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58-552: The call of the "Mexican Riviera" was coined by Princess Cruise Line. Now everyone refers to it as the Mexican Riviera. I believe that it really spoke to the quality and beauty of what people would see down there. We all know the French Riviera -- the Mexican Riviera was something we had in the western hemisphere. Some of the many areas that are considered part of the Mexican Riviera, listed in order from north to south: Ports in

116-538: A British nobleman and politician named Henry Peter Brougham , First Baron Brougham and Vaux, who had played an important part in the abolition of the slave trade, travelled with his unwell daughter to the south of France, intending to go to Italy. A cholera epidemic in Italy forced him to stop at Cannes , where he enjoyed the climate and scenery so much that he bought land and built a villa. He began to spend his winters there and, owing to his fame, others followed: Cannes soon had

174-403: A French businessman already operating a successful casino at Baden-Baden (southwestern Germany), to build a resort and new casino. Blanc arranged for steamships and carriages to take visitors from Nice to Monaco, and built hotels, gardens and a casino in a place called Spélugues. At the suggestion of his mother, Princess Caroline , Charles III renamed the place Monte Carlo after himself. When

232-599: A destination for international congresses and conventions. He built the Palais des Congrès at the Acropolis in Nice, and founded a Chagall Museum and a Matisse Museum at Cimiez . High-rise apartment buildings and real estate developments began to spread. At the end of August 1997, Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed spent their last days together on his father's yacht off Pampelonne Beach near Saint-Tropez , shortly before they died in

290-530: A half hours from Paris. The French Riviera has a total population of more than two million. It is home to a high tech and science park (French: technopole ) at Sophia-Antipolis (north of Antibes ) and a research and technology centre at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis . The region has 35,000 students, of whom 25 percent are working toward a doctorate. The French Riviera is a major yachting and cruising area with several marinas along its coast. According to

348-473: A popular tourist destination and convention site. Many celebrities, such as Elton John and Brigitte Bardot , have homes in the region. Officially, the French Riviera is home to 163 nationalities with 83,962 foreign residents, although estimates of the number of non-French nationals living in the area are often much higher. Its largest city is Nice , which has a population of 340,017 as of 2017. The city

406-684: A small British enclave . Robert Louis Stevenson was a later British visitor who came for his health. In 1882 he rented a villa called La Solitude at Hyères , where he wrote much of A Child's Garden of Verses . In 1864, six years after Nice became part of France following the Second Italian War of Independence the first railway was completed, making Nice and the Riviera accessible to visitors from all over Europe. One hundred thousand visitors arrived in 1865. By 1874, residents of foreign enclaves in Nice, most of whom were British, numbered 25,000. In

464-809: A total length of about 350 km (218 miles). It is customarily divided into a western section, the Ponente Riviera, and an eastern section, the Levante Riviera, the point of division being the apex of the Ligurian arc at Voltri . It has about 1.6 million inhabitants, and most of the population is concentrated within the coastal area. Its mild climate draws an active tourist trade in the numerous coastal resorts , which include Alassio , Bonassola , Bordighera , Camogli , Cinque Terre , Lerici , Levanto , Noli , Portofino , Porto Venere , Santa Margherita Ligure , Sanremo , San Fruttuoso , and Sestri Levante . It

522-584: A winter season to a summer season. Americans began coming to the south of France in the 19th century. Henry James set part of his novel The Ambassadors on the Riviera. James Gordon Bennett Jr. , the son and heir of the founder of the New York Herald , had a villa in Beaulieu . Industrialist John Pierpont Morgan gambled at Monte Carlo and bought 18th-century paintings by Fragonard in Grasse – shipping them to

580-539: Is Genoa , which divides it into two main sections: the Riviera di Ponente (“the coast of the setting sun”), extending westwards from Genoa to the French border; and the Riviera di Levante (“the coast of the rising sun”) between Genoa and Capo Corvo. It is known for its mild climate and its reputation for a relaxed way of life, old fishing ports, and landscapes. It has been a popular destination for travellers and tourists since

638-665: Is 5.4 °C (41.7 °F); the January average daily low temperature in Toulon is 6.2 °C (43.2 °F). The average high temperature in August in Nice is 28.6 °C (83.5 °F); in Toulon the average daily high temperature is 29.7 °C (85.5 °F) Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( Italian : Riviera ligure [riˈvjɛːra ˈliːɡure] ; Ligurian : Rivêa lìgure [ɾiˈveːa ˈliɡyɾe] )

