliotes began to sign treaties of alliance with some cities in the Rhone valley including Avignon and Cavaillon, a century later Avignon was part of the region of Massaliotes or country of Massalia. Fortified on its rock, the city later became and long remained the capital of the Cavares, with the arrival of the Roman legions in 120 BC. the Cavares, allies with the Massaliotes, became Roman
Avignon
–
Palace of the Popes
Avignon
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Avignon
–
A small anthropomorphic stele discovered during an archaeological excavation on the Rocher des Doms
Avignon
–
Greek stele from Avignon, at the Lapidary Museum.
13.
Alpilles
–
The Chaîne des Alpilles is a small range of low mountains in Provence, southern France, located about 20 km south of Avignon. The range is an extension of the much larger Luberon range, the range is about 25 km long by about 8 to 10 km wide, running in an east-west direction between the Rhône and Durance rivers. The landscape of the Alpilles is one of arid limestone peaks separated by dry valleys, the lower slopes are planted with olive and almond trees. Kermes oaks and pines also grow there, much of the range is bare rock or stony ground covered with scrub and maquis. The highest parts of the range are a nature reserve inhabited by a number of species, including Bonellis eagle. Some of these species were introduced in the Alpilles in the 1980s, some protohistorical settlements have been found in the Alpilles. In the very old village of Les Baux de Provence, a cave was used 8000 years ago, the Parc Naturel Régional des Alpilles was created on January 30,2007. It covers the territory of 16 communes, the area is also under the protection of the Natura 2000 Environmental Protection Plan of the European Union. The Alpilles were immortalized in art by Vincent van Gogh, who painted images of the Alpilles landscapes during his time in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence on the north side of the mountains. One of the paintings was given by van Gogh to his friend Eugène Boch, alphonse Daudets 1885 novel Tartarin sur les Alpes, which is a sequel to the 1872 Tartarin de Tarascon, takes place in the Alpilles. Barbegal aqueduct and mill Glanum Van Gogh paintings, Wheat Fields Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy Enclosed Field with Peasant The Starry Night
Alpilles
–
Alpilles near
Maussane-les-Alpilles.
Alpilles
–
Alpilles landscape near Le Destet. The three types of landscape forms can clearly be seen: cultivated land on the lower slopes, trees on the foothills and bare rock on the peaks.
Alpilles
–
Les Alpilles (1889), painted by van Gogh while in Saint-Rémy
Alpilles
–
Panorama of the Alpilles
14.
Mistral (wind)
–
It is most common in the winter and spring, and strongest in the transition between the two seasons. Periods of the wind exceeding 30 km/h for more than sixty-five hours have been reported and it affects the northeast of the plain of Languedoc and Provence to the east of Toulon, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a major influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, the name mistral comes from the Languedoc dialect of the Occitan and means masterly. The same wind is called mistrau in the Provençal variant of Occitan, mestral in Catalan, maestrale in Italian and Corsican, maistràle or bentu maestru in Sardinian, and majjistral in Maltese. The mistral is usually accompanied by clear, fresh weather, and it can reach speeds of more than 90 km/h, particularly in the Rhone Valley. Its average speed during the day can reach about 50 km/h, the mistral usually blows in winter or spring, though it occurs in all seasons. It sometimes lasts only one or two days, frequently lasts several days, and sometimes more than a week. The mistral takes place each time there is an anticyclone, or area of pressure, in the Bay of Biscay. The conditions for a mistral are even more favorable when a cold rainy front has crossed France from the northwest to the southeast as far as the Mediterranean. This cold, dry wind usually causes a period of cloudless skies and luminous sunshine, there is also, however, the mistral noir, which brings clouds and rain. The mistral noir occurs when the Azores High is extended and draws in unusually moist air from the northwest, the mistral reaches its maximum speed not at the narrowest part of the Rhone Valley, south of Valence, but much farther south, where the Valley has widened. Also, the wind occurs not just in the Valley, but high above in the atmosphere, the mistral is very strong at the summit of Mont Ventoux,1900 meters in elevation, though the plain below is very wide. Other contributing factors to the strength of the mistral are the accumulation of masses of air, whose volume is greater, pouring down the mountains. This is similar to a wind, but unlike a foehn wind the descent in altitude does not significantly warm the mistral. The causes and characteristics of the mistral are very similar to those of the Tramontane, in France, the mistral particularly affects Provence, Languedoc east of Montpellier, as well as all of the Rhone Valley from Lyon to Marseille, and as far southeast as Corsica and Sardinia. The mistral usually blows from the north or northwest, but in certain pre-alpine valleys and along the Côte dAzur, sometimes it also blows from the north-north-east toward the east of Languedoc as far as Cap Béar. Frequently, the mistral will affect only one part of the region, when the mistral blows from the west, the mass of air is not so cold and the wind only affects the plain of the Rhone delta and the Côte dAzur. The good weather is confined to the coast of the Mediterranean, the Côte dAzur generally has a clear sky and warmer temperatures
Mistral (wind)
–
Mistral wind blowing near
Marseille. In the centre is the
Château d'If
Mistral (wind)
–
Tramontane
Mistral (wind)
–
The bell tower of the hilltop village of
La Cadière-d'Azur is open, which allows the mistral to pass through.
Mistral (wind)
–
The winds of the Mediterranean
15.
Ancient Rome
–
In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
Ancient Rome
–
Senātus Populus que Rōmānus
Ancient Rome
–
Roman Republic
Ancient Rome
–
According to legend,
Rome was founded in 753 BC by
Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.
Ancient Rome
–
This bust from the
Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of
Lucius Junius Brutus.
16.
Triumphal arch
–
A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. The main structure is decorated with carvings, sculpted reliefs. More elaborate triumphal arches may have multiple archways, Triumphal arches are one of the most influential and distinctive types of architecture associated with ancient Rome. The survival of great Roman triumphal arches such as the Arch of Titus inspired many states and rulers, up to the present day. Triumphal arch is also the given to the arch above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church where a rood can be placed. The origins of the Roman triumphal arch are unclear, Triumphal arch look similar to Mesopotamian Arch entrances like the Ishtar Gate but there is no evidence to support that the Romans got their influence from there. The development of the arch is often associated with ancient Roman architecture. To fully understand this development however it is important to understand the importance of basic arches in Roman civilization, the Romans had learned how to construct effective arches from the Etruscans, who lived in central Italy. This knowledge had a impact on the architecture of Roman civilization. As a result, the Romans used arches for things such as aqueducts, amphitheaters, bridges and they had effectively used the arch in various aspects of their civilization and city structure. Since the Romans had effectively perfected this architectural structure, one could conclude that the arch symbolized perfection, monumental gateways had already been in use for hundreds of years by civilizations such as the Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians and Myceneans. There were precursors to the arch within the Roman world, in Italy. Surviving examples of Etruscan arches can still be seen at Perugia, the two key elements of the triumphal arch – a round-topped arch and a square entablature – had long been in use as separate architectural elements in ancient Greece. Entablatures were a part of the structural fabric of such buildings. The great innovation of the Romans was to combine a round arch, the first recorded Roman triumphal arches were set up in the time of the Roman Republic. Generals who were granted a triumph were termed triumphators and would erect fornices or honorific arches bearing statues to commemorate their victories, a number of fornices were built in Rome during the Republican era. Lucius Steritinus erected two in 196 BC to commemorate his victories in Hispania, another fornix was built on the Capitoline Hill by Scipio Africanus in 190 BC, and Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus constructed one in the Roman Forum in 121 BC. None of them today and little is known about their appearance
Triumphal arch
–
The
Arch of Constantine,
Rome
Triumphal arch
–
The
Arc de Triomphe,
Paris
Triumphal arch
Triumphal arch
17.
