The Côte d'Azur (literally: Azure Coast), often known in English as the French Riviera, is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from the Italian border (Italian Riviera) in the east to Saint-Tropez, Hyères, Toulon, or Cassis in the west. This coastline was one of the first modern resort areas. It began as a winter health resort for the British upper class at the end of the 18th century.
With the arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century, it became the playground and vacation spot of British, Russian, and other aristocrats, such as Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, when he was Prince of Wales. In the first half of the 20th century, it was frequented by artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Edith Wharton, Somerset Maugham, and Aldous Huxley, as well as wealthy Americans and Europeans. After WWII, it became a popular tourist destination and convention site.
Its largest city is Nice, which has a population of 347,060 (2006). It contains the seaside resorts of Cap-d'Ail, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, Saint-Raphaël, Fréjus, Sainte Maxime and Saint-Tropez. The French Riviera is a major yachting and cruising area with several marinas along its coast. The Cannes Film Festival was launched in September 1946, marking the return of French cinema to world screens.
About the stamp
The first stamp is part of the definitive series Marianne et l'Europe, about which I wrote here.
References
French Riviera - Wikipedia
Sender: Ana
Sent from Cannes (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur / France), on 15.08.2012
Hi Danut,
ReplyDeleteI've just started a linky party for postcards in my blog. It's called "Postcards for the weekend". The idea is to build a postcards appreciation group here in bloggers through the linky party. I hope you can participate. :)
Happy weekend,
Maria
http://lostforwords101.blogspot.sg/