Getting hERE

Located in Cotignac, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Cotignac is located in the Haut-Var region of Provence with the great nature reserve of the Verdon just above and the beaches of the Cote d’Azur just below.

It is well served by the international airports of Nice & Marseille, both about 1h15m drive. A pre booked fast bus service runs from both airports to the nearby town of Brignoles.

The TGV to the stations of Les Arcs or Aix-en-Provence are within 40min drive.

The A8 motorway which runs along the South of France is just 25 mins drive to junction 35, Brignoles.

Nearest Airport: Nice, Marseille 120 km
Nearest Railway Station: Aix-en-Provence, Les Arcs 60 km
Nearest Motorway Junction: A8, exit 35 at Brignoles 20 km

Art & Architecture

o   Le Corbusier’s Cite Radieuse, Marseilles
Cite Radieuse in Marseilles was the first building to be completed in Le Corbusier’s influential Unite d’Habitation project, and is arguably the most influential Brutalist building of all time. With its human proportions, chunky pilotis and interior "streets", it redefined high-density housing by reimagining a city inside an 18-storey slab block.Completed in 1952 in Marseille, the building took Le Corbusier's most famous quote – that a house is "a machine for living in" – and applied it to an entire community. The result was a self-contained concrete vessel that is structured like an ocean liner. The architect called the building La Cité Radieuse, or "the radiant city", and it has successfully accommodated a mix of uses ever since completion. Its 337 apartments can accommodate 1,600 residents, but it also boasts two shopping streets, a hotel and a rooftop terrace. Le Corbusier believed the tower block was the solution for rehousing the masses that had been displaced during the second world war, and that high rise building could be used to create spacious city homes with the same amenities as a typical street

o   Eileen Gray’s E-1027, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
E-1027 is a storied modernist villa designed by the Irish architect Eileen Gray for herself and her lover, Jean Badovici, between 1926–29. The building has a fascinating history involving heartbreak, jealousy, a washed-up corpse, an old lady and a Swiss doctor, and a murderous gardener. Re-opened in 2015 after decades of bureaucratic wrangling, the villa overlooks the fancy restaurants and hotels of Monte Carlo. A better option is to buy a beer and a pan bagnat (Nicoise sandwich) from Le Kiosk and sit on the sea wall looking out to Menton (home to the Jean Cocteau Museum) and, beyond that, Italy.

o   Le Corbusier’s Cabanon, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
A short distance from Eileen Gray’s E-1027, Le Corbusier designed this cabin as a personal holiday home in 1951. A series of vibrant murals adorn the modest space. The house was recently listed as a UNESCO heritage site and is open to guided tours through Cap Moderne.

o   La Colombe d’Or, St Paul de Vence
Enjoy lunch on the terrace or by the pool of the legendary Colombe d'Or hotel and restaurant, which, in its time, entertained the likes of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Braque, Ferdinand Léger, Alexander Calder and James Baldwin, many of whom left works of art which now form an integral part of this unique setting and experience.  

o   Chateau La Coste, Le Puy Ste Reparad 
Chateau La Coste is a vineyard, hotel and spa set in magnificent grounds. Artists and architects were invited to visit the estate and encouraged to choose a place in the landscape that spoke directly to them and were given the freedom to create a work that would live there. Among the installations are contributions from Tadao Ando, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Sophie Calle, Tracy Emin, Frank Gehry, Liam Gillick, Andy Goldsworthy, Jenny Holzer, Kengo Kuma, Paul Matisse, Tatsuo Miyajima, Larry Neufield, Richard Long, Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, Sean Scully, Richard Serra, Michael Stipe, Franz West and Ai Weiwei.

o   Villa Noailles, Hyères
Designed in 1923, Villa Noailles was one of the first modernist residences in France. An early work of architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, the villa includes a cubist garden designed by Gabriel Guevrekian. Free guided tours run throughout the year in addition to an active exhibition programme.

o   Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux
This fifteenth-century castle was transformed into a centre for contemporary art in 1990 by Swiss architect Gittfried Honegger. A modern gallery in the castle grounds holds a permanent collection of works by Richard Serra, Richard Long, Dan Flavin and San Scully.

o   Musée Jean Cocteau, Menton
Musée Jean Cocteau was designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti and directly inspired by Cocteau’s life and work. The museum holds an extensive collection of graphic illustrations, watercolours and films by the artist.

o   Musée Fernand Leger, Biot
This museum is dedicated to the French painter, sculptor and filmmaker Fernand Leger. A contemporary of Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp, his work was regarded a forerunner of pop art. His drawings informed the vast mosaics by Lino and Heidi Melano that adorn the museum’s exterior.

o   Fondation Maeght, St Paul de Vence
This phenomenal complex was designed by Josep Lluís Sert in 1963 as an exhibition space for modern and contemporary European visual arts. The building’s dynamic form is highly attuned to its context and the surrounding sculpture garden.

o   Musée Marc Chagall, Nice
The Musée Marc Chagall was designed in 1973 by André Hermant, a collaborator of Le Corbusier and Auguste Perret. Developed to house the collection of paintings Chagall donated to the State, the artist was highly involved in the design of the building and its relationship to the artwork it contains.

o   Fondation Vasarely, Aix-en-Provence
The Vasarely Foundation is a striking architectonic structure designed by Victor Vasarely between 1971 and 1976. Intended to ‘beautify the artificial environment’, the aesthetic was heavily influenced by Vasarely’s role in the Op Art movement. The building is now open to the public and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions and cultural events.