The Starry Night
–
The Starry Night is an oil on canvas by the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941 and it is regarded as among Van Goghs finest works, and is one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Western culture. During the year Van Gogh stayed at the asylum, the output of paintings he had begun in Arles continued. The Starry Night was painted mid-June by around 18 June, the date he wrote his brother Theo to say he had a new study of a starry sky. Although The Starry Night was painted during the day in Van Goghs ground-floor studio, the view has been identified as the one from his bedroom window, facing east, a view which Van Gogh painted variations of no fewer than twenty-one times, including The Starry Night. Through the iron-barred window, he wrote to his brother, Theo, around 23 May 1889, above which, in the morning, I watch the sun rise in all its glory. Van Gogh depicted the view at different times of day and under various conditions, including sunrise, moonrise, sunshine-filled days, overcast days, windy days. The hospital staff did not allow Van Gogh to paint in his bedroom, but he was able to make sketches in ink or charcoal on paper, and eventually he would base newer variations on previous versions. The pictorial element uniting all of these paintings is the line coming in from the right depicting the low rolling hills of the Alpilles mountains. In fifteen of the versions, cypress trees are visible beyond the far wall enclosing the wheat field. Van Gogh telescoped the view in six of these paintings, most notably in F717 Wheat Field with Cypresses and The Starry Night, one of the first paintings of the view was F611 Mountainous Landscape Behind Saint-Rémy, now in Copenhagen. Van Gogh made a number of sketches for the painting, of which F1547 The Enclosed Wheatfield After a Storm is typical and it is unclear whether the painting was made in his studio or outside. In his June 9 letter describing it, he mentions he had been working outside for a few days, Van Gogh described the second of the two landscapes he mentions he was working on in a letter to his sister Wil on 16 June 1889. This is F719 Green Field, now in Prague, and the first painting at the asylum he painted outside en plein air. F1548 Wheat field, Saint-Rémy de Provence, now in New York, is a study for it, two days later, Vincent wrote Theo that he had painted a starry sky. The Starry Night is the only nocturne in the series of views from his bedroom window, so the brightest star in the painting, just to the viewers right of the cypress tree, is actually Venus. The moon is stylized, as records indicate that the moon was waning gibbous at the time Van Gogh painted the picture
The Starry Night
–
The Starry Night
The Starry Night
–
The Monastery of Saint-Paul de Mausole
The Starry Night
–
F1548 Wheatfield, Saint-Rémy de Provence,
Morgan Library & Museum
The Starry Night
–
F719 Green Field,
National Gallery in Prague
18.
Nostradamus
–
Michel de Nostredame, usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French physician and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become widely famous. He is best known for his book Les Propheties, the first edition of which appeared in 1555, the earliest ancestor who can be identified on the paternal side is Astruge of Carcassonne, who died about 1420. Michels known siblings included Delphine, Jean, Pierre, Hector, Louis, Bertrand, Jean II, at the age of 15 Nostredame entered the University of Avignon to study for his baccalaureate. After little more than a year, he was forced to leave Avignon when the university closed its doors during an outbreak of the plague, after leaving Avignon, Nostredame, by his own account, traveled the countryside for eight years from 1521 researching herbal remedies. In 1529, after years as an apothecary, he entered the University of Montpellier to study for a doctorate in medicine. The expulsion document, BIU Montpellier, Register S2 folio 87, however, some of his publishers and correspondents would later call him Doctor. After his expulsion, Nostredame continued working, presumably still as an apothecary, in 1531 Nostredame was invited by Jules-César Scaliger, a leading Renaissance scholar, to come to Agen. There he married a woman of uncertain name, who bore him two children, in 1534 his wife and children died, presumably from the plague. After their deaths, he continued to travel, passing through France, finally, in 1547, he settled in Salon-de-Provence in the house which exists today, where he married a rich widow named Anne Ponsarde, with whom he had six children—three daughters and three sons. But it seems he could have dabbled in horoscopes, necromancy, scrying, following popular trends, he wrote an almanac for 1550, for the first time Latinising his name from Nostredame to Nostradamus. He was so encouraged by the success that he decided to write one or more annually. Taken together, they are known to have contained at least 6,338 prophecies, as well as at least eleven annual calendars, all of them starting on 1 January and not, as is sometimes supposed, in March. When obliged to attempt this himself on the basis of the tables of the day, he frequently made errors. He then began his project of writing a book of one thousand mainly French quatrains, for technical reasons connected with their publication in three installments, the last fifty-eight quatrains of the seventh Century have not survived in any extant edition. The quatrains, published in a book titled Les Propheties, received a reaction when they were published. Some people thought Nostradamus was a servant of evil, a fake, or insane, catherine de Médicis, wife of King Henry II of France, was one of Nostradamus greatest admirers. After reading his almanacs for 1555, which hinted at unnamed threats to the family, she summoned him to Paris to explain them. In 1538 he came into conflict with the Church in Agen after an Inquisitor visited the area looking for Anti-Catholic views
Nostradamus
–
Nostradamus: original portrait by his son Cesar
Nostradamus
–
Michel de Nostredame
Nostradamus
–
Nostredame's claimed birthplace before its recent renovation,
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Nostradamus
–
Nostradamus's house at
Salon-de-Provence, as reconstructed after the
1909 Lambesc earthquake
19.
Prophecy
–
Prophecy is not limited to any one culture. It is a property to all known ancient societies around the world. Many systems and rules about prophecy have been proposed over several millennia, the related meaning thing spoken or written by a prophet dates from c. 1300, while the verb to prophesy is recorded by 1377, the former closely relates to the definition by Al-Fârâbî who developed the theory of prophecy in Islam. According to Western esotericist Rosemary Guiley, clairvoyance has been used as an adjunct to divination, prophecy, Modern research in prophecy is a pseudoscience. In general, a diviners foretelling or a prophetic prediction of the future does not adhere to the scientific method, from a skeptical point of view, there is a Latin maxim, prophecy written after the fact vaticinium ex eventu. The Jewish Torah already deals with the topic of the false prophet, the Haedong Kosung-jon records that King Beopheung of Silla had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheungs Grand Secretary, Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal, Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhisms power. Ichadons scheme went as planned, and the officials took the bait. The omen was accepted by the court officials as a manifestation of heavens approval. In ancient Chinese, prophetic texts are known as Chen, the most famous Chinese prophecy is the Tui bei tu The New Testament refers to prophecy as one of the spiritual gifts given by the indwelling Holy Spirit. From this, many Christians believe that the gift of prophecy is the ability to receive. The purpose of the message may be to edify, exhort and comfort the members of the Church, in this context, not all prophecies contain predictions about the future. The Apostle Paul teaches in First Corinthians that prophecy is for the benefit of the whole Church, a recognized form of Christian prophecy is the prophetic drama which Frederick Dillistone describes as a metaphorical conjunction between present situations and future events. The gift of prophecy was acknowledged in the Church after the death of the apostles, in his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr argued that prophets were no longer among Israel but were in the Church. The Shepherd of Hermas, written around the mid-2nd century - John A. T. Robinson dates it before 85 AD, irenaeus confirms the existence of such spiritual gifts in his Against Heresies
Prophecy
–
The revolution of 1831. As prophecied by that learned astrologer General Ikey Wether-Bridge
Prophecy
–
King Saul
Prophecy
–
Key concepts
Prophecy
–
Revelations
20.
