{"id":671,"date":"2024-03-10T14:28:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T06:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gagner-des-cadeaux.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/07\/from-new-museums-to-markets-heres-why-you-should-visit-france-in-2021\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T09:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T01:56:07","slug":"from-new-museums-to-markets-heres-why-you-should-visit-france-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gagner-des-cadeaux.org\/?p=671","title":{"rendered":"From new museums to markets, here’s why you should visit France in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It seems like a lifetime ago that the world was flocking to la belle France<\/em> to feast on its monumental gastronomy, landscapes and unmatched cultural savoir faire. But with a vaccine on the horizon and travel cautiously inching its way back onto the table, now is the time to start planning that first trip.<\/p>\n

As a country consistently ranked as the most visited tourist destination on earth, France has not been sitting on its derri\u00e8re <\/em>during COVID-19 shutdown. New destination museums, grassroots dining and wildly exciting outdoor adventures in 2021 promise much-needed joie de vivre <\/em>in spades.<\/p>\n

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Editor’s note: during COVID-19 there are restrictions on travel. Check the latest guidance before departure, and always follow local health advice.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Admire unseen art in Paris<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Swooning over timeless masterpieces in the Louvre, Impressionist icons at the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay, and the world\u2019s most famous kiss at the Mus\u00e9e Rodin are art classics in Paris, and early this year the capital welcomes a new jewel to its crown: Collection Pinault Paris \u2013 Bourse de Commerce. The gallery showcases the private contemporary art collection of art collector and French billionaire Fran\u00e7ois Pinault inside the historic grain market and stock exchange. The belv\u00e9d\u00e8re <\/em>(viewing platform), with aerial views of the circular building and glass cupola roof (1810\u201312), splendidly restored by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, promises to be a highlight \u2013 as will dining in its restaurant, La Halle aux Grains by former triple-starred French chef Michel Bras, from spring 2021.<\/p>\n

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The Arc de Triomphe Paris is to be wrapped in 7 km of fabric this autumn. \u00a9portsofcall\/Budget Travel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Autumn in Paris is a giddy twirl along Haussmann boulevards peppered with gold leaves and cafe pavement terraces strewn with rugs to snuggle up in. Throw in the blockbuster wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in 25,000 sq m of silvery-blue recyclable fabric and 4 miles (7km) of red rope \u2013 conceived by New York artist Christo (1935\u20132020) prior to his death \u2013 from September 18 to October 3, 2021 and you may as well book your trip right now.<\/p>\n

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Try some new winter sports in the Val Cenis region of the French Alps \u00a9 antb \/ Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Go ice-floating in the Alps<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The call of the French wild has never been so strong \u2013 and mountains resorts in the French Alps have ramped up their off-piste repertoire to ensure everyone gets a slice of intoxicating outdoor action. In the Val Cenis, on the remote southern fringes of the Parc National de la Vanoise, ice-floating is the modish new way of refuelling on the valley\u2019s brazen overdose of peace, solitude and natural beauty. Don a toasty warm floating wetsuit, hurl yourself in a glacial alpine lake, and drift on your back in weightless wonder. A wood-fired hot tub and sauna on the lake shore, laced with snow-dusted pine trees, complete the forest experience. Snow fiends seeking adrenalin-pumping thrills can also try their hand at ice diving, air-boarding and wing-jumping with Sensations Vanoise.<\/p>\n

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Other ways to let rip in the snow 2021-style: scaring yourself silly at 62mph (100km\/h) on brand new ziplines in Serre Chevalier and Valmorel; challenging family and friends in La Plagne to an escape-room experience on skis or bike trek though snow on electric fat bikes.<\/p>\n

