The Loire Valley offers a slower sort of persuasion, with its pale stone villages, wide river light, and vines combed neatly over the hills. For centuries, this part of France has drawn kings, writers, winemakers and travellers. Leonardo Da Vinci – the great Renaissance man himself – decided to spend the last of his days here, coming to Amboise with his notebooks and inventions. He died at Clos Lucé in 1519, having crossed the
Cannes has always understood the glamour of a little theatre. Long before the black cars and the ceremonial ascent of the Palais steps, this small fishing town had already begun rehearsing its role as a place of refuge. In the 1830s, Lord Brougham, waylaid on his way to Italy, found himself on this bend of the Riviera and did what generations of travellers have done since: he looked at the light, the sea, the olive trees, and decided not to leave quite yet.
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