Marie Gasquet
–
Marie Gasquet was a French regionist writer from Provence. Marie Gasquet was born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône in 1872 and her father, Marius Girard, was a Provençal poet. She moved to Paris where she worked for Flammarion and became a successful novelist and she was hailed as queen of the Felibrige in 1892. She was married to Joachim Gasquet, a friend of Paul Cézannes, Une Enfance provençale Sainte Jeanne dArc. Ce que les femmes disent des femmes Tante la Capucine Une Fille de saint François La Fête-Dieu Capharnaüm Le Métier de Pénélope Sainte Bernadette de Lourdes La vénérable Anne-Madeleine Remuzat
Marie Gasquet
–
Marie Gasquet in 1919
21.
Provence
–
The largest city of the region is Marseille. The Romans made the region into the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it Provincia Romana and it was ruled by the Counts of Provence from their capital in Aix-en-Provence until 1481, when it became a province of the Kings of France. While it has been part of France for more than five hundred years, it retains a distinct cultural and linguistic identity. The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dated to 1 to 1.05 million years BC were found in the Grotte du Vallonnet near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, tools dating to the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic were discovered in the Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of Monaco. The Paleolithic period in Provence saw great changes in the climate, with the arrival, at the beginning of the Paleolithic period, the sea level in western Provence was 150 meters higher than it is today. By the end of the Paleolithic, it had dropped 100 to 150 metres lower than sea level. The cave dwellings of the inhabitants of Provence were regularly inundated by the rising sea or left far from the sea. The changes in the sea led to one of the most remarkable discoveries of signs of early man in Provence. In 1985, a diver named Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 metres below the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille, the entrance led to a cave above sea level. Inside, the walls of the Cosquer Cave are decorated with drawings of bison, seals, auks, horses and outlines of human hands, dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC. The end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the Neolithic period saw the sea settle at its present level, a warming of the climate and the retreat of the forests. The disappearance of the forests and the deer and other easily hunted game meant that the inhabitants of Provence had to survive on rabbits, snails, since they were settled in one place they were able to develop new industries. Inspired by the pottery from the eastern Mediterranean, in about 6000 BC they created the first pottery to be made in France. Around 6000 BC, a wave of new settlers from the east and they were farmers and warriors, and gradually displaced the earlier pastoral people from their lands. They were followed in about 2500 BC by another wave of people, also farmers, known as the Courronniens, traces of these early civilisations can be found in many parts of Provence. A Neolithic site dating to about 6,000 BC was discovered in Marseille near the Saint-Charles railway station, and a dolmen from the Bronze Age can be found near Draguignan. Between the 10th and 4th century BC the Ligures were found in Provence from Massilia as far as modern day Liguria and they were of uncertain origin, they may have been the descendants of the indigenous neolithic peoples
Provence
–
The historical province of Provence (orange) within the modern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in southeast France
Provence
–
The modern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence
–
Mont Ventoux and a field of
lavender
Provence
–
The old port of
Marseille.
22.
Painting
–
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, gesture, composition, narration, or abstraction, among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive, Paintings can be naturalistic and representational, photographic, abstract, narrative, symbolistic, emotive, or political in nature. A portion of the history of painting in both Eastern and Western art is dominated by motifs and ideas. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action, the term painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity, every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In practice, painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity, thus, the basic means of painting are distinct from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization, and symbols. In technical drawing, thickness of line is ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters. Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are the essence of music, color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover, the use of language is only an abstraction for a color equivalent, the word red, for example, can cover a wide range of variations from the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic, painters deal practically with pigments, so blue for a painter can be any of the blues, phthalocyanine blue, Prussian blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological and symbolical meanings of color are not, strictly speaking, colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this, the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in music is analogous to light in painting, shades to dynamics and these elements do not necessarily form a melody of themselves, rather, they can add different contexts to it. Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, as one example, collage, some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer, there is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required, rhythm is important in painting as it is in music
Painting
–
The
Mona Lisa, by
Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.
Painting
–
Chen Hongshou (1598–1652), Leaf album painting (
Ming Dynasty)
Painting
–
Circus Sideshow (
French: Parade de cirque),
Georges Seurat, 1887–88
Painting
–
Cave painting of aurochs, (
French: Bos primigenius primigenius),
Lascaux,
France,
prehistoric art
23.
Vincent van Gogh
–
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings and his suicide at 37 followed years of mental illness and poverty. Born into a family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet. As a young man he worked as an art dealer, often travelling and he turned to religion, and spent time as a Protestant missionary in southern Belgium. He drifted in ill health and solitude before taking up painting in 1881 and his younger brother Theo supported him financially, and the two kept up a long correspondence by letter. His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, in 1886 he moved to Paris, where he met members of the avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As his work developed he created a new approach to still lifes and his paintings grew brighter in colour as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the south of France in 1888. During this period he broadened his subject matter to include trees, cypresses, wheat fields. Van Gogh suffered from episodes and delusions and though he worried about his mental stability, he often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly. His friendship with Gauguin ended after a confrontation with a razor and he spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy. After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris and his depression continued and on 27 July 1890, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died from his injuries two days later, Van Gogh was unsuccessful during his lifetime, and was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide, and exists in the imagination as the quintessential misunderstood genius. His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as elements of his style came to be incorporated by the Fauves. The most comprehensive source on Van Gogh is the correspondence between him and his younger brother, Theo. Their lifelong friendship, and most of what is known of Vincents thoughts, Theo van Gogh was an art dealer and provided his brother with financial and emotional support, and access to influential people on the contemporary art scene. Theo kept all of Vincents letters to him, Vincent kept few of the letters he received, after both had died, Theos widow Johanna arranged for the publication of some of their letters. A few appeared in 1906 and 1913, the majority were published in 1914, Vincents letters are eloquent and expressive and have been described as having a diary-like intimacy, and read in parts like autobiography
Vincent van Gogh
–
Self-Portrait, Spring 1887, Oil on pasteboard, 42 × 33.7 cm.,
Art Institute of Chicago (F 345)
Vincent van Gogh
–
Vincent c. 1871-1872 aged 18. This photograph was taken at the time when he was working at the branch of
Goupil & Cie 's gallery in
The Hague.