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696-796: Is also known for its historical association with international celebrity and artistic visitors; writers and poets like Percy Bysshe Shelley , Lord Byron , Ezra Pound , and Ernest Hemingway were inspired by the beauty and spirit of Liguria. As a tourist centre, the Italian Riviera benefits from over 300 days of sunshine per year, and is known for its beaches, colourfully painted towns, natural environment, food, and luxury villas and hotels, as well as for its popular resort facilities, major yachting and cruising areas with several marinas, festivals , golf courses, sailing, rock climbing and scenic views of centuries old farmhouses and cottages. Industries are concentrated in and around Genoa, Savona, and along

754-625: Is an Italian word that originates from the ancient Ligurian territory of Italy, wedged between the Var and Magra rivers. Côte d'Azur is originally a nickname given by France to the County of Nice after its annexation in 1860, because the climate was similar to that of the north of Italy, even in winter, with "a sky as blue as its sea". When the Mistral (Northwest) and the Tramontane (North) winds are blowing in

812-529: Is entirely within the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. The Principality of Monaco is a semi-enclave within the region, surrounded on three sides by France and fronting the Mediterranean. The French Riviera contains the seaside resorts of Cap-d'Ail , Beaulieu-sur-Mer , Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat , Villefranche-sur-Mer , Antibes , Juan-les-Pins , Cannes , and Theoule-sur-Mer . Riviera

870-449: Is found in the online Larousse encyclopedia to refer to the holidays of a group of English workers (moreover, in Occitan, the word ribiera "coastline" mostly works as a common name, whereas in French, the old-fashioned term Rivière de Gênes was used to refer to the Italian Riviera whose center is Genoa ). Côte d'Azur and the French Riviera have no official boundaries. Some sources put

928-501: Is presumed to have been an outdoor religious sanctuary, having over 40,000 drawings of people and animals, dated to about 2000 BC. Beginning in the 7th century BC, Greek sailors from Phocaea in Asia Minor began to visit and then build emporia along the Côte d'Azur. Emporia were started at Olbia ( Hyères ); Antipolis ( Antibes ) and Nikaia (Nice). These settlements, which traded with

986-567: Is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France . There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department , extending from the rock formation Massif de l'Esterel to Menton , at the France–Italy border , although some other sources place the western boundary further west around Saint-Tropez or even Toulon . The coast

1044-469: Is the centre of a métropole — Nice-Côte d'Azur —bringing together 49 communes and more than 540,000 inhabitants and 943,000 in the urban area. Nice is home to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport , France's third-busiest airport (after Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport ), which is on an area of partially reclaimed coastal land at the western end of the Promenade des Anglais . A second airport at Mandelieu

1102-611: Is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines . Longitudinally it extends from the border with France and the French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur ) near Ventimiglia (a former customs post) eastwards to Capo Corvo  [ it ] (also known as Punta Bianca) which marks the eastern end of

1160-617: The Alma Tunnel in Paris. Places on the Côte d'Azur (following the broadest definition), following the coast from south-west to north-east, include: Some data related to tourism on the Riviera in 2006: The French Riviera is mostly subtropical, featuring a Mediterranean climate , with sunny, hot, dry summers and mild winters. Winter temperatures are moderated by the Mediterranean; days of frost are rare. The average daily low temperature in Nice in January

1218-792: The Bosonids dynasty (879–1112), then by the Catalans (1112–1246), and finally by the Angevins (1246–1382, elder branch , 1382–1483 ( younger branch ). In the 13th century, another powerful political force appeared, the House of Grimaldi . Descended from a Genoese nobleman expelled from Genoa by his rivals in 1271, members of the different branches of the Grimaldis took power in Monaco , Antibes and Nice, and built castles at Grimaud , Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes . Albert II ,

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1276-723: The Grotte du Vallonnet , near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin , with stones and bones of animals, including bovines, rhinoceros, and bison. At Terra Amata (380,000 to 230,000 years ago), near the Nice Port , a fireplace was discovered that is one of the oldest found in Europe. Stone dolmens , monuments from the Bronze Age , can be found near Draguignan , while the Valley of Marvels ( Vallée des Merveilles ) near Mount Bégo , at 2,000 m (6,600 ft) elevation,

1334-461: The Gulf of La Spezia and is close to the regional border between Liguria and Tuscany . The Italian Riviera thus includes nearly all of the coastline of Liguria. Historically the "Riviera" extended further to the west, through what is now French territory as far as Marseille . The Italian Riviera crosses all four Ligurian provinces and their capitals Genoa , Savona , Imperia and La Spezia , with

