193 Best Sights in Provence, France

Housed in a pretty little Jesuit chapel on the main shopping street, this collection of sculpture and stonework is primarily from Gallo-Roman times but also includes Greek and Etruscan works. There are several interesting inscribed slabs, a selection of shabtis (small statues buried with the dead to help them get to the afterlife), and a notable depiction of Tarasque of Noves, the man-eating monster immortalized by Alphonse Daudet. Most items, unfortunately, are haphazardly labeled and insouciantly scattered throughout the chapel, itself slightly crumbling yet awash with light.

Part of a network of marine museums around France, this branch, lodged in the graceful 18th-century section of the Toulon arsenal, is particularly fascinating. The rich maritime history in this part of the Mediterranean comes alive via model ships, paintings, mastheads, and a pictorial account of the city's role in World War II.

Below the abbey, one of the luxurious, 14th-century cardinals' manors today contains a notable collection of art, including the spectacularly colorful and richly detailed Couronnement de la Vierge (Coronation of the Virgin), an altarpiece painted in 1453 by Enguerrand Quarton. One of the greatest paintings of the 15th century, it shows rows and rows of Avignonnais hieratically sitting around the figures of God the Father and God the Son. Depicted by Quarton—the leading painter of the Avignon School—as identical twins, they bless Mary and hover over a surreal landscape that places Montagne St-Victoire in between Heaven and Hell.

Three rooms of this museum, housed in a Knights of Malta priory dating from the 15th century, are dedicated to local painter Jacques Réattu. But the standouts are works by Dufy, Gauguin, and 57 drawings (and two paintings) done by Picasso in 1971—including one delightfully tongue-in-cheek depiction of noted muse and writer Lee Miller in full Arles dress. They were donated to Arles by Picasso himself, to thank the town for amusing him with bullfights.

This beautifully renovated 1948 architectural gem by Fernand Pouillon was once Marseille's station sanitaire, where every immigrant entering France was systematically "disinfected" to guard against epidemic. An absorbing 45-minute film (in English) and the intact machinery tell a fascinating story of Marseille as "gateway to the East." The light-filled second floor has spaces dedicated to the museum's permanent collection of 18th- to 20th-century paintings depicting Provence and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as to temporary exhibitions of works by contemporary painters. There's also a lovely boutique. The museum café (open until 7) has some of the best views of the redeveloped new port and is a great place for a gourmet lunch, a light snack on the terrace, or a restorative beverage.

Don't bother to rush to this eccentric little natural history museum, but since it's next door to the Calvet Museum (and free) you might want to stop in and check out the petrified palm trunks, the dinosaur skeleton, the handful of local beetles and mammals, and the careful and evocative texts (French only) that accompany them. The museum is named for a local naturalist and functions as an entrance to the massive library of natural history upstairs.

Prepare to get wet—preferably equipped with snorkel, flippers, and some goggles—at France's only underwater museum. Exhibits, which are 109 yards off Catalans beach at a depth of 15 feet, consist of 10 submerged sculptures that highlight marine diversity and the human capacity to both destroy or save what remains of this fragile and beautiful ecosystem.

The Hôtel de Porcelet, which dates from the 16th century, contains this museum with works by the local 20th-century artist Yves Brayer. Figurative and accessible to the point of näiveté, his paintings highlight Italy, Spain, and even Asia, but demonstrate, most of all, his love of Provence. His grave is in the château cemetery. The house at No. 4 on Place de l'Église is also decorated with frescoes by the artist.

Just east of Bandol on the D559, past the smaller resort of Sanary, as you turn left onto the D63 you'll see signs pointing to the small stone chapel of Notre-Dame de Pépiole. It's hemmed in by pines and cypresses and is one of the oldest Christian buildings in France, dating from the 6th century and modeled on early churches in the Middle East. The simple interior has survived the years in remarkably good shape, although the colorful stained glass that fills the tiny windows is modern—composed mainly of broken bottles.

Towering above the city and visible for miles around, this overscaled neo-Byzantine monument was erected in 1853 by Napoléon III. The interior is a Technicolor bonanza of red-and-beige stripes and glittering mosaics, and the gargantuan Madonna and Child on the steeple (almost 30 feet high) is covered in real gold leaf. While the panoply of ex-votos, mostly thanking the Virgin for deathbed interventions and shipwreck survivals, is a remarkable sight, most impressive are the views of the seaside city at your feet.