Vincent van Gogh
–
Vincent c. 1866, approx. age 13
Vincent van Gogh
–
Van Gogh's drawing of
87 Hackford Road
24.
Caroline of Monaco
–
Caroline, Princess of Hanover, is the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and American actress Grace Kelly. She is the sister of Prince Albert II and Princess Stéphanie. Caroline is married to Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hanover. Caroline was born on 23 January 1957 in the Princes Palace and she is the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and his wife, former American actress Grace Kelly. Christened Caroline Louise Marguerite, she belongs to the House of Grimaldi and she was the heir presumptive from her birth to 14 March 1958, when her brother Prince Albert was born. On 1 February 1965, her younger sister Princess Stéphanie was born, Caroline is a legitimate patrilineal descendant of the Dukes of Polignac, and as such belongs to the historical French nobility. Through her mother, she is of Irish and German descent, as a child, she spent some of her time at the home of her maternal grandparents John B. Kelly Sr. and Margaret Major in Philadelphia. In an interview for People in April 1982, shortly before her death, Grace described Caroline and Stéphanie as warm, bright, amusing, intelligent, theyre very much in tune with their era. Besides being good students, they are good athletes – excellent skiers and swimmers, both can cook and sew and play the piano and ride a horse. But, above all, my children are good sports, conscious of their position and they are sympathetic to the problems and concerns in the world today. The princess received her French baccalauréat in 1974 with honors and she was also educated at St Marys School Ascot. Caroline continued her studies at the Sorbonne University, where she received a diploma in philosophy and she is fluent in French, English, Spanish, German and Italian. In 1979, Princess Caroline was appointed by her father as the president of the Monegasque Committee for the International Year of the Child, two years later, in 1981, she founded her own foundation Jeune Jécoute. Following her mothers death in 1982, Caroline served as de facto first lady of Monaco until her brother married Charlene Wittstock in 2011, due to her commitment to philanthropy and arts, Caroline was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador on 2 December 2003. The UNICEF honoured her with Childrens Champion Award on 20 May 2006, the next year, she travelled to the Republic of South Africa to meet its former president Nelson Mandela. In December 2011, the World Association of Childrens Friends honoured her for tireless endeavours in continuing the organisations legacy and her personal friend and the Chanel head designer Karl Lagerfeld presented her the award. Caroline had also previously been given the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Charles, Carolines personal interests include horseback riding, swimming and skiing. Since her youth, she has considered a international fashion icon
Caroline of Monaco
–
The Princess of Hanover at the Monaco Media Forum Awards ceremony in 2009.
Caroline of Monaco
–
Princess Caroline and Albert, then Hereditary Prince of Monaco, with
Ronald and
Nancy Reagan in
Washington D.C. on 28 March 1983
25.
Sailplane
–
A sailplane or glider is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Sailplanes are aerodynamically streamlined and are capable of soaring in rising air, sailplanes benefit from producing the least drag for any given amount of lift, and this is best achieved with long, thin wings, a fully faired narrow cockpit and a slender fuselage. Aircraft with these features are able to climb efficiently in rising air produced by thermals or hills, sailplanes can glide long distances at high speed with a minimum loss of height in between. Gliders have rigid wings and either skids or undercarriage, in contrast hang gliders and paragliders use the pilots feet for the start of the launch and for the landing. These latter types are described in articles, though their differences from sailplanes are covered below. Gliders are usually launched by winch or aerotow, though other methods, auto tow, all sailplanes soar, but some gliders do not soar and are simply engineless aircraft towed by another aircraft to a desired destination and then cast off for landing. Military gliders are only, and are abandoned after landing, having served their purpose. Motor gliders are gliders with engines which can be used for extending a flight and even, in some cases, Some high-performance motor gliders may have an engine-driven retractable propeller which can be used to sustain flight. Other motor gliders have enough thrust to launch themselves before the engine is retracted and are known as self-launching gliders, another type is the self-launching touring motor glider, where the pilot can switch the engine on and off in flight without retracting their propellers. Sir George Cayleys gliders achieved brief wing-borne hops from around 1849, in the 1890s Otto Lilienthal built gliders using weight shift for control. In the early 1900s the Wright Brothers built gliders using movable surfaces for control, in 1903 they successfully added an engine. After World War I gliders were built for sporting purposes in Germany, the sporting use of gliders rapidly evolved in the 1930s and is now their main application. As their performance improved, gliders began to be used for cross-country flying, in 1930, pilot Frank Hawks flew the Texaco Eaglet with tow plane from San Diego to New York over eight days, helping to popularize the activity in the United States. Early gliders had no cockpit and the pilot sat on a seat located just ahead of the wing. These were known as gliders and they were usually launched from the tops of hills. To enable gliders to soar more effectively than primary gliders, the designs minimized drag, gliders now have very smooth, narrow fuselages and very long, narrow wings with a high aspect ratio and winglets. The early gliders were mainly of wood with metal fastenings, stays. Later fuselages made of fabric-covered steel tube were married to wood and fabric wings for lightness, New materials such as carbon-fiber, fiber glass and Kevlar have since been used with computer-aided design to increase performance
Sailplane
–
Single-seat high performance fiberglass
DG-800 glider
Sailplane
–
ASH25M —a self-launching two-seater glider
Sailplane
–
HAWA Vampyr 1921
Sailplane
–
Frank Hawks in the
Texaco Eaglet, postcard, c. 1930
26.
Aix-en-Provence
–
Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a city-commune in the south of France, about 30 km north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, the population of Aix numbers approximately 143,000. Its inhabitants are called Aixois or, less commonly, Aquisextains, Aix was founded in 123 BC by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus, who gave his name to its springs, following the destruction of the nearby Gallic oppidum at Entremont. In the 4th century AD it became the metropolis of Narbonensis Secunda and it was occupied by the Visigoths in 477. In the succeeding century, the town was plundered by the Franks and Lombards. Aix passed to the crown of France with the rest of Provence in 1487, and in 1501 Louis XII established there the parliament of Provence, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was the seat of the Intendance of Provence. Current archeological excavations in the Ville des Tours, a suburb of Aix, have unearthed the remains of a Roman amphitheatre. The city slopes gently north to south and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire can easily be seen to the east. Aixs position in the south of France gives it a warm climate and it has an average January temperature of 5 °C and a July average of 23 °C. It has an average of 300 days of sunshine and only 91 days of rain, while it is partially protected from the Mistral, Aix still occasionally experiences the cooler and gusty conditions it brings. Unlike most of France which has a climate, Aix-en-Provence has a Mediterranean climate. The Cours Mirabeau is a thoroughfare, planted with double rows of plane-trees, bordered by fine houses. It follows the line of the old city wall and divides the town into two sections. The new town extends to the south and west, the old town, with its narrow, along this avenue, which is lined on one side with banks and on the other with cafés, is the Deux Garçons, the most famous brasserie in Aix. Built in 1792, it has been frequented by the likes of Paul Cézanne, Émile Zola, the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour is situated to the north in the medieval part of Aix. The archbishops palace and a Romanesque cloister adjoin the cathedral on its south side, the Archbishopric of Aix is now shared with Arles. Among its other public institutions, Aix also has the second most important Appeal Court outside of Paris, the Hôtel de Ville, a building in the classical style of the middle of the 17th century, looks onto a picturesque square. It contains some fine woodwork and tapestries, at its side rises a handsome clock-tower erected in 1510
Aix-en-Provence
–
The Round Fountain, or Three Graces, built in 1860
Aix-en-Provence
–
Rue Espariat in Aix-en-Provence.
