This 16th century hilltop fort was built in 1557 and is almost perfectly preserved, it looks out over the coastline of the French Riviera all the way to the Italian border. Mont Alban is located in the east of Nice in the Mont Boron National Park area, with Nice on one side and Villefranche-sur-Mer on the other - you can hike up to the fort from either town. The castle was built on the orders of the Duke of Savoy in response to the siege of Nice; when you get up there you’ll understand why he chose this spot - the view in all directions couldn’t be any better.
The scale of the scenery up here is just breathtaking; looking out from the front of the castle you can see the peninsula of Cap Ferrat jutting out to your far left with the bay of Villefranche-Sur-Mer curving round below the cliffs, just a few strides to the other side of the castle and the city of Nice unfolds beneath you. The fabulous views of the coastline stretch from Cap d’Antibes in the west all the way to Bordighera (Italy) in the east and on a clear day you can just about make out Corsica in the distance.
The condition of the fort is really very impressive - we’re not talking about a ruin here, it is a fully intact building where you can literally walk up the steps to the massive wooden front-door (although you are advised not to stand on the drawbridge). Look up to the turrets and you’ll see the sun glinting off the beautiful coloured tiles that overlap like fish scales, then stroll all around the fort to see the towers and crenellations.
https://www.seenice.com/castles/le-fort-du-mont-alban-nice-area-673975

Fort du mont Alban

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To protect the County of Nice from invaders, the Duke of Savoy built the Saint-Elme citadel in the 16th century, together with the satellite fortresses of Mont-Alban and Saint-Hospice, and the port of La Darse where the galleys were moored. These constructions entrusted to Italian engineers were fore-runners of a new type of bastion fortification. Today, this remarkable complex (7.5 acres) accommodates the Town Hall, the Volti, Goetz-Boumeester Museums and the Roux Collection.
https://www.spottinghistory.com/view/7876/citadelle-saint-elme/

