Vallauris, French Riviera, France
Vallauris - a town located near Antibes and Cannes. The cooking pottery was for centuries the specialty of this town. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, thanks to family Massier, the artistic ceramics started its development. Currently Vallauris is called the "French town of ceramics". The expansion of Vallauris is of course linked to the development of tourism, and especially the arrival of the railroad in the second half of the nineteenth century. Illustrious personalities built their hillside villas. After World War II, there was a very good period where famous artists, attracted by the reputation of Vallauris, settled there, including Pablo Picasso.
Parking in Vallauris
We stopped at a fairly large parking lot located at Espace Jean Marais (P1; GPS: 43.573518, 7.056440). You can also try to arrive closer to the center and leave your car, for example, at the parking lot nearby the football pitch (P2; GPS: 43.576694, 7.052861).
Touring Vallauris
From the parking lot we go main street to the town's center in the northern direction. We turn left into Boulevard Jacques Ugo, which will lead us to the big square where the seat of local government is located (A; GPS: 43.579458, 7.054614). On the square we find colorful sculptures of stylized characters appearing in the paintings of Pablo Picasso. From here you can also see the castle from the sixteenth century (B; GPS: 43.579880, 7.053194), which now houses, among others, the Picasso Museum and the Museum of Ceramics. From there it is only a few steps to the church of Sainte-Anne and Saint-Martin from the early nineteenth century (C; GPS: 43.579646, 7.052735). Opposite the church there is a market place where you can see a sculpture created by Picasso and called "Man and sheep". We walk narrow streets of the old town, and then return to the parking lot.
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