By the way, the French Riviera, from where to where?

By the way, the French Riviera, from where to where?

Maybe you've never asked yourself the question but do you know where it starts and where it ends?

Would this beautiful coastline be limited to Saint-Tropez to Monaco? Or from Marseille to San Remo?

You have noticed how we can look at the world thinking that it turns around us... let's take a little detour through history: the French Riviera, whose term was born in 1887 under the pen of a retired senior civil servant based in Cannes, actually refers to the entire coastline from the creeks of Marseille-Cassis to Italy!

This historical reminder does not prevent us from observing that the definitions are numerous and the contours are very blurred.

For proof, according to the Regional Tourism Committee, the Côte d'Azur is the PACA region, the magazine Géo in its special issue on the Riviera takes you on a tour of this region from Bandol to Menton... The Guide du Routard has published a map which includes the departments of the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes

In the end, I'll tell you one thing: born in Nice, and Côte d'Azur in my heart, my excursions and visits will cover Monaco, St Tropez, Nice, Menton l'Estérel as well as Ventimiglia... So, grab your backpacks, let's go!

Aerial panoramic view of the French Riviera Photo istock

But who is this retired senior civil servant?

Mr. Stéphen Liégeard! He will replace the "Riviera" by the "Côte d'Azur".
You will tell me that he was born on the French Riviera: not at all. Born in Dijon in 1830, in love with the region, he will settle for his retirement in Cannes. Mr. Liégeard was a high civil servant, lawyer, politician, writer and poet.
It was during his trip to the Riviera that he wrote his book "Côte d'Azur", and created the name. His book described the route of his trip from Hyères to Genoa, the Ligurian city.
If you want more information on this Mr. Liégeard, I propose you the link of wikipedia.

View of the castle hill of the city of Nice