The area's famous vein of natural ocher, which runs for about 25 km (16 miles) along the foot of the Vaucluse Plateau, has been mined for centuries, beginning with the ancient Romans, who used ocher for their pottery. Visit this museum housed in a former factory to learn more about ocher's extraction and its modern uses. English-language guided tours (50 minutes) are available. If the landscapes of Provence that inspired so many great artists have also inspired you, head for the on-site gift shop to pick up some bottled pigments or a set of ocher and indigo watercolors to use in your own creative endeavors.

Inaugurated in 1869, this grandiose hilltop palace was built to commemorate the completion of an 84-km (52-mile) aqueduct bringing the water of the Durance River to the open sea. The massive, classical-style building surrounds—with impressive symmetrical grace—a series of fountains and has a museum in each of its wings. In the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts Museum) are 16th- and 17th-century paintings, including several by Rubens; French 19th-century paintings by such artists as Courbet, Ingres, and David; and fine marble sculptures and drawings by the Marseille architect Pierre Puget. There are also delightful sculptures by caricaturist Honoré Daumier. In addition to prehistoric and zoological artifacts, the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle (Natural History Museum) has a large aquarium with fish from around the world.

As you drive the few roads that crisscross the Camargue, you'll usually be within the boundaries of the Parc Naturel Régional de Camargue. Unlike most state and national parks in the United States, this area is supervised by the state but privately owned, primarily by the manadiers, small-scale ranchers who graze their wide-horned bulls and broad-bellied, white-dappled horses here and are helped by the gardians—French cowboys who ride through the marshlands wearing leather pants and wide-rimmed black hats and wielding long cattle prods.

Some posit that the Camargue's curved-horned taureaux (bulls) were imported by Attila the Hun; others, that they are descended from ancient, indigenous wild animals. Regardless, they bear the noble marks of their ancestors. The strong, heavy-tailed Camargue horse has been traced to the Paleolithic period (though some claim the Moors imported an Arab strain) and is prized for its endurance and tough hooves.

The gardians are as fascinating as the animals they herd. Their homes—tiny, whitewashed, cane-thatched huts with the north end raked and curved apselike as protection from the vicious mistral—dot the countryside. The signature wrought-iron crosses at the gable invoke holy protection and serve as lightning rods.

The easiest place to view birdlife is the Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau. On some 150 acres of marsh and salt lands, birds are protected, and injured birds are treated and kept in large pens, to be released if and when they're deemed able to survive. A series of boardwalks (including a short, child-friendly inner loop) snakes over the wetlands, the longest leading to an observation blind, where a half hour of silence, binoculars in hand, can reveal unsuspected satisfactions.

In between bouts at the roulette tables and slot machines of the Casino Aix-en-Provence, you can grab a bite at one of five restaurants or take in a floor show.

Of all the elegant squares in Aix, this one is the most evocative and otherworldly. Set back from the city's fashionable shopping streets, it forms a horseshoe of shuttered mansions, with cobbles radiating from a simple turn-of-the-20th-century fountain. It makes a fine setting for the chamber music concerts that are held here in summer.

Shaded by plane trees, this square is the social nerve center of Avignon, with a concentration of bistros, brasseries, cafés, and restaurants that draw swarms of locals.

In pretty Place de l'Horloge, a campanile tops the Hôtel de Ville, and you can admire the delicate stonework on the arched portal and mullioned windows of a Renaissance house. Just past the tower on the right is an overlook taking in views toward Gordes, Roussillon, and Mont Ventoux.

On this broad square, the slender, expressive saints of St-Trophime overlook wide steps that attract sun worshippers and foot-weary travelers. The square is also home to the 17th-century Hôtel de Ville, a noble Italianate landmark by the great Parisian architect François Mansart (as in mansard roofs); a passageway allows you to cut through its graceful vestibule from Rue Balze. The obelisk of Turkish marble once stood in the Gallo-Roman cirque but was hauled to the square in the 18th century.

