Page 80 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

78  PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA

wBiot
Road map E3. * 10,300. £ @
n 4 Chemin neuf (04 93 65 78 00).
( Tue. ∑ biot-tourisme.com
The picturesque village of Biot,
which has 12 themed walks
(available at the tourist office),
was the main pottery town in
the region until Pablo Picasso
revived the industry in Vallauris
after World War II. Today, Biot is
renowned for its bubble-flecked
glassware, with eight glassworks,
including La Verrerie de Biot
where visitors can marvel Detail of Léger mosaic from the eastern façade of the museum, Biot
at master craftsmen at work.
Biot was once the domain of eVilleneuve- in almond paste and icing sugar,
the Knights Templar (see p127), Loubet and over 1,800 menus, dating
and some fortifications remain, back to 1820. Each summer,
such as the 1566 Porte des Road map E3. * 15,000. @ n 16 the town celebrates Escoffier
Migraniers (grenadiers). The ave de la Mer (04 92 02 66 16). ( Wed with a gastronomic festival.
church has two fine 16th-century & Sat. ∑ villeneuve-tourisme.com
works: L’Ecce Homo, attributed E Musée Escoffier de l’Art Culinaire
to Canavesio, and La Vierge au This old village is dominated 3 de la rue Escoffier. Tel 04 93 20
Rosaire, attributed to Louis Bréa. by a restored medieval 80 51. Open daily (Feb–May &
The Musée National castle built by Romée Oct: pm only). Closed Nov–Jan,
Fernand Léger con- de Villeneuve. It is also public hols. & = ∑ fondation-
tains many of the where the celebrated escoffier.org
artist’s vibrant works. chef, Auguste
Escoffier, (1846–
E Musée National 1935) was born. rVence
Fernand Léger The man who
316 chemin du Val-de- invented the Road map E3. * 19,500. @ n 8
Pome. Tel 04 92 91 50 bombe Néro and place du Grand-Jardin (04 93 58 06 38).
( Tue & Fri. ∑ vence-tourisme.fr
20. Open Wed–Mon. pêche Melba was
Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 chef de cuisine at A delightful old cathedral town
Dec. & 7 8 - = the Grand Hotel, on a rocky ridge, Vence has
∑ musees-nationaux- Chef Auguste Escoffier, Monte-Carlo before long attracted artists. The
alpesmaritimes.fr/fleger
born in Villeneuve-Loubet he was persuaded English writer D H Lawrence
E La Verrerie de Biot to become head died here in 1930.
Chemin des Combes. Tel 04 93 65 chef at the Savoy in London. The old town is entered
03 00. Open daily. Closed 1 & 15–27 The Musée Escoffier de l’Art by the Porte de Peyra (1441),
Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec. 7 - = Culinaire, in the house of his beside the place du Frêne,
∑ verreriebiot.com birth, contains many showpieces named after its giant ash
tree planted to commemorate
The Creation of Biot Glassware the visits of King François I
and Pope Paul III. The 16th-
Biot is the capital of glass- century castle of the lords of
blowing on the coast. Local Villeneuve, seigneurs of Vence,
soils provide sand for glass- houses the museum and the
making, and typical Biot glass Fondation Emile Hugues,
is sturdy, with tiny air bubbles named after an illustrious
(known as verre à bulles). The former mayor.
opening of Léger’s museum The cathedral, one of the
led to an increased interest smallest in France, stands by
in all local crafts, and to the the site of the forum of the
arrival of the Verrerie de Biot Roman city of Vintium. Vence
workshop in 1956. This revived was a bishopric from the
old methods of making oil
lamps, carafes and narrow- 4th to the 19th centuries.
spouted porrons, from which Its notable prelates included
a jet of liquid can be poured Saint Véran (d AD 492), and
straight into the mouth. Bishop Godeau (1605–72).
The 51 oak and pear choir
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp198–9 and pp208–11