Aix-en-Provence
–
Les Deux Garçons
Aix-en-Provence
–
Place de l'Hotel de Ville
27.
Allauch
–
Allauch is a French commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Allaudiens or Allaudiennes, Allauch is the capital of the Canton of Bouches-du-Rhône. It is a part of the Marseille Provence Urban Community, the commune had 19,521 inhabitants at the 2010 census. It is located 12 km north-east of Marseille,10 km north-east of Aubagne and 35 km south of Aix-en-Provence, access to the commune is by the D908 road from Marseille in the south-west passing through the commune and continuing north to join the D96 north of La Bouilladisse. Access to the village is by the D48 branching off the D908, there is also the D4A road from the 11th arrondissement in the south, and the D44G from the 12th arrondissement in the south-west. As Allauch is located on the edge of the Marseille conurbation there are numerous urban districts located within the commune, Allauch is separated from Mimet by the massif of lÉtoile, resulting in it being necessary to detour to Cadolive in order to go from Allauch to Mimet. Similarly it is separated from the Aubagne urban area by the Garlaban hills to the south-east, apart from the urban area in the west of the commune, the rest is heavily forested and mountainous. Deficit in social housing Each year Allauch pays about €200,000 for missing social housing in order to reach the 20% required by the Urban Renewal Law, recent increases in the price of land suitable for building has resulted in increasing difficulties in growing the social housing stock. The City Council has decided that construction project should have between 20% and 30% social housing. The first obstacle is that the commune owns little suitable land in areas to build social housing. The value of the land is high and the commune must sell land to social housing operators at well below the actual value. Furthermore, the municipality must guarantee 50% of the borrowings and contribute financially up to €20,000 per unit, the procedures are slow and it can take 3 or 4 years from the sales agreement and delivery of the first housing. 15% in the local elections in 2008. The commune may have opportunity to fulfil its obligation by purchasing existing housing through preemption to transform social housing. RTM Routes Bus Route 144 connects the station at Marseille-La Rose to La Pounche, Pie dAutry. Bus Route 142/142JET/143 connect the Marseille-la-Rose metro station to Logis-Neuf, La Bourdonniere, Bus Route 7T connects the Métro-Bus-Tramway Foch-Cinq-Avenues to Barbaraou. Route B, Plan-de-Cuques – Allauch-Village – Fontvieille - Carlevan, with a bus every 20 minutes from 7,00 to 9, 30am and 4,30 to 7, 00pm. The Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region has areas at risk of seismic activity, particularly in the Nice and Aix-en-Provence areas, the Jarret is the main river in Allauch. Together with the Huveaune it was one of the sources of water for Marseille for a long time
Allauch
–
The village of Allauch
Allauch
–
Panoramic View of Allauch
Allauch
–
Windmill
Allauch
–
Chemin de Bellons which leads to the Bastide Neuve
28.
Alleins
–
Alleins is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Alleinois or Alleinoises Alleins is located some 45 km south-east of Avignon and 10 km north-east of Salon-de-Provence and it can be accessed by the D16 road from Salon-de-Provence which passes through the village and continues north-east to Mallemort. The D23 road from Lamanon to Mallemort also passes through the north of the commune, the Électricité de France Canal passes through the north of the commune from west to east. Most of the commune is farmland but the area south of the village is heavily forested. The TGV Railway line from Avignon to Marseilles passes through the commune, there are numerous streams and canals in the commune in all areas. In April 1545, during the wars of religion, Alleins was pillaged by troops of Paulin de la Garde under the direction of Jean Maynier, the land was confiscated and the people massacred. A Committee of Revolutionary Surveillance was established in Alleins in 1793 and it was made up partly of simple peasants who were sometimes illiterate and this institution somehow marked the democratic heyday of the Revolution. Illiterate members took their place in the debates and in turn occupied the place of president, in their primary mission, to arrest suspects, they were very cautious and legalistic unlike the tyrannical reputation of these committees. They also defended the community, for example in the case of the statue of Equality which was overturned in June 1794. After investigation, a member after meeting the Représentant en mission Maignet spared any untoward consequence for the commune. List of Successive Mayors In 2012, the commune had 2,428 inhabitants, the evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held five years
Alleins
–
The Chapel of Saint John
29.
Arles
–
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence. A large part of the Camargue is located on the territory of the commune, the city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981, the Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889 and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. An international photography festival has held in the city since 1970. The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta and its area is 758.93 km2, which is more than seven times the area of Paris. Arles has a Mediterranean climate with an annual temperature of 14.6 °C. The summers are warm and moderately dry, with averages between 22 °C and 24 °C, and mild winters with a mean temperature of about 7 °C. The city is constantly, but especially in the months, subject to the influence of the mistral. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed from September to May, with the summer drought being less marked than in other Mediterranean areas, the Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC. Later, Celtic influences have been discovered, the city became an important Phoenician trading port, before being taken by the Romans. The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city, however, it struggled to escape the shadow of Massalia further along the coast. Its chance came when it sided with Julius Caesar against Pompey, Massalia backed Pompey, when Caesar emerged victorious, Massalia was stripped of its possessions, which were transferred to Arelate as a reward. The town was established as a colony for veterans of the Roman legion Legio VI Ferrata. Its full title as a colony was Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium Sextanorum, Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. It covered an area of some 99 acres and possessed a number of monuments, including an amphitheatre, triumphal arch, Roman circus, theatre, ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now and served as a major port. It also had the southernmost bridge on the Rhône, very unusually, the Roman bridge was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style bridge of boats, with towers and drawbridges at each end. The boats were secured in place by anchors and were tethered to twin towers built just upstream of the bridge and this unusual design was a way of coping with the rivers frequent violent floods, which would have made short work of a conventional bridge. Nothing remains of the Roman bridge, which has replaced by a more modern bridge near the same spot
Arles
–
Left bank of the Rhône in Arles
Arles
–
Arles Amphitheatre, a Roman arena.
Arles
–
Passageway in Roman arena
Arles
–
Church of St. Trophime and its cloister.
30.