1392-563: The High Command had ordered, and crumbled in days. Saint-Tropez was badly damaged by German mines at the time of the liberation. The novelist Colette organized an effort to assure the town was rebuilt in its original style. When the war ended, artists Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso returned to live and work. The Cannes Film Festival was launched in September 1946, marking the return of French cinema to world screens. The Festival Palace

1450-558: The Languedoc and Provence areas, the temperature of the Mediterranean can be very cool in summer. This phenomenon is observed very little or not at all on the coast between the French Riviera and the Italian Riviera . 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

1508-626: The Metropolitan Museum in New York. A feature of the French Riviera in the inter-war years was the Train Bleu , an all first-class sleeper train which brought wealthy passengers down from Calais . It made its first trip in 1922, and carried Winston Churchill , Somerset Maugham , and the future King Edward VIII over the years. While Europe was still recovering from the war and the American dollar

1566-747: The Western Roman Empire in the first half of the 5th century was followed by invasions of Provence by the Visigoths , the Burgundians and the Ostrogoths . There was then a long period of wars and dynastic quarrels, which in turn led to further invasions by the Saracens and the Normans in the 9th century. Some peace was restored to the coast by the establishment in 879 of a new kingdom of Provence , ruled first by

1624-635: The 1945 Walt Disney film, The Three Caballeros . Many of the locations listed above were regular stops on the TV series The Love Boat . Download coordinates as: This Mexico location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . French Riviera The French Riviera , known in French as the Côte d'Azur ( IPA: [kot dazyʁ] ; Provençal : Còsta d'Azur , IPA: [ˈkwɔstɔ daˈzyʀ] ; lit.   ' Azure Coast ' ),

1682-474: The 4th century, and bishoprics were established: in Fréjus at the end of the 4th century, Cimiez and Vence in 439, and Antibes in 442. The oldest Christian structure still in existence on the Côte d'Azur is the baptistery of Fréjus Cathedral , built at the end of the 5th century, which also saw the founding of the first monastery in the region, Lerins Monastery on an island off the coast at Cannes. The fall of

1740-762: The Belgians. Queen Victoria was a frequent visitor. In 1882 she stayed in Menton , and in 1891 spent several weeks at the Grand Hotel at Grasse . In 1892 she stayed at the Hotel Cost-belle in Hyères . In successive years from 1895 to 1899 she stayed in Cimiez in the hills above Nice. First, in 1895 and 1896, she patronised the Grand Hôtel, while in later years she and her staff took over

1798-538: The Club Nautique, a private club on the Croisette , the fashionable seafront boulevard of Cannes. He visited there each spring for a two-month period, observing yacht races from shore while the royal yacht, Britannia , was sailed by professional crewmen. After he became King in 1901, he never again visited the French Riviera. By the end of the 19th century the Côte d'Azur began to attract artistic painters, who appreciated

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1856-465: The Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, each year the Riviera hosts 50 percent of the world's superyacht fleet, with 90 percent of all superyachts visiting the region's coast at least once in their lifetime. As a tourist centre, the French Riviera benefits from 310 to 330 days of sunshine per year, 115 kilometres (71 miles) of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses, 14 ski resorts and 3,000 restaurants. The term French Riviera comes by analogy with

1914-508: The Night . While Americans were largely responsible for making summer the high season, a French fashion designer, Coco Chanel , made sunbathing fashionable. She acquired a striking tan during the summer of 1923, and tans then became the fashion in Paris. During the abdication crisis of the British Monarchy in 1936, Wallis Simpson , the intended bride of King Edward VIII , was staying at

1972-820: The Villa Lou Viei in Cannes, talking with the King by telephone each day. After his abdication, the Duke of Windsor (as he became) and his new wife stayed at the Villa La Croë on the Cap d'Antibes . The English playwright and novelist Somerset Maugham also became a resident in 1926, buying the Villa La Mauresque toward the tip of Cap Ferrat , near Nice. When Germany invaded France in June 1940,

2030-440: The amphitheatre and baths at Cimiez , above Nice, and the amphitheatre, Roman walls and other remains at Fréjus . Roman Provence reached the height of its power and prosperity during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. In the mid-3rd century, Germanic peoples began to invade the region, and Roman power weakened. In the same period, Christianity started to become a powerful force in the region. The first cathedrals were built in

