The word of the week is Raison D’être. Raison D’être is French and translates almost directly into reason to be. It describes the purpose in someone’s life. For example: “My raison d’être is to pretentiously describe what is important in this world.”
The subject of the week is the French Riviera. It has been one of the main places for tourism since around the 1920’sThe French Riviera is one of the most famous vacation spots in the world, according to its chamber of commerce. This area of small towns and huge resorts lies along the south eastern part of France in the province of Cõte D’azur. The towns of Nice, Cannes, Menton, and Monaco all compose the French province of Cõte D’azur.The most famous town in the French Riviera is Monaco, which includes the resort area named Monte-Carlo, which hosts the European Poker Tour Grand Final. Monaco however, is not actually a part of France, but is a separate principality inside of the French province. It currently has a population of almost 30,000 people, but has many more people who come in to either escape income taxes or sight celebrities.Nice is the fifth largest town in all of France, and with 1,197,751 inhabitants it is easily the largest city in the Riviera and has the closest airport for the area. Throughout history it has been attached to Italy instead of France. The town only became a part of France when it was annexed by Napoleon III in 1860. The main attraction in this town is the Bay of Villefranche, which is said by the French Riviera chamber of commerce to be “one of the most beautiful bays in the world”. The city itself is filled with small streets and houses like most traditional towns in Europe.Menton is the easternmost of the towns which compose the French Riviera. It is the last town before the Italian border, and part of it has remained from the Middle Ages. The main pull in Menton is the many plants and tropical gardens in the vicinity of the town.Cannes is compared with Monaco and Nice as one of the premier destinations on the Riviera. Cannes is a luxury resort like Nice and Monaco, but is quite different from the other two due to an event called the Cannes film festival.The Cannes Film Festival is an international competition between filmmakers that has been happening since the late Sept. 1 1939, with a brief stop for WWII. Films that have won the Cannes film festival are not necessarily the American box office block busters, but more likely they are indie films about enlightened topics. An example a film that won is The Wind That Shakes The Barley. A film about the Irish Revolution that can really make you hate the British.Those are the most famous towns of the Riviera, but there are numerous small villages and highland areas to entertain you along with the all night casinos and hotels.