French rivera's must-see for the heritage days

Organized every year on the third weekend of September, the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine are held throughout France. The event dates back to 1984 and was set up by the then Minister of Culture, Jack Lang. Since 1985, this day has grown and became a European event under the leadership of the Council of Europe and in 2000 the event took its current name, "Journées Européennes du Patrimoine".

The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild - Saint Jean Cap Ferrat 

Located between Nice and Monaco, at the top of Cap Ferrat, the villa of Baroness Ephrussi de Rothschild is a magnificent palace surrounded by 9 gardens. Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the villa and its gardens are an invitation to travel. Its builder, Beatrice Ephrussi, discovered Cap Ferrat in 1905, at a time when the French Riviera was a vacation spot for high society. Seduced by the natural beauty of the site, she acquired seven hectares of rocky and barren land on the narrowest part of the peninsula. No less than five years of gigantic work were necessary to build this residence in the Rothschild taste reminiscent of the great houses of the Italian Renaissance. The house's distinctive pink color was a requirement of the baroness who refused to have a white house, as was the fashion at the time. After your visit, sit down in the former dining room, now a tea room, or on the terrace to enjoy a gourmet break under the beautiful sun of the French Riviera.

Lérins Abbey - Lérins Islands 

Discover the Xth century chapels and the XIth century vestiges that dot the island while leaving free access to small natural creeks and alleys lined with olive trees and Aleppo pines. The island's community is composed of 21 monks from the Cistercian Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. They have cultivated their vineyard with art and passion since the Middle Ages. All the steps (pruning, disbudding and harvesting) are done by hand. The vineyard now includes eight hectares with which the monks have been producing quality wines recognized by professionals, but also liquors for 150 years.

The Port and the old town of Saint Tropez - Saint Tropez 

The international success in 1956 of the film Et Dieu... créa la femme, directed by Roger Vadim, Brigitte Bardot, and Jean-Louis Trintignant, filmed on the premises, contributed to making the port an important summer yacht harbor, and one of the emblems of Saint-Tropez, which has become one of the international hot spots for tourism, vacationing and parties. The port of Saint-Tropez (old and new) at the gates of the historic city center has, to date, a mooring capacity of nearly 800 boats (including a mole d'Estienne-d'Orves yachts over 50 m) with its traditional ocher facades of Provencal village houses, its many terraces of cafes and restaurants, lounges bars (including the mythical Café Sénéquier), stores, ice cream parlors, museums, art galleries, exhibitions, street artists, nightclubs, nearby creeks of the Ponche district, nearby beaches of La Bouillabaisse, Saint-Tropez lighthouse, numerous regattas, and regular ferry lines to Port Grimaud, Sainte-Maxime, Saint-Raphaël, Cannes, or Nice . ..

The Villa Kerylos - Beaulieu-sur-Mer 

Kerylos means "alcyon" or "sea swallow". a poetic bird of mythology, which announced a happy omen. Located on the rocky point of the Bay of Ants in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, behind which stand the monumental cliffs of Eze, Villa Kerylos is a real invitation to travel and a tribute to Greek civilization. It is an original reconstruction of an ancient Greek residence. The Villa Kerylos is the realization of a dream, that of Theodore Reinach, a French archaeologist and statesman, fascinated by Greek civilization. It is also the result of an exemplary collaboration with the architect Emmanuel Pontremoli, who was passionate about this project. The residence subtly combines ancient luxury with the modern comforts typical of the villas of the Belle Epoque. Its construction uses the most precious materials: antique stucco, Carrara marble and exotic woods for the furniture. The decoration is sumptuous: mosaics and frescoes inspired by famous scenes, illustrating the great legends of the gods and classical heroes. Like all the villas built during the Belle Epoque, the Villa Kerylos was also a holiday home. Theodore Reinach came to spend his vacations with his family. When he died in 1928, he bequeathed the villa to the Institut de France which he was a member of. His children and grandchildren continued to live in the villa until 1966, when it was classified as a historical monument.

The Matisse Museum - Nice 

Inaugurated in 1963 in the Villa des Arènes, the Matisse Museum houses the donations made to the City of Nice by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and his heirs, i.e. nearly 600 works and 130 objects that belonged to the artist. In addition to the painted masterpieces, the museum has the particularity of preserving almost all of the artist's sculptural work as well as an important collection of graphic works. This rich collection is housed in a majestic 17th-century Genoese villa, which was renovated and enlarged between 1987 and 1993 by the architect Jean-François Bodin. In the vast reception hall, the visitor is welcomed by the monumental composition in cut-out gouache paper, Flowers and Fruit. An immersive room also allows the visitor to "dive" into the ceramics of La Piscine, created after a composition in gouache paper cut-outs that decorated the dining room of Matisse's studio at the Régina. The tour then follows the evolution of Matisse's work and reflects his deep attachment to Nice, where he spent most of his life. After the visit to the museum, you can go and enjoy the garden of the Cimiez arena in the shade of the olive trees.

The Picasso Museum - Antibes 

Founded on the ancient acropolis of the Greek city of Antipolis, the Grimaldi castle was inhabited from 1385 by the Monegasque family who gave it its name, then became the residence of the King's governor, the town hall, and finally barracks before becoming a museum in 1925. Picasso worked at the castle and produced numerous works, drawings and paintings. Following his stay in 1946, Pablo Picasso left 23 paintings and 44 drawings to the city of Antibes. The following years the presence of Picasso grew in the castle with rooms entirely dedicated to him. It was finally in 1966 that the city of Antibes once again paid tribute to Pablo Picasso and the Château Grimaldi officially became the Picasso Museum, the first museum dedicated to the artist. Over the years, donations from the Picasso family have enriched the collections we can enjoy today.