2088-501: The attention of the British aristocracy with Travels through France and Italy , written in 1765. At about the same time, a Scottish doctor, John Brown , became famous for prescribing what he called climato-therapy, a change in climate, to cure a variety of diseases including tuberculosis , known then as consumption. The French historian Paul Gonnet wrote that, as a result, Nice was filled with "a colony of pale and listless English women and listless sons of nobility near death". In 1834,

2146-582: The climate, the bright colors and clear light. Among them were Auguste Renoir , who settled in Cagnes-sur-Mer and in Mougins , Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso . The First World War brought down many of the royal houses of Europe and altered the nature and the calendar of the French Riviera. Following the war, greater numbers of Americans began arriving, with business moguls and celebrities eventually outnumbering aristocrats. The 'High Society' scene moved from

2204-562: The current Prince of Monaco , is a descendant of the Grimaldis. In 1388, the city of Nice and its surrounding territory, from the mouth of the Var to the Italian border, were separated from Provence and came under the protection of the House of Savoy . The territory was called the Comté de Nice after 1526, and thereafter its language, history and culture were separate from those of Provence until 1860, when it

2262-510: The entire west wing of the Excelsior Hôtel Régina, which had been designed with her needs specifically in mind (part of which later became the home and studio of the renowned artist Henri Matisse ). She travelled with an entourage of between sixty and a hundred, including chef, ladies in waiting, dentist, Indian servants, her own bed and her own food. The Prince of Wales was a regular visitor to Cannes, starting in 1872. He frequented

2320-610: The inhabitants of the interior, became rivals of the Etruscans and Phoenicians , who also visited the Côte d'Azur. In 8 BC, the Emperor Augustus built an imposing trophy monument at La Turbie (the Trophy of the Alps or Trophy of Augustus) to mark the pacification of the region. Roman towns, monuments and amphitheatres were built along the Côte d'Azur and many still survive, such as

2378-427: The mid-19th century, British and French entrepreneurs began to see the potential of promoting tourism along the Côte d'Azur. At the time, gambling was illegal in France and Italy. In 1856, the Prince of Monaco , Charles III , began constructing a casino in Monaco, which was called a health spa to avoid criticism by the church. The casino was a failure, but in 1863 the Prince signed an agreement with François Blanc ,

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2436-408: The new class of wealthy international travellers called the jet set . The marriage of American film actress Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco on 18 April 1956, attracted world attention once again. It was viewed on television by 30 million people. During the 1960s, the Mayor of Nice, Jacques Médecin , decided to reduce the dependence of the Riviera on ordinary tourism, and to make it

2494-426: The production of flowers for perfume (manufactured in Grasse ). A new phase began when the coast became a fashionable health resort for the British upper class in the late 18th century. The first British traveller to describe its benefits was the novelist Tobias Smollett , who visited Nice in 1763 when it was still an Italian city within the Kingdom of Sardinia. Smollett brought Nice and its warm winter climate to

2552-578: The railway in the mid-19th century, it became the playground and vacation spot of British, Russian, and other aristocrats, such as Queen Victoria , Tsar Alexander II and King Edward VII , when he was Prince of Wales . In the summer, it also played home to many members of the Rothschild family . In the first half of the 20th century, it was frequented by artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso , Henri Matisse , Francis Bacon , Edith Wharton , Somerset Maugham and Aldous Huxley , as well as wealthy Americans and Europeans. After World War II , it became

2610-404: The railway reached Monte Carlo in 1870, many thousands of visitors began to arrive and the population of the principality of Monaco doubled. The French Riviera soon became a popular destination for European royalty. Just days after the railway reached Nice in 1864, Tsar Alexander II of Russia visited on a private train, followed soon afterwards by Napoleon III and then Leopold II , the King of

2668-423: The region in 2011. The cruise line cited economic reasons for its decision. Riviera in Italian means simply "coastline". The word by itself often refers to either the French Riviera or the Italian Riviera . Riviera may be also applied to any coastline, especially one that is sunny, topographically diverse and popular with tourists. The term “The Riviera of Mexico” was used in reference to Acapulco Beach in

2726-408: The remaining British colony was evacuated to Gibraltar and eventually to Britain. American Jewish groups helped some of the Jewish artists living in the south of France, such as Marc Chagall , to escape to the United States. In August 1942, 600 Jews from Nice were rounded up by French police and sent to Drancy , and eventually to death camps . In all about 5,000 French Jews from Nice perished during

