Thursday, January 18, 2024

The South Of France

How many better places in the world is there to be than the south of France? Many of the settlements of the area go back to their origins as Greek colonies during the Hellenistic era. The Roman era came next. The cities had another life during medieval times, with Islamic influence.

The coast of southern France is across the Mediterranean Sea from the former French colony of Algeria, which we saw in our visit on this blog to "Algiers", July 2023. As described in that posting, the descendants of French settlers in Algeria, following Algeria's gaining of independence in 1962, mostly returned to France. They are known as the "Pieds Noir" (Black Feet).

Toulouse is one of the few largest cities in France. The aviation industry is especially important in the French economy. ( Has anyone ever seen a Caravelle, one of the early jet airliners)? The first aspect of this that comes to mind is the Paris Air Show, where manufacturers from around the world display their planes, but the aviation industry is actually centered in the southern city of Toulouse. The French interest in aviation, Montreal is the center of the aviation industry in Canada, probably goes back to the balloon flights by the Montgolfier brothers, before the French Revolution.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >,  After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

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This is "Space City", in Toulouse, an exhibit of the French aerospace industry. The first image is from Google Street View.






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Marseille is the largest city in the south of France and the second-largest city in the country, after Paris. The French national anthem, La Marsellaise, is named for the city. Like so many of the other cities in the area, Marseille began as an ancient Greek colony. As a great port on the Mediterranean, Marseille is especially known today for it's ethnic mix of migrants from across the Mediterranean, particularly the former colonies of Morocco, Algeria and, Tunisia. Notice the Moorish style of the cathedral, the horizontal parallel lines, which looks more like north Africa, across the Mediterranean, than a cathedral in northern France. These three images of the cathedral are from Google Earth.




The first of the following images, from Google Earth, is of the coastal fort at Marseille.



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Here is a residential area of Marseilles.

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Toulon is another port on the Mediterranean. The city is known as an important naval base. The first image is from Google Street View.





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Nice is pronounced as "Neece", but no one would doubt that it lives up to the way it's name would be pronounced in English. The first street along the beach, from Google Street View, looks like a version of the Champs Elysees with palm trees.





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Ajaccio is the capital city of the French island of Corsica. The city is best-known as the birthplace of Napoleon. The island was not incorporated into France until the year of the French Revolution, 1789. That means that Napoleon was not born in what was then France.

Napoleon, Hitler and, Stalin were probably the three most authoritative leaders that the world has ever seen. Have you ever stopped to think that Napoleon wasn't French, Hitler wasn't German and, Stalin wasn't Russian? Napoleon was Corsican, Hitler was Austrian and, Stalin was Georgian.

Napoleon was an artillery officer when the French Revolution began. But it would be him that actually concluded the revolution, replacing the revolution's Directory with his own establishment called the French Consulate. Napoleon would go on to set the prototype of a military dictator and conquer a vast empire.

It was the conquests of Napoleon that ended the thousand-year old Holy Roman Empire as well as bringing ancient Egypt into the world's consciousness. Napoleon had a sharp eye for art and his collection of art and artifacts would form the basis of the great art museum in Paris, the Louvre. The Louvre was the former royal palace, after the royal court moved from the original palace on the island in the Seine River and before it moved outside of Paris, to Versailles. The Tuileries Palace, from where Napoleon ruled, was later destroyed in the Paris Commune uprising of 1871.

Napoleon was one of the few greatest generals ever. Like Alexander the Great long before him, Napoleon was a prodigy in mathematics during his youth. Hitler's field of conquest, 140 years later, would be very similar to that of Napoleon but, unlike Hitler, Napoleon actually captured Moscow.

The ill-fated invasion of Russia cost Napoleon, although it did provide the subject material for that great work of literature, "War And Peace". The invasion of Spain was costly also, but Napoleon is certainly one of the few greatest generals. Hitler had a high regard for him and made a point of visiting his tomb in Paris, as if Hitler was picking up where Napoleon had left off.

The following three images are from Google Earth and Street View. The monument is "Napoleon and his Brothers".




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