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Poseidon at Marseille’s new underwater museum Mus\u00e9e Subaquatique de Marseille \u00a9 G.Ruoppolo\/ Wallis.fr \/ MSM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dive into Marseille\u2019s Big Blue<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With its cult beach-volley court on golden sand and easy-stroll proximity from the Vieux Port, Plage des Catalans is the cinematic hotspot in downtown Marseille for chilling, people-watching and experiencing a ground-breaking new museum \u2013 underwater. Freely accessible to swimmers, snorkelers and deep-sea divers, a 100m splash from shore, the ecological Mus\u00e9e Subaquatique de Marseille exhibits sunken sculptures evoking the beauty and fragility of their big blue environment. The eye-catching collection by French artists \u2013 monumental monkeys, a polar bear, free diver, Greek god of the sea Poseidon, all sorts \u2013 stands 5m deep on the seabed. Statues are sculpted from pH-neutral concrete to ensure aquatic flora and fauna bloom.<\/p>\n

Marseille\u2019s hottest seaside-hotel opening, retro-styled Tuba Club, is the place to stay. The former 1960s diving club was the coastal hangout of French free-diving idol Jacques Mayol, the focus of Luc Besson\u2019s classic French movie The Big Blue<\/em> (Le Grand Bleu<\/em>; 1988).<\/p>\n

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Food halls are a new spin on the morning market \u00a9 Premier Photo \/ Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Taste the best French cuisine at trendy food halls<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Food and drink \u2013 sinfully gooey cheese, tangy saucisson <\/em>spiked with pistachio and black truffle, artisan gin fired up with hot red Espelette peppers \u2013 is reason alone to visit France. And with chefs working closer than ever with artisan producers to elevate taste and quality to new heights, new-gen food halls are taste havens. Think of them as a Generation Alpha spin on the morning market where the French traditionally gather to taste produce so fresh earth still clings to the roots, shop, and linger with friends over Sunday-morning oysters and wine.<\/p>\n

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In Paris cheeky La Felicit\u00e0 at Station F and a galaxy of Michelin-starred chefs at Beaupassage kickstarted the trend. In Bordeaux gourmets gravitate to state-of-the-art Les Halles de Bacalan, in a waterfront hangar opposite La Cit\u00e9 du Vin, and Halle Boca in former abattoirs. Gastronomic Lyon plays an ace with Food Traboule, an explosive fusion of 16th-century architecture and modern French cuisine in Unesco-treasured Vieux Lyon. Then there\u2019s Food Society, set to become the biggest food hall in Europe \u2013 5000 sq m of pop-up food counters \u2013 when it opens in Montparnasse, Paris.<\/p>\n

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Cabourg will be celebrating the life of Marcel Proust through April 2021 \u00a9 thethomsn \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Explore Normandy\u2019s belle \u00e9poque with Marcel Proust<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Marcel Proust bagged the prestigious Prix Goncourt literary prize in 1919 and to belatedly mark the centenary, a museum celebrating the life and times of the French novelist \u2013 the glittering belle \u00e9poque \u2013 is opening this April in the seaside town where Proust holidayed. A trip to Villa du Temps Retrouv\u00e9 in Cabourg, an elegant beach resort midway between Caen and Deauville on the C\u00f4te Fleurie in Normandy, will be as much about enjoying the gloriously retro vibes and glamour of the French seaside in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as learning about the man who wrote parts of the world\u2019s longest novel here. Time your visit with Cabourg\u2019s summer music festival Cabourg, Mon Amour on sandy Plage de Cap Cabourg (June 25\u201327, 2021).<\/p>\n

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A hostel opens in the smaller lighthouse on \u00cele Vierge in the summer \u00a9 fhm \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Get off-grid and sleep in a Breton lighthouse<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With its wild, cliff-spiked coastline prancing for 1530 miles (2470km) past emerald coves, mystical megaliths, authentic fishing villages and a raft of romantic offshore islands, Brittany boasts peaceful pockets galore to bliss out in. Lighthouse stays are the on-trend way to get off-grid. Out at sea on \u00cele Vierge, a pinprick islet offshore from Plougerneau in Finist\u00e8re, a twinset of lighthouses twinkle in the night sky. The taller of the two, built from granite in 1902, is the world\u2019s tallest stone lighthouse at 82.5m; and its older sister \u2013 an 1845 vintage \u2013 will open as a 10-bed hostel this summer. Should absolutely nothing suffice bar a bed with 360\u00b0 view in a glass lighthouse lantern, try the Phare de Kerbel in southern Brittany.<\/p>\n

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