2784-509: The shores of the Gulf of La Spezia. Genoa and La Spezia are Italy's leading shipyards; La Spezia is Italy's major naval base, and Savona is a major centre of the Italian iron industry. Chemical, textile, and food industries are also important. A number of streets and palaces in the center of Genoa and the Cinque Terre National Park (which includes Cinque Terre , Portovenere , and the islands Palmaria , Tino and Tinetto ) are two of Italy's 58 World Heritage Sites . The Riviera's centre

2842-413: The states of Oaxaca and Nayarit are also included. In 2011, Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line all dropped Mazatlan port calls from their itineraries, citing concerns over an increase in drug gang turf war there. Royal Caribbean dramatically scaled back its presence in all of the Mexican Riviera that same year, canceling 15 cruises that were scheduled to sail through

2900-411: The term Italian Riviera , which extends east of the French Riviera (from Ventimiglia to La Spezia ). As early as the 19th century, the British referred to the region as the Riviera or the French Riviera , usually referring to the eastern part of the coast, between Monaco and the Italian border. Riviera is an Italian noun which means "coastline". The name Côte d'Azur was given to the coast by

2958-415: The time of Byron and Percy Shelley . Many villages and towns in the area are internationally known, such as Portofino , Bordighera , Lerici and the Cinque Terre . Many villages of Italian Riviera are counted among I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). The part of the Riviera di Ponente centred on Savona , is called the Riviera delle Palme (the Riviera of palms);

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3016-428: The war. Following D-Day in Normandy, Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), the code name for the Allied invasion of Southern France, commenced on 15 August 1944, when American parachute troops landed near Fréjus, and a fleet landed 60,000 troops of the American Seventh Army and French First Army between Cavalaire and Agay , east of Saint-Raphaël . German resistance was not as fanatical as Hitler and

3074-506: The western boundary at Saint-Tropez . Others include Saint Tropez, Hyères or Toulon in the Var (departement) , or as far as Cassis in the Bouches-du-Rhône departement. In her 1955 novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley , Patricia Highsmith describes the Riviera as including all of the coast between Toulon and the Italian border. The region of the French Riviera has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Primitive tools dating to between 1,000,000 and 1,050,000 years ago were discovered in

3132-603: The writer Stéphen Liégeard in his book, La Côte d’azur , published in December 1887. Liégeard was born in Dijon , in the French department of Côte-d'Or , and adapted that name by substituting the azure colour of the Mediterranean for the gold of Côte-d'Or. In Occitan ( Niçard and Provençal ) and French , the only usual names are Còsta d'Azur in Occitan and Côte d'Azur in French. A term like "French Riviera" ( Ribiera Francesa in Occitan, Riviera Française in French) would only be used in literal translation, or adaptations of it. For instance, in French, "Riviera Française"

3190-401: Was built in 1949 on the site of the old Cercle Nautique, where the Prince of Wales had met his mistresses in the late 19th century. The release of the French film Et Dieu… créa la femme ( And God Created Woman ) in November 1956 was a major event for the Riviera, making an international star of Brigitte Bardot , and making an international tourist destination of Saint-Tropez, particularly for

3248-420: Was once the region's commercial airport, but is now mainly used by private and business aircraft. The A8 autoroute runs through the region, as does the old main road generally known as the Route nationale 7 (officially now DN7 in Var and D6007 in Alpes-Maritimes ). High-speed trains serve the coastal region and inland to Grasse , with the TGV Sud-Est service reaching Nice-Ville station in five and

3306-472: Was re-attached to France under Napoleon III . Provence retained its formal independence until 1480, when the last Comte de Provence , René I of Naples , died and left the Comté to his nephew, Charles du Maine , who in turn left it to Louis XI of France . In 1486, Provence formally became part of France. Until the end of the 18th century, the area later known as the Côte d'Azur was a remote and impoverished region, known mostly for fishing, olive groves and

3364-633: Was strong, American writers and artists started arriving on the Côte d'Azur. Edith Wharton wrote The Age of Innocence (1920) at a villa near Hyères , winning the Pulitzer Prize for the novel (the first woman to do so). Dancer Isadora Duncan frequented Cannes and Nice, but died in 1927 when her scarf caught in a wheel of the Amilcar motor car in which she was a passenger and strangled her. The writer F. Scott Fitzgerald first visited with his wife Zelda in 1924, stopping at Hyères, Cannes and Monte Carlo – eventually staying at Saint-Raphaël , where he wrote much of The Great Gatsby and began Tender Is

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