Aubagne
–
Aubagne is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aubagnais or Aubagnaises, the commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Aubagne is located in the Huveaune valley and surrounded by the ranges of Garlaban with Sainte-Baume to the north. Aubagne is the city of the Agglomeration community of Pays dAubagne et de lEtoile. It is the producer of Santon figurines and also hosts many cultural events each year. The French Foreign Legion has its headquarters in Aubagne, public transport has been free at the point of use since the year 2000. Access to the commune is by the A50 autoroute from Marseille which continues south to Toulon, the A501 and A52 autoroutes branch off the A50 in the commune and merge to go north to Aix-en-Provence. There are several towns and villages in the commune apart from the main town, Les Arnauds, Les Grands Mellets, Pinchon, La Martelle, LAgrie, La Coueste, La Thuiliere. The Huveaune river flows through the commune from the east flowing west into the Mediterranean sea at Prado beach in the 8th Arrondissement in Marseilles, regional trains link the Gare dAubagne railway station with Marseille and Toulon. Aubagne was the first commune in France to be surrounded by autoroutes, the A50 autoroute Marseille-Toulon, the A52 autoroute to Aubagne-Aix-en-Provence. From 2009, Aubagne made bus travel zero-fare, a 14-kilometre, two-line tram network is planned. This project is criticized as it is not common for a city of that size, Line 1 will be from the station to Le Charrel and Line 2 will be from the station to La Penne-sur-Huveaune. Construction started in 2012 for an opening of the first phase in 2014, the tram is a long-term project to be linked with the Marseille tramway. The tram will also be zero-fare, making it one of the first zero-fare trams in the world with Tallinn, the death of Queen Joanna I of Naples began a conflict of succession as to who would become the head of the County of Provence. The Union of Aix, a confederation of cities in the region of Provence, supported Charles, Duke of Durazzo, rather than Louis I, by the spring of 1382 the Lord of Aubagne, François des Baux, supported the Duke of Anjou. This support was conditional upon the Duke helping to restore the queen to her throne, in return, Philippe de Lévis would be surety for Viscount Raymond of Turenne for the agreement between Odon de Villars, his wife Alix, and himself. If Odon and Alix failed to respect the terms of the agreement, between 1965 and 2014, Aubagne has elected three Communist mayors, the municipal council is composed mainly of communist, socialist, and other left-leaning members. Still, a significant portion of the population centre, right-of-centre
Aubagne
–
Aubagne city centre
Aubagne
–
The A50-A52 junction in Aubagne
Aubagne
–
Aubagne Station before 1916
Aubagne
–
Aubagne Railway Station
31.
Aureille
–
Aureille is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aureillois or Aureilloises, the commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Aureille is located between the Alpilles mountain chain and the Crau plain some 8 km from Eyguières in the east and 8 km from Mouriès in the west and it is dominated by the Signal of Opiès, the highest point in the commune, in the north-east. It is a member of the communes of the Baux Valley, road D17 passes through the commune south of the town from Eyguières in the east to Mouries in the west. Road D25A branches off this road in the commune and goes to the village then north to join the D25 just north of the commune. The nearest motorway is the A54 autoroute to the south with Exit 12 near Saint-Martin-de-Crau in the south-west or Exit 13 west of Salon-de-Provence in the south-east, there is also the A7 autoroute to the east which passes down the Rhone valley and connects Lyon to Marseille via Orange. Marseille Provence Airport is the nearest international airport, there is also the Salon-de-Provence airbase just south of Salon-de-Provence town. Geologically Aureille belongs to the Crau plain, its soil consists of Alluvium and this type of soil is found throughout the Aureille plateau, to the point where it descends sharply at Mouriès. The soil composition is then modified, consisting of sloping deposits, the peaks north of Aureille, including the Tour des Opies, are very different from what is usually found in the Alpilles mountains. Aureille is traversed by the Gaudre dAureille, a stream 12 km long, and also by the Gaudre de la Vallongue and they both flow into the Étang de Berre. The Gaudre de Romanin, a 9.3 km long sub-tributary of the Rhone, the Arles branch of the Craponne Canal has irrigated the south of the commune since June 1582 which has allowed the commune to be a major producer of Crau hay. The Baux Valley Canal crosses the commune to the north of the plain, the climate in Aureille, as in the Alpilles, is considered Mediterranean. The winters are mild and relatively wet while summers are hot, the highest average temperatures occur in July and August while the lowest average temperatures occur in December and January. The month with the most rain is January with 7 days of rain on average against 2 days in July, the Alpilles region receives more rainfall than the coast of the Mediterranean,500 mm/year in Camargue against 600 to 700 mm/year at Aureille. Major frosts are rare although they were frequent in the 19th century as evidenced by the many freezes of the Rhône which have been virtually unknown in the last century. The mistral blows violently from the north or north-west especially in winter, the Alpilles deflect the wind, but Aureille does not benefit from its position to the south of the foothills of the massif and the wind blows almost as strong as in the north of the mountains. The mistral blows strongly on average 100 days a year and less strongly on 83 days which leaves only 182 days per year without wind. There are two types of mistral, the white mistral which clears the sky and accentuates the brightness, and the black mistral, which is rarer
Aureille
–
Viewed from the castle
Aureille
–
Aerial view of Aureille.
Aureille
–
The Craponne Canal
Aureille
–
Ocellated lizard
32.
Aurons
–
Aurons is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Auronais or Auronaises, the commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Aurons is located in the heart of the Massif des Costes mountains some 6 km north-east of Salon-de-Provence, access to the commune is by the D16 road from Salon-de-Provence which passes through the centre of the commune north of the village and continues north-east to Alleins. Access to the village is by the D68 road from Pélissanne in the south passes through the village. Route No.8 of the Libébus network serves the commune, large forests cover much of the commune but with some farming activity in the north and south. Tributaries of the Vabre rise in the north of the commune, other streams rise in the east of the commune and flows south. Climate data below is for the station at Salon-de-Provence,6 km to the south-west. From the 12th to the 15th century the priory of Saint-Pierre de Canon belonged to the Abbey of Saint-André Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, arimondus of Auronis, squire, was Lord of Aurons. He was descended from an old family of knights that participated in the Pélissanne campaign in the 12th and 13th centuries and he was the son of Hugues de Auronis, the co-lord of Aurons, and had property in Pélissanne where he owned Montmajour Abbey. Aimondus had a son, Pierre de Auronis, alias Luperiis, the death of Queen Joanna I of Naples created a crisis of succession for the County of Provence with the cities of the Union of Aix supporting Charles de Duras against Louis I of Anjou. The Lord of Aurons, Raymond, rallied to the Angevins in 1385 after the death of Louis I, a Revolutionary Surveillance Committee was established in Aurons in 1793. It could not recruit the members required by the decree of the National Convention and has several simple peasants. This institution was a mark of the height of democracy of the Revolution, illiterate members took part in the debates and in turn occupied the post of president. The committee, who were in charge of monitoring the implementation of laws and making lists of suspects, list of Successive Mayors In 2010 the commune had 361 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held five years
Aurons
–
A view of Aurons
Aurons
–
The Chapel of Saint-Martin
33.
