The French Riviera, passionately

The Côte d'Azur is France's leading tourist destination after Paris, and has an international reputation as France's glamorous destination. Palaces, glitter, beaches, starlets.... True, but what the tabloids reveal is only a tiny snapshot of the vibrant vastness of the region. Make no mistake, the real star: she is the Côte d'Azur. She takes on her roles with poignant sincerity, being in turn festive, playful, traditional, gourmet, artistic, modern, sporting but also courageous and enterprising. From its mountains and Mediterranean Sea, it has inherited a beauty that seems eternal and yet it does not rest on its prestigious attire. It cultivates its gardens, respectfully develops its valleys, maintains its heritage and does everything possible to ensure that its folklore and traditions remain alive and well. A passionate host dedicated to its millions of visitors for whom it constantly reinvents itself. This is reflected in the brand new Festival des jardins de la Côte d'Azur, which takes place in spring, the state-of-the-art facilities recently provided by Vésubie and the creativity of the events that, each year, offer increasingly daring shows. The Côte d'Azur is not a myth, it loves life so much, dancing, feasting and marvelling. It's back to a happy year of festivities.

Nice, queen of energy

Joggers on the Promenade des Anglais, the laughter of children from the beaches, a youth who gild the terraces of cafés and the floods of onlookers strolling in the alleys of the old quarter: Nice is surprising, it has left its painful episodes in the past to take back the life of more beautiful. The capital of the French Riviera has not forgotten anything, and especially not what shaped its captivating uniqueness before the attacks: a hedonistic way of life where living is an art, a celebration all year round. The 2017 season starts again on the wheel of the carnival corso, as of February 11. The new edition of the Carnival will be greyed out by the King of Energy who will march along a new route in the heart of the city, on Place Masséna and around the Promenade du Paillon. Once His Majesty has seized the keys of the city, Nice will experience two weeks of jubilation where all boldness will be allowed. Today, the processions offer astonishing sound and light shows animated, day and night, by 17 tanks that can reach up to 16 m in height. The big heads shaped in papier-mâché, the most extravagant costumes and nearly 1,000 musicians and dancers from all over the world parade in front of more than 600,000 visitors. The most anticipated moments are the elegant flower battles where flowering queens send thousands of petals to the crowd from their floats decorated with colourful compositions. The Nice Carnival is one of the most important in the world, it marks the kick-off of the events that will then animate the Nissard city such as the Nice Fair, the Cougourdons Feast, the In&Out Encounters and the Nice Jazz Festival. All the energy of this 133rd edition will be carried by the people of Nice, who this year, more than any other, intend to bring to life the folklore and cultural heritage that shape the identity of their region.

Menton-Broadway, Cannes-Hollywood

The Menton Lemon Festival is one of

most important events at the end of winter, starting at the same time as Carnival, allowing visitors to attend both events. From a simple citrus fruit exhibition in 1928 in the gardens of a palace, the Lemon Festival has been transformed into an original three-week show that features and sculptures of nearly 145 tons of citrus fruits. And this year's theme is dedicated to the world of entertainment, with a front-row seat for Broadway and its musicals. The tart corsos will sing and dance to the sounds of the most famous shows that have made the legend of the New York district famous. Thus, the troops will ride their golden fruit corsos in the streets and gardens to produce musical shows inspired by Cats, Chicago, Marry Poppins or even The Lion King. The citrus motifs will also celebrate the emblematic characters of the scene across the Channel and in the evening, the brightest avenue in Manhattan will be illuminated by the Gardens of Light. Under the spotlight,

Liza Minnelli, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and other box office stars are preparing a magical moonlight walk for you. Stars have always inspired the Côte d'Azur and we are preparing to celebrate a memorable anniversary, a few cables away: the 70th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. On September 20, 1946, Jean Zay created the Cannes International Film Festival, a "very Select" evening took place last September at the Palais des Beaux-Arts with the best of the best French actors... we were not invited, of course! But we will be at the party from May 17 to 28 where Cannes will officially celebrate the anniversary of its festival with new activities. In homage to the starlets who contributed to the history of the Croisette, the city will organize the election of "Miss Cannes" as well as sports tournaments and the installation of a "red carpet" photo kiosk. Enough to wait while waiting for the arrival of the greatest notoriety, who came to blow out the candles of the most photographed festival in the world.

From the red carpet to the bouquets of goldOne

returns to earth, to the lands of the Côte d'Azur, which dresses its clothes in light and illuminates the landscapes with its clusters of mimosa from February. It also has a festival dedicated to Mandelieu-la-Napoule, which is the first stop on the mimosa route in the Alpes-Maritimes. This 130 km itinerary links Bormes-les-Mimosas, in the Var, to the botanical gardens of Grasse, the world capital of perfumes. We always come back to stories of flowers wherever we are on earth, that's what the Riviera Garden Route tells us. It opens the doors of the gardens of the Belle Époque of the French and Italian Rivieras, some sixty sites are concerned on the coast. Protected in the same way as the historical monuments, this heritage is divided into 10 Remarkable Gardens of the French Riviera: Botanical garden of Villa Thuret in Antibes, the Vallon du Brec in Coursegoules, the garden of Villa Fort France in Grasse, the park of Château de la Napoule in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, La Citronneraie, the garden of Palais Carnolès and the Serre de la Madone garden in Menton, the botanical garden of Nice, the Arboretum Marcel Kroenlein in Roure, and finally the Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild in Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat. Since the first mimosas were planted in the 19th century, the coastline has never ceased to cultivate the aesthetics of its pleasure gardens. The ornamental ornaments that awaken in the mild Mediterranean climate constitute an invaluable heritage.

