Nice, the capital of the French Riviera.

Nice is also a city of creation, innovation, research and cultural exchange... NICE and its area are undoubtedly the place for the opening up of art and culture.

The Cote d'Azur has inspired, from time immemorial, the greatest painters, writers and musicians. It has compelled recognition of its avant-garde across the Atlantic, its museums are holding prestigious collections in edifices of renowned architecture.

Nice is full of an extraordinary artistic and cultural heritage. The gentle way of life sustains the imaginary world of artists and stimulates their creativeness.

Thus Toulouse Lautrec, Modigliani, Dufy, Renoir, Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, or Prévert, Nietzsche, Aragon, Tolstoï, Maupassant, and musicians such as Berlioz, Bizet, Massenet have experienced a real fascination over Nice, without forgetting the numerous architects of whom the town bears the stamp.

Nice's mild winters began to attract the British aristocracy, who travelled to the coast to treat their respiratory ailments. Very soon, with the arrival of the railway line in Nice, in 1864, and Menton, in 1869, the "winter crowd" of British, Russians, Italians and Germans came in ever greater numbers.

From 22,000 in 1864, their numbers swelled to 150,000 by 1914. Twenty years later, the Americans launched the fashion for swimming in the sea and so Nice became a famous seaside resort.