La Barben
–
La Barben is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Barbenais or Barbenaises, the town is perhaps best known for its castle and its zoo. La Barben is located some 18 km north-west of Aix-en-Provence and 5 km east of Salon-de-Provence, access to the commune is by the D572 road from Salon-de-Provence which passes through the centre of the commune and continues east to Saint-Cannat. The D17 from Pélissanne to Éguilles forms the border of the commune. The D67E from Lambesc to Coudoux forms the border of the commune. The D22A comes from Pelissane and passes through the village continuing as the D22 to join the D572 in the centre of the next to the zoo. The commune is served by routes 9 and 14 of the Libébus network, the Touloubre river flows through the centre of the commune from the east and continues west to join the Mediterranean sea south of Saint-Chamas. The Vallat de Boulery forms the border of the commune as it flows west to join the Touloubre at the village. The Canal de Marseille comes from the south and passes through the centre of the commune continuing north-east, the King of France, Charles VI, intervened and sent the Seneschal of Beaucaire, Enguerrand dEudin, who conquered La Barben in the summer of 1383. List of Successive Mayors In 2010 the commune had 684 inhabitants, the evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held five years
La Barben
–
The Château of La Barben
La Barben
–
The Chateau de la Barben
La Barben
–
At the zoo
La Barben
–
Giraffes
34.
Barbentane
–
Barbentane is a French commune of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Barbentanais or Barbentanaises, the northern border of the commune is the departmental border between Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse while the western border is the departmental border with Gard. Access to the commune is by the D35 road from Rognonas in the east, which passes through the commune, the D570N from Graveson in the south-east passes along the eastern border of the commune then goes east to Rognonas. The D34 goes east from the town to join the D570N, the D77D goes south-east from the town and also joins the D5470N. The D35E goes south from the village to join the D81 in the south, the main railway line from Avignon to the south passes through the east of the commune with the Barbentane-Rognonas Station east of the town. Apart from the town there are also the districts of La Chinquine, Carrière, Le Grand Roumette, Cambageon, Fontgisclar, La Bruyère, Bragalance, and Mas de Basette. The slopes in the south of the commune are forested while the rest of the commune is farmland with an urban area of the of a significanltlysized town at the base of the slopes. The north-western tip of the commune is the confluence of the Durance river, which forms the border of the commune, and the Rhône river. The Canal des Alpines comes from the east and passes through the commune to continue south-west, parallel to the Rhône. From a geological point of there are two components of the communes surface area, to the north and east, facing the present town, is a large plain which dates from the recent Quaternary period. It consists of alluvium from the Rhône and the Durance. The first dates from the Neocomian period and the other is Miocene and this Montagnette hilly area has an area of about 6000 hectares, of which 2/3 are covered with Aleppo pines. About a quarter of the area is in the commune of Barbentane but the highest point, at 167m, is in the commune of Boulbon at Mount Raous, the first written evidence of Barbentane dates from the 9th century. The etymology of Barbentane would be closer to spa towns such as La Bourboule, Barbotan-les-Thermes, until the end of the 19th century the spelling was Barbantane with an a but the name is now consistently always spelled with an e instead, as Barbentane. Barbentane is called Barbentana according to the norm of Occitan. Originally there were three separate occupied sites on the territory, the oldest is Fretta which disappeared in the 6th century but whose name has survived in the form of Frigolet. The other two sites of Bellinto and Barbentane are much better-known, in 1957 excavations near the site of Fretta, a Chasséen human bone was discovered in a burial pit amongst various flints and animal bones. The Ligurians were the oldest people in the area who retained their name, over time they associated with the Celts which resulted in the Celto-Ligurians
Barbentane
–
The old Town Hall
Barbentane
–
The confluence of the Durance and the Rhone
Barbentane
–
Drawing and description of the Tour Angelica (Anglica Tower), built in the 14th century at Barbentane by order of Cardinal
Angel de Grimoard brother of
Urban V in the Departmental Archives of Vaucluse
Barbentane
–
The Tour Barbentane
35.
Les Baux-de-Provence
–
Les Baux-de-Provence is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the province of Provence in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. It has a position in the Alpilles mountains, set atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its name refers to its site, in Provençal, a bauç is a rocky spur, the name bauxite is derived from the village name when it was first discovered there by geologist Pierre Berthier in 1821. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Baussencs or Baussenques and it has been named one of the most beautiful villages in France. And has over 1.5 million visitors per year although it has only 22 residents in the part of the commune and 436 for the whole commune. Les Baux-de-Provence is located in the foothills of the Alpilles in the Parc Naturel Regional des Alpilles some 22 km south of Avignon and 15 km north-east of Arles. Access to the commune is by the D27 road from Maussane-les-Alpilles in the south passes through the village. The D5 also comes from Maussane-les-Alpilles in the south and passes through the east of the commune as it goes north to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, the D27A links the two roads in the commune. The D78F branches from the D27 in the commune and goes south-west to join the D17 west of Paradou, apart from the village there are the hamlets of Mes de Mai, Carita, and Manville. The commune is farmland in the south-east and forested hills in the rest, the commune is traversed by numerous streams which are called gaudres. A Gaudre refers to an often dry in summer and with low flow the rest of the year. The main gaudres in the commune are the Gaude de Valmouirane with numerous trutaries flowing north to join the Canal du Vigueirat north of Mas-Blanc-des-Alpilles, the Gaudre du Mas de Chevrier also with numerous tributaries flows west to join the Gaudre dAuge west of the commune. The Gaudre dEntreconque flows from the north-east to south to join the Gaudre de la Foux which continues south to join the Canal des Pompes south of Maussane-les-Alpilles, the climate in Les Baux-de-Provence, as in the rest of the Alpilles, is considered Mediterranean. The winters are mild and dry and summers hot and dry, the average maximum temperature is in July and August with the lowest average minimum temperature in December and January. The wettest month is January with an average of 7 days of rain against two days in July, the Alpilles region receives more rainfall than the shores of the Mediterranean,500 mm / year in Camargue against 600 to 700 mm / year in Les Baux. Major frosts are rare but were more frequent in the 19th century as evidenced by the occasions of the freezing of the Rhône which has been virtually unknown since then. The mistral violently blows from the north or north-west especially in winter, the Alpilles deflect the wind but it blows in Baux almost as strong as in the north of the chain. The mistral blows strongly 100 days a year on average and less strong on 83 days lesving only 182 days a year without wind, there are two types of Mistral, the white mistral on clear days and the black mistral, rarer, which is accompanied by rain
Les Baux-de-Provence
–
Château des Baux
Les Baux-de-Provence
–
Les Baux-de-Provence village, seen from North-West, on the D27 road
36.
Bouc-Bel-Air
–
Bouc-Bel-Air is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. It is situated between Marseille, Gardanne and Aix-en-Provence, the old village is located at the summit of a small hill. Bouc-Bel-Air is typically in Provençal style, founded around a rock formed the foundation of an old castle of the 7th century. It has a nice view on several mountains among which the locally well known Sainte-Victoire. Inhabited since very ancient times, its sites witness of Roman-Gallic settlings, some of these sites date to the 7th century BC. Invasions of the Barbarians took place in the 7th century AD, birthplace of Adolphe Thiers, 2nd President of France Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department INSEE Official website
Bouc-Bel-Air
–
The church of Saint-André
37.
