Day 2880 (Sunday) 27th April 2025

This is the exotic garden in Eze Village

and this is the Old Port of Nice.

 

It was quite cloudy this morning and Huw went for a walk along the beach. I don’t know what’s happened to this bench where we frequently have a picnic – Huw thinks it must have been hit by a lorry or something.

They have moved the new private beach to the very end of the beach where we’ve been saying it should have been all along. Hopefully Deli Bo (last year’s private beach) won’t be rebuilt this year.

It’s looking pretty good

Here are the rest of the ‘The most unusual places to visit in France.’

The cathedral of erotic sculptures 

Credit: Trip Advisor / The cathedral of erotic sculptures in Cahors

Region: Occitania

French cathedrals and churches are renowned for their architecture and the strange sculptures on their façades, such as the many gargoyles that protect these religious buildings from dark forces. But the cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Cahors has a curiosity of a different kind: erotic sculptures that are, to say the least, dubious. Sacred art, representation of the deadly sins? The mystery remains.

The old Vernon mill 

Credit: Wikimedia Commons / The old Vernon mill is an unusual place to visit in France

Region: Normandie

This astonishing building, suspended on an old bridge over the Seine in the Eure département, was originally a water mill. A curiosity to be discovered in the Île-de-France region, halfway between Rouen and the capital. Discover other unusual buildings and houses in France in this article.

The artists’ village of La Poèterie 

Credit: Lapeoterie.com / La Poèterie, an borderline artist village

Region: Bourgogne-France-Compté

La Poèterie (The Poetry) is an unusual, little-known and well-kept place in France. It’s an artists’ village and a timeless alternative venue based on a former industrial wasteland. Here you can experience offbeat art and poetry in an absolutely crazy setting. It’s a place renowned for its borderline edge and special atmosphere. You’ll generally meet people with an open mind that knows no bounds… Another discovery with a truly unusual universe.

Oradour-sur-Glane, the open-air museum of desolation

Credit: Wikimedia Commons / The martyr Village of Oradour-sur-Glane

Region: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Oradour-sur-Glane is a village in the Haute-Vienne region of France that witnessed a tragic event during the Second World War: the largest massacre committed by the German Reich in France. The unusual thing here is not the massacre, of course, but the fact that you can visit the destroyed part of the village, which has never been touched since. In a way, it’s an open museum where even the vehicles of the time are still present. Also called the “martyr village”.

The perched castle festival (Chateau Perché)

Credit: Valentine Duchêne / Château Perché Festival

Taking part in the Château Perché festival is one of the craziest things I’ve ever done in France. I was surfing on Facebook when I saw the trailer for this event, which struck me as out of the ordinary. At the time, I was living with a large group of proud friends who didn’t hesitate for a second to go along. We went to the very first edition at the Château de Chazeron in Auvergne and what a slap in the face it was… Let’s be clear and unfiltered. It’s a Disneyland for adults, with a backdrop of deep house/techno music, experimental and even bizarre – lot of psychedelic drugs – and unbridled libido. But you don’t need any of those things to hallucinate in this castle, where psychedelic, wacky art transforms the space into the world of Alice in Wonderland. It’s a completely mad experience that make you feel in another dimension. Every year, the festival takes place in a different castle in France, with a few European tours.

Wat Thammapathip International pagoda

Credit: Clarisse M. / Wat Thammapathip International pagoda

Region : Île-de-France

Is it possible to get a taste of Thailand while staying in France? Yes, since the Château de Lugny has been transformed into a large Pagoda by the International Thai Association of Buddhists in France. I use the verb “to taste” because you can also sample the Thai food for which the place is famous. The Grande Pagode in Paris is also a similar place to visit, but not as touristy as Wat Thammapathip International in Moissy Cramayel. It houses the largest Buddha statue in Europe.

Playing square pétanque

Credit: Wikimedia Commons / The square ball game

Regions: South of France

Petanque is a well-known national sport that involves throwing balls as close as possible to a target called a “cochonnet”. It’s a game that’s part of French culture. A resident of Cagnes sur Mer has revisited traditional pétanque by replacing the round balls with square ones. The sport is now played more widely in the south of France and even in Belgium. 

An unbridled holiday in Cap d’Agde

Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Aerial view of Cap d’Agde

Region: Occitania

Cap d’Agde is a naturist seaside resort with a sultry reputation, located in Agde in the south of France. It’s an unusual place in that it’s a world of its own. Known for its comfort and good holiday atmosphere, it’s also a place whose name comes from its red light district and its activities, such as libertarianism and its beach, nicknamed the ‘Bay of Pigs’, where holidaymakers have sex in the open air. 

The palaeontological site of Plagne

Credit: Wikimédia Commons / You can see dinosaur footprints there.

Region: Auvergne

The Dinoplagne palaeontological site is renowned the world over for its enormous dinosaur footprints, estimated to be over 150 million years old. 

The Mahalon Unusual Festival

Credit: Flickr – Beatriz Sirvent / Mahalon Unusual Festival

Region : Brittany

It’s all in the name. The Festival de l’Insolite is an unusual event packed with unusual and burlesque activities and records to be broken in Finistère. It’s best known for its roller-bed race and its many entertaining events, which take place every 14th July.

Le Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval

Credit: Pixabay – Olzheim / Le Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval (The Facteur Cheval’s ideal palace)

Region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The Facteur Cheval’s ideal palace is a century-old monument built entirely by one man: Ferdinand Cheval. The postman spent 33 years of his life creating this unusual building, which drew its inspiration from Indian (Hindu) architecture, the Bible and Egyptian mythology. You can visit it at Hauterives in the Drôme. 

The Machines de l’île in Nantes

Credit: Flickr – Guilhem Vellut / Visit the Machînes de l’Île in Nantes

Region: Pays de la Loire

Les machines de l’île is now a household name in France. It’s a grandiose and eccentric project featuring giant mythological animals/creatures on the site of the former Nantes shipyard. I quote: “It lies at the crossroads of the “invented worlds” of Jules Verne, the mechanical universe of Leonardo da Vinci and the industrial history of Nantes”.

The Rustrel quarries: the “Colorado of Provence

Credit: Wikimedia Commons / The “Colorado of Provence”. Yes, the French like to exaggerate things

Region : French Riviera

The town of Rustrel has seen an exponential rise in tourism thanks to the popularity of its ochre quarries. A place with a change of scene, often dubbed the “Colorado of Provence”, it attracts many curious visitors and hikers in search of new landscapes in France.

 

The mystical forest of Broceliande

Credit: Flickr – Eric Sahib / Broceliande Forest is an out of ordinary and fairytale place to discover in France

Region: Brittany

The forest of Brocéliande is one of the most mysterious, bewitching and magical in France. It’s a place that has been associated with legends and divine and supernatural phenomena for ages. A walk through this enchanted and magical area promises to be a breath of fresh air. The reputation of this unique forest is well established. You should visit it at least once in your life, as it is one of the most magical and beautiful in France.