Garden Festival

To celebrate this floral art heritage, the Alpes-Maritimes Department is inaugurating the first festival dedicated to the gardens of the Côte d'Azur

year. Architects, landscape architects, designers, artists, scenographers and decorators competed to create ten ephemeral gardens of ,200 m², under the theme of "awakening the senses". Throughout the month of April, his floral works will be on display in the gardens of Villa Rothschild in Cannes and Biovès in Menton, in the Places du Petit Puy and Évêché in Grasse, on the Promenade du Paillon niçoise and in the Pinède Gould in Juan-les-Pins. The OFF Festival will host this anthology of petals with various workshops, conferences, exhibitions, open houses and guided tours throughout the department. This event is part of a much broader ambition to promote the region's natural heritage with itineraries and stays based on this theme. And in this case, a plethora of choices are available: enter the intimacy of private gardens, share the know-how of a master perfumer, taste Yves Terrillon's flower cuisine or meet the perfume flower growers who are working to have UNESCO recognize the "Savoir-faire des plantes à parfum" in the Pays de Grasse. Not to mention the festivities that perfume the calendar such as the flower battle of the Nice Carnival, the Orchid Festival of Menton and the successive festivals of the Orange tree, the Carnation and the Centifolia Rose, to name but a few. The creation of the garden festival is like the highlight of this symphony of colours that enchants a region that has remained a blue flower...

La Vésubie, destination nature

One hour's drive separates these carved flower beds from the monumental sculptures of nature itself. It is the great attractive strength of the region: sea and mountain are close by. The Alpes-Maritimes protect their landscapes in 17 departmental parks. Among these most preserved areas, Mercantour National Park stands out for its significant natural resources, wildlife and some 2,000 species of flowers. In its heart flows the impetuous Vésubie, which gives its valley the invigorating air and chlorophyll complexion of the one we call "the green lung of Nice" or "the Switzerland of Nice". Surrounded by peaks reaching 3,000 m in altitude, the alpine scenery is a pure marvel and lends itself to all outdoor activities from steep peaks to lakes and waterfalls. In addition to the resort dedicated to winter sports in La Colmiane, the Vésubie valley is an inexhaustible playground for the intrepid. 450 km of hiking trails, canoeing, rafting and all white water sports, ice climbing and mountaineering, via ferrata and tree climbing, fishing, biological swimming pool, mountain biking, horse riding: it is also here that the first Trail des Alpes du Sud station was created as well as the largest zip line in France, 2 663 m long and reaching 120 km/h. Sports and family, the valley has developed its offers to establish itself as a leisure destination while respecting the heritage, as illustrated by Alpha Park, where 3 packs of wolves can be observed in their natural environment from the wooden mounts. Aware of its incredible assets, Vésubie continues its vocation in green and sports tourism, it is with this in mind that it inaugurated the first mountain leisure park in Europe a few months after opening the spa of Berthemont-les-Bains.

Mountains as second nature

Saint-Martin-Vésubie, the last village in the north of the valley, expects to see thousands of visitors come to test an innovative and visionary concept: the first indoor mountain leisure park in Europe. Vesúbia Mountain Park is a 3,000 m² covered sports centre that includes a climbing gym, an indoor canyoning area, artificial caving galleries, but also an aquatic centre with a 250 m² swimming pool and a wellness area. The equipment is at the cutting edge of technology, especially in the canyoning area. Its reception basins of different levels are equipped with waterfalls, 2.5 m long slides with 1.5 to 3 m of free fall and an underground canyoning course where a river runs against the current. An underground lake, caves with obstacles and a 9 m high rope training well make up the caving area, over an 80 m course. A climbing wall 11 to 13 m high offers 12 to 24 routes for climbers and the youngest have their own playful climbing area with challenges and timed routes. The high adventure course offers 12 challenges, including a zip line, a monkey bridge, nets, a parrot ladder, a flea jump... For its part, the pool invites the tall swimmers in 3 25-metre swimming lanes while the short ones can have fun in the adjoining play area with gooseneck jets, hydro-massage bench and massage jets. All the ingenuity of this immense pole is to be able to satisfy all audiences: sportsmen and mountain professionals who come to train but also families, tourists and schoolchildren who will be able to learn about all its activities. Camouflaged under a green roof, its wooden and stone architecture, which blends completely into the landscape, will also be welcomed. It reveals all the ambition of the valley: to offer state-of-the-art facilities while respecting its environment, Vésubie embodies here the whole future of tourism.

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