La Bouilladisse
–
La Bouilladisse is a commune in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of France. The A52 autoroute skirts the border of the commune’s territory. A TER rail service connects the town with Aix and Marseille, the commune was created on 6 July 1880 as La Bourine, when it was separated from the neighbouring village of Auriol. It adopted its current name on 20 January 1910, the church of St. Laurent, dating from the twentieth century. The chapel of La Bourine, dating from the eighteenth century, the two 18th century châteaux of Velin-Tournon and La Malvesine. Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The département of Bouches-du-Rhône INSEE Official village website Annuaire Marie website Saint-Vitte on the Quid website
La Bouilladisse
–
The town hall of La Bouilladisse
38.
Carry-le-Rouet
–
Carry-le-Rouet is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Carry-le-Rouet is a resort located 30 kilometres west of Marseille by highway A55, then route D5. From December to February every year is held the famous oursinades, a tasting of sea urchins and various shellfish which are fresh, plentiful. Many connoisseurs take part in this festival, comic actor Fernandel, who built his familys house above the beach in the 1930s. The singer Nina Simone, who lived out the last years of her life in Carry-le-Rouet, dietmannsried, Bavaria, Germany Busseto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department INSEE Carry-le-Rouet town council website
Carry-le-Rouet
–
Port in Carry-le-Rouet
39.
Cassis
–
Cassis is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region in southern France. It is a popular tourist destination, famous for its cliffs, the wines of Cassis are white and rosé, and not to be confused with crème de cassis, a specialty of Burgundy which takes its name from blackcurrants, not the commune. The town is situated on the Mediterranean coast, about 20 kilometres east of Marseille, cap Canaille 394 metres, between Cassis and La Ciotat is one of the highest maritime bluffs in Europe, a sailors landmark for millennia. It is east of Marseille and in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, one of its main beach, called Bestouan is made cooler by a karstic source. The site where Cassis now sits was first occupied between 500 and 600 BC by the Ligures, who constructed a fortified habitation at the top of the Baou Redon and these people lived by fishing, hunting, and by farming. The current site of Cassis could have been inhabited by the Greeks, during the Roman times, Cassis was part of the maritime route made by the Emperor Antoninus Pius. It was a village, established mainly around the Arena. The principal livelihood was fishing and maritime trade with North Africa, several archaeological discoveries attest to this. In the fifteenth century, Cassis was ceded to the Counts of Provence, then René of Anjou gave the town to the Bishops of Marseille, in the eighteenth century, Cassis started to develop outside the ramparts of the fortified city and around the port. After the Bourbon Restoration, new industries developed here, including the drying of cod, the manufacture of oil and clothing, coral work, wine-making. Stone of Cassis, which was quarried here since antiquity made the town famous and it has been used for the quays of the large Mediterranean ports (Alexandria, Algiers, Piraeus, Marseille, and Port Said. A claim that it was used for the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York City gained wide circulation but has been proved apocryphal, today, the stone is used more for domestic purposes such as the construction of sinks and fireplaces. In the twentieth century, as these began to disappear. Cassis was one of the first three vineyards to profit from the appellation dorigine contrôlée introduced in 1936, Cassis is twinned with, Burnham-on-Sea, United Kingdom Portofino, Italy Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, writer and numismatist, was born in Cassis. Henri Crémieux, stage and film actor, died at his house in Cassis, the Allée Henri Crémieux is named in his honour. Jerome Hill, American filmmaker and philanthropist, René Leriche, distinguished surgeon, died in Cassis. The Avenue du Professeur René Leriche is named in his honour, rudy Ricciotti, architect whose works include the Musée des Civilisations de lEurope et de la Méditerranée and the Jean Cocteau Museum, was resident in Cassis as of 2012. Jean-Pierre Teisseire, politician and retired football player, was the mayor of Cassis from 1995 to 2008
Cassis
–
Port-Miou calanque in Cassis
Cassis
–
Francis Picabia and F.M. Mansfield with 2 women and a man at outdoor café table in Cassis, France
Cassis
–
Cassis (quay)
40.
La Ciotat
–
La Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region in southern France. It is part of the area of Marseille Provence. La Ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at a distance from Marseille. Its inhabitants are called Ciotadens or Ciotadennes, La Ciotat is called La Ciutat or La Ciéutat or Cióutat in Occitan/Provençal/Catalan, meaning the city. It became prominent in the 15th century, La Ciotat was the setting of one of the very first projected motion pictures, LArrivée dun train en gare de La Ciotat filmed by the Lumière brothers in 1895. After several private showings, the fifty-second long film was given a screening on December 28,1895, in Paris. According to the Institut Lumière, before its Paris premiere, the film was shown to invited audiences in several French cities and it was screened at the Eden Theater in September 1896, making that theater one of the first motion picture theaters. The history of the game is documented in the Musée Ciotaden, La Ciotat has a large number of offices uptown. These include some big names such as Gemalto and Ball Packaging and these offices are a major source of employment and income for the local people through the transport, catering and other services they require. Also, business travelers to La Ciotat drive the local hotel business, the primary mode of transport into La Ciotat is the train station which is a ten minutes drive from the city centre. The SNCF train service between Marseille and Toulon stops at La Ciotat, almost every hour during the day except for the mid-day one-hour break, most parts of La Ciotat are covered by its public transport bus service. Although buses are not very frequent, given the population of the city they serve their purpose. The train station is serviced by route no,10,21 and 40 which all go to the La Ciotat downtown station by different routes. Peak time of bus operations are from 8am to 5pm when people are working in the offices of La Ciotat. After 8pm, buses cease their operation, same is the case on weekends when buses are rare even at the train station. Although taxis are available in La Ciotat, it is rare to hail one from the street, taxis are also hard to hire before 7am and after 8pm. Most call taxis are operated by individuals and are not registered with a call service number. The dynamics of public transport change during the summer when La Ciotat is visited by scores of tourists, at that time, more taxis service the area and buses operate more frequently
La Ciotat
–
Marina
La Ciotat
41.
Coudoux
–
Coudoux is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. It is 17 km away from Aix-en-Provence,20 km away from Salon-de-Provence, as for villages, it is 3 km away from Velaux,4 km away from La Fare-les-Oliviers,5 km away from Ventabren and about 10 km away from Éguilles. As early as the 16th century, there were two hamlets, Petit Coudoux and Grand Coudoux, however, these were affiliated to Ventabren and it was only in 1950 that Coudoux was made a village in its own right. Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department Baone, Since 2004 Coudoux is twinned with Baone -Padua -Italy INSEE Official website
Coudoux
–
The
Canal de Marseille enters a tunnel near Coudoux
42.
La Fare-les-Oliviers
–
La Fare-les-Oliviers is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. It is close to Aix-en-Provence and Salon-de-Provence, a castle, Castellas, was built in the 10th century. In the 18th century, a pavilion was built in the centre of the village, communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department INSEE Official website
La Fare-les-Oliviers
–
Sainte-Rosalie chapel
.svg)
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