Stand on the site of van Gogh's residence in Arles—the famous Maison Jaune (Yellow House), which was destroyed by bombs in 1944. The artist may have set up his easel on the Quais du Rhône, just off Place Lamartine, to capture the view that he transformed into his legendary Starry Night. Eight other sites—each featured in one van Gogh canvas or another—are highlighted on the city's ( www.arlestourisme.com) "Arles and Vincent van Gogh" tour, including Place du Forum, the Trinquetaille bridge, Rue Mireille, the Summer Garden on Boulevard des Lices, and the road along the Arles à Bouc canal.

A 19th-century statue of the father of the fleur-de-lis reigns under shady pollards on this square with a mellow village feel, a welcome retreat from the clutter of souvenir shops on surrounding lanes. The pretty, bare-bones Église Notre-Dame des Sablons, on one corner of the square, has a timeless air (the church dates from the 13th century, but the stained glass is modern), and the spectacular Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs and Chapelle des Pénitents Gris are Baroque-era marvels.

An ensemble of 18th-century Italianate buildings frames this popular center of activity, bounded by Quai Neuve, Rue Fortia, Rue de la Paix Marcel-Paul, and Cours d'Estienne d'Orves, where one sidewalk café spills into another, and every kind of bouillabaisse is yours for the asking. At night, the neighborhood is a fashionable hangout for young professionals on their way to and from the theaters and clubs on Quai de Rive Neuve.

The remarkable single-arch Roman bridge, built in the 1st century, stands firm across the Ouvèze River.

This bridge is the subject of the famous children's song: "Sur le pont d'Avignon on y danse, on y danse..." ("On the bridge of Avignon one dances, one dances... "). Unlike London Bridge, which fell down in another nursery ditty, Pont St-Bénézet still stretches its arches across the river, but only partway: half was washed away in the 17th century. Its first stones allegedly laid with the miraculous strength granted St-Bénézet in the 12th century, it once reached all the way to Villeneuve.

Unlike the London Bridge, this other subject of a childhood song (and a UNESCO World Heritage site) stretches only partway across the river. After generations of war and flooding, only half of the arched pont (bridge) remained by the 17th century. Its first stones were allegedly laid with the miraculous strength granted St-Bénezet in the 12th century, and it once reached all the way to Villeneuve. It's a bit narrow for dancing "tous en rond" (round and round), and the traditional place for dance and play was under the arches. You can climb along its high platform for broad views of the Old Town ramparts. The ticket price includes an audio guide or tablet, and the latter (for which you'll need to show your passport or driver’s license) illustrates how the bridge appeared in medieval times.

He immortalized many everyday objects and captured views still seen today, but van Gogh's famous painting of the Langlois Bridge over the Canal d'Arles à Bouc—on the southern outskirts of Arles, about 3 km (2 miles) from the Old Town—seems to strike a particular chord among locals. Bombed in World War II, the bridge has been restored to its former glory.

If you're an even more committed nature lover, venture into this inner sanctum of the Camargue, an intensely protected area that contains the central pond called Le Vaccarès and is mostly used for approved scientific research. The wildlife (birds, nutria, fish) is virtually undisturbed here, and you won't come across the cabins and herds of bulls and horses found elsewhere in the Camargue.

As you wander along these streets, you may feel you have been transported to a Moroccan souk (market). Shops that serve the needs of Marseille's large and vibrant North African community have open bins of olives, coffee beans, tea, spices, chickpeas, couscous, peppers, and salted sardines. Tiny shoebox cafés sell African sweets, and the daily Marché de Noailles in the surrounding maze of streets is the city's most vibrant and colorful market.

This popular trail starts out from the town cemetery and winds through a magical, multicolor palette de pierres (of rocks) replete with eroded red cliffs and chestnut groves. The circuit takes about 45 minutes. Its opening hours are complicated, so check ahead with the tourist office.

This museum and memorial is France's only still-intact deportation camp, where 10,000 men, women, and children of 38 nationalities (2,000 of whom were eventually transferred to Auschwitz) were detained over three years, before the structure was repurposed as an armaments factory. Direct contact with internment areas, including sleeping and dining quarters and hiding places, makes for a rare immediacy. Traces of the many artists and intellectuals who were detained here, including Surrealist artists Max Ernst and Hans Bellmer and novelist Lion Feuchtwanger, can be found in the many artworks displayed (all made here), and the graffiti still vibrantly intact on the walls. At the conclusion of the visit, you retrace the deportees' path to a railroad wagon parked near the main building, a sobering reminder of a terrible chapter in French history.