While the Top French Cities of Orleans and Tours celebrate the French Renaissance year round:
Saint-Etienne
In late March the city of Saint-Etienne will hold its 11th Design Biennial, curated by American Lisa White.
Lille
Starting April 27, 2019 and through early December, the great Northern city of Lille will be effervescent —indoors and out—with contemporary art exhibits, installations and other events. A great open-air kick-off will launch “Eldorado: Lille 3000,” a huge citywide fete held every three years.
Lille will also host March 13 to June 11, 2019 a major Giacometti retrospective featuring over 150 works at its Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
FIFA Women’s World Cup
Sports fans must know by now that France will be hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup from June 7 to July 7 in 9 cities. Six of the 9 host stadiums are in in the Top French Cities: Grenoble, Le Havre, Montpellier, Nice, Reims, and Rennes; from which of course the French team will try to match their male counterparts and win. Ticket sales opened yesterday, March 6, 2019 with prices starting at 9 euros. Click here for more details and updates.
Montpellier
Elegant Montpellier will welcome a new contemporary art center in July which will be known as Le MoCo.
Dijon
That opening will be followed in late 2019 by the inauguration of the City of Gastronomy and Wine in a new and centrally located neighborhood of delicious Dijon. November 9 update: the opeing of the City of Gastronomy and Wine has been delay to 2020/2021
Nice
Nice is even easier to get to thanks to La Compagnie. The exclusively business class airline has just announced the launch of nonstop service between New York (EWR) and Nice. The first direct flight is scheduled for May 5, 2019 and seasonal service will operate five times weekly (Wednesday through Sunday) between the months of May through October 26, 2019. Flights out of Newark International Airport (EWR) will depart at 11:30PM, arriving to Nice-Côte d'Azur International Airport (NCE) at 1:50PM the following afternoon. Flights departing Nice will be offered at 6:15PM with a same-day arrival in New York at 10:00PM. Passengers will be welcomed in Nice with lounge and priority access for a painless and exclusive pre-flight experience. Onboard, guests will enjoy reclining lie flat beds, refreshing amenity kits with Caudalie skincare products, personal iPads, a seasonally-curated menu by Michelin-starred Chef Christophe Langrée, a selective list of French wines and champagne and artisanal croissants by famous French bakery, Maison Kayser
The city of Nice also has a new tram line that will serve from the airport to the city center. Nice’s Tram Line 2 (Ligne 2 de Tram) will run from Nice-Port Lympia to either Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) or to the CADAM prefectural administration center in the western outskirts of the city. It is sometimes referred to as the West-East line and has begun service in phases starting last year from Nice Airport to CADAM and Magnan neighborhood and mid-to-late 2019 to the city center and end-line to Nice Harbor/Lympia Port.
Toulouse
It’s not every day that you see giant steel and wood machines parading through the streets. However, that’s the case in Toulouse France. Beginning February 9th, the Southeastern city will be home to La Halle de la Machine, the permanent residence for La Compagnie La Machine. This design collective, founded by Francois Delaroziere, is known for creating enormous ‘living machines’ designed to transform cities into dream worlds by creating public spectacles. Having exhibited in Liverpool, Beijing and Brussels, Toulouse recently welcomed the newest installation of La Compagnie La Machine: The Guardian of the Temple. The Minotaur, a 50 ton and 46 foot metal emblem of the collection, strode up and down the streets of Toulouse’s Montraudan district (pictured below).
With the opening of La Halle de la Machine, visitors to Toulouse can immerse themselves throughout the year amongst the collection of machines coming to life including The Minotaur and the Great Spider who can carry visitors for jaunts along Toulouse’s former air postal service runway, La Piste des Géants (the Runway of Giants). Beneath a roof shaped like aircraft wings, the Minotaur will carry 50 people in his temple for a half hour long journey every day. Alongside him on the runway, the Great Spider will carry ten people on her back.