Things to see and do France

Four beautiful beaches are accessible on foot from the centre of the village: Arène beach, Corton beach, Grand Mer beach on pier, and finally the smallest, a little way away, the Bestouan beach. The calanques massif is famous all over the world. Classified, its vulnerability imposes a strict regulations that often prohibit access in summer except on foot or by boat. The easiest way to visit, summer and winter, the main ones among them - the most beautiful is En-Vau - is to go aboard one of the boats for a guided tour: tickets to be taken at the small yellow kiosk on the boules game place on the port. Information: Les Bateliers de Cassis at 04 42 01 90 83. One of the jewels between Marseille and Cassis is undoubtedly the Cosquer cave. Located in cap Morgiou, this site is unique in the world. Therefore, this underwater cave houses dozens of works painted and engraved about 27 000 and 19 000 years ago. Discovered in 1985 by a cassidian diver, it took years to mention the colourful paintings covering its walls: horses, seabirds, deer, wild cats, bison have remained in an exceptional state. Protected and for security reasons, it can't be visited. You can console yourself by buying books and photos in the village shops, or by taking a virtual tour on the website www.culture.gouv.fr

Church of Sainte-Geneviève until the Revolution, the Panthéon was built at the same time as the neighboring Ecole de Droit (Sorbonne Law School). It is located on the eponymous square, which was laid out around 1770 on land once owned by the abbey of Sainte-Geneviève. The square was subsequently redeveloped in the ^19th century, notably following the construction of the Sainte-Geneviève library. Commissioned by King Louis XV as a tribute to Saint Geneviève, construction of the Pantheon began in 1755. It was directed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot from 1758, then by Maximilien Brébion and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet. They were completed in 1793. From the outset, they revealed the presence of Gallo-Roman clay extraction shafts nestling some 25 m below ground level. The building, 110 m long and 84 m wide, takes the form of a Greek cross with four naves topped by a dome at their intersection, a bold elevation - in reality a triple dome - under which Louis XV had wished to display the reliquary of Saint Geneviève. Today, the exterior may seem austere, but in the ^18th century, the facades were filled with some forty bays, and two 40 m-high bell towers. At that time, two other churches were located on Mont Sainte-Geneviève (the former ^12th-century abbey church on what is now Rue Clovis, and the ^15th-century church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont). This configuration, among others, motivated the transformation of Louis XV's church into a republican temple to house the tombs of "génovéfains (regular canons of the Order of Sainte-Geneviève) and Frenchmen illustrious for their talents, virtues and services to the fatherland". The first great man to enter was Victor Hugo. Among the personalities laid to rest in the crypt are Voltaire, Rousseau, Jean Moulin, Pierre and Marie Curie, Simone Veil, Josephine Baker... The wall of the monument and the staircase leading to the crypt also feature inscriptions and plaques honoring personalities who have also left their mark on French history: General Delestraint, Alain-Fournier, Charles Péguy, Victor Segalen, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Henri Bergson, François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture and the Justes de France. The decor is also well worth a visit, with works by Puvis de Chavannes, Gros and Cabanel... This place of collective memory is well worth a visit, reflecting the architectural and artistic know-how of different eras, as well as the ups and downs of a turbulent history.

Designed by Pierre-Paul Riquet (1609-1680) and motivated by the wheat trade, Canal du Midi was shaped by the hand of man. It began the era of the Industrial Revolution by allowing to rally, by its 240 kilometers, the Atlantic Ocean, via the Garonne, to the Mediterranean Sea. Its journey begins in Toulouse and ends in Marseillan - the other part connecting the Atlantic begins in Toulouse and ends in Castets-en-Dorthe (Canal de Garonne). It was made between 1667 and 1694 and two thousand workers were hired from January 1667. This number rose to twelve thousand, including six hundred women, to alleviate the shortage of men. The work was carried out in three major projects: the first from Toulouse to Trèbes (east of Carcassonne) which includes the basins and water supply systems, the second towards the south of Trèbes to the pond of Thau, and the third that was the construction of the harbour of Sète. To address the problem of leveling throughout the course, more than 60 locks had to be built, Riquet was perfectly conscious of helping to forge a symbol of the power of the 17th-century France, while giving the country a functional communication channel. He thus particularly made sure that the quality of the canal's architecture is worthy of this function. The bridges, the locks and the structures associated with them, as well as the tunnel entrances were designed and drawn with a great sense of aesthetic combined with technical constraints, the whole includes no less than 328 works of art and 63 locks. He was also extremely conscious of the impact of his work on the landscape and took great care to ensure that it was properly bordered by trees and by vegetation in harmony with the landscapes crossed. Since 1996, this performance has rightly been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Having the width of 10 to 20 meters and deep of about 2 meters, the canal passes to its highest point at the threshold of Naurouze, at the border of the department of Aude and Haute Garonne in the Lauragais. Its history with Carcassonne was quite complex since, at the completion of the first route, the canal was 2 kilometers from the city. A link between the city and the canal was suggested in 1686 by Vauban but it was only a century later, in 1787, that the construction of a new route was ordered and was completed in 1810 and that wouldl definitely set the canal in its current configuration.

Created in 1963, the National National Park was the first French. He continued the Italian Gran Paradiso, located across the border. A National Park whose vocation is to protect the natural heritage, the environment, today takes into account cultural heritage and landscapes. 28 municipalities and its area are over 145 000 hectares. It has 14 common kilometres of the National Park of Gran Paradiso (Italy) with which it has been twinned since. 1972). The National National Park is situated between the high valleys of Maurienne and Tarentaise. With its high peaks (more than 3 000 m high), it still has many glaciers, which nevertheless shrink. The Park encompasses 70% of Pralognan-la-Vanoise.

This park was born of the discovery of the progressive disappearance of the Alps and chamois. Today, these two animals once again colonized the steep slopes and slide of the Vanoise. For them, it is the largest Colony in France. You can see them by being attentive, silent and respecting them, especially when they ruminent. They have to make a lot of fat quickly to spend the rough winters in the snow. The more fearful buff fled to our approach, unlike the bouquetin of the Alps.

Other animals to observe such as marmots, variables, foxes, hermines, badgers… 120 bird species nest in Vanoise, like bats, bearded bearded (3 breeding pairs), royal eagles (about pairs), Grouse… and a hundred species of insects.

On the flora, 1 200 plant species identified, 200 of which are remarkable or endemic, and some protected, such as the Alpes of the Alps, the @ sedge, the blue thistle…

The Vanoise National Park offers many free or controlled activities. We remind you of the specific regulations of a National Park: no dog, respect the trails, no camping, no fires, no cueillette or mineral, no mountain bikes out indicated…