Citadelle Saint-Elme

The Palais Lascaris is a seventeenth-century aristocratic building in Nice, France. Currently, it is a musical instrument museum. Located in the old town of Nice, it houses a collection of over 500 instruments, which makes it France’s second most important collection.
History
Built in the first half of the seventeenth century and altered in the eighteenth century, the palace was owned by the Vintimille-Lascaris family until 1802. In 1942, it was bought by the city of Nice to create a museum. The restorations began in 1962 and were completed in 1970, when the museum was opened to the public. In 2001, the historical musical instrument collections of the city of Nice were transferred from the Musée Masséna to the Palais Lascaris with the project of transforming it into a music museum. In 2011, the permanent exhibition of musical instruments was finally opened to the public.
Current use
Today the palace devotes its exhibition space to the permanent exhibit of the collection of historical musical instruments, built around the bequest of Antoine Gautier (1825-1904).
Collection
The bequest of the collection of Antoine Gautier
The historical musical instrument collection is formed around the bequest of the nineteenth-century niçois collector Antoine Gautier (1904).
Antoine Gautier was born in Nice in 1825, son of Joseph Octave Gautier, rich wood merchant, and Félicité Rossetti, daughter of the préfet Rossetti and granddaughter of the senator Rossetti Following studies in classics at the Jesuit College (today the lycée Masséna), he became a jurist. An amateur musician, Antoine Gautier played the violin and the viola, and at the age of eighteen founded a quartet with his brother Raymond, in which Antoine played the viola. At that time he began to hold a musical salon and also began collecting instruments in his home on the rue Papacino :
Rue Papacino, we were in the Temple. Everything called for solemn consideration, the large library where the carefully bound and arranged collections were preserved alongside rare editions; the display cases [exhibiting] the gongs, hawaiien guitars, marine trumpets, archlutes, quintons, oboes d'amore, instruments by Maggini or Guarnieri, the four large oak music desks and the imposing Pleyel piano, elicited the visitors' admiration.
Many famous musicians visited his salon, including Jacques Thibaud and Eugène Ysaÿe ; during one soirée in January 1902, Gabriel Fauré performed several of his compositions for piano. In 1903, the Gautier Quartet celebrated its sixtieth anniversary. The following year, Antoine Gautier died at his home, at the age of seventy-nine, leaving to the city of Nice his musical collections consisting of more than 225 instruments and a rare musical library.
The Gautier collection was bequeathed to the city of Nice in the testament of 26 May 1901 and by a codicil dated 8 June 1901. It was accepted by the city of Nice in a special session of the city council, on 19 September 1904. The article of the testament that treats the bequest is succinct :
Wanting to encourage the creation in Nice, the city of my birth, of a well-organised institution of musical education, I leave to the city of Nice sixty-thousand (60.000) francs, as well as my collections of musical instruments and accessories, scores and books music, on the sole condition of allotting six hundred (600) francs per year to a luthier charged with the maintenance of the instruments ; I believe that Mr. Francois Bovis, luthier, would be the most fitting for this task.
Following the Antoine Gautier bequest, the city of Nice has continued to enrich this collection, which has been successively exhibited or preserved at the Musée des beaux-arts de Nice, the Musée Masséna, the Conservatoire de Nice, and today at the Palais Lascaris.
Highlights of the Collection
Among the most important instruments are :
a tenor sackbut by Anton Schnitzer (Nuremberg, 1581);
several violas d'amore by Joannes Florenus Guidanti (Bologna, 1717), Gagliano (Naples, 1697), Johann Schorn (Salzburg, 1699) and Johann Ott (Füssen, 1727);
several violas da gamba including that by William Turner (London, 1652);
a bass violin by Paolo Antonio Testore (Milan, 1696);
several extremely rare baroque guitars, including one by Giovanni Tesler (Ancona, 1618), one by René Voboam (Paris, c. 1650) and one by Jean Christophle (Avignon, 1645), which is one of the earliest surviving dated French guitars;
several eighteenth-century recorders, including one by Johann Christoph Denner (Nuremberg, early eighteenth century);
an anonymous eighteenth-century harpsichord (formerly a claviorganum);
numerous harps : the first prototypes built by Sébastien Érard, including his first single-action harp and his first double-action harp; and a harp by Naderman (Paris, 1780) which formerly belonged to the Viscountess of Beaumont;
a rare collection of clarinets;
numerous experimental string instruments ;
several instruments made by Adolphe Sax, including a quartet of saxophones and a saxotromba;
French keyboard instruments from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, including a Pleyel piano (Paris, 1863) which once belonged to the Cercle Masséna in Nice;
one of the most famous guitars by Antonio de Torres (Almeria, 1884) still in playable condition;
a large collection of instruments from the South of France ;
approximately fifty nineteenth-century non-European instruments from the Gautier collection.
In 2009, the AXA insurance group placed on permanent loan at the palais Lascaris the Gaveau-Érard-Pleyel Archives, presented to the public in two exhibitions : Érard, l'invention de la harpe moderne, 1811-2011 in 2011 and Le Clavier vivant/The Living Keyboard in 2012. This loan was cancelled in 2013.
The historical musical instrument collection of the Palais Lascaris is part of the MIMO (Musical Instrument Museums Online) Project, whose notices are accessible on the site of Europeana.

Palais Lascaris

Château de Crémat is a castle built in Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department in 1906. It is a vineyard that also owned a vineyard and a reception area.The history of the Castle Crémat dates back to the Roman Empire at that time a legion settled on the place called "Li Plana di Mari" which was used for the cultivation of olive trees and vines. Later, in 1906, Antoine Mari, wine merchant, built the castle on the underground galleries of "Li Plana di Mari" used in Roman times for the oil and wine, they become the castle cellars. He revived the vineyard belletan after the devastation caused by phylloxera. In 1923 the estate was acquired by an American millionaire, a shareholder of a large American company Railway: Irène Bretz. The latter undertook development works under the direction of Dalmas architectural firm, who worked in the construction of large hotels of the Belle Epoque with the Carlton in Cannes. These changes, both internal and external, do not affect the general appearance of the castle preserved its proud dungeon. Ms. Bretz, owner of the legendary Negresco, in Nice received everything the French Riviera had celebrity and one of the assiduous hosts of these sumptuous evening was none other than Coco Chanel whose style dominated fashion; the record reveals that it would be inspired by the original castle Crémat, the two intertwined C, to create the acronym of its prestigious fashion house.In 1941, Pierre Thomé, the castle owner and president of the Union of winemakers obtained the AOC for wine of Bellet. In 1980 Charles Bagnis buys Crémat. The vineyards and the wine of Bellet in general are at their peak. Unfortunately it will separate from the castle in the mid-1990s. After passing into the hands of Pierre Thomé, president of the Union of winemakers and Bagnis family after World War II, the area becomes somewhat neglected in 1995, the property of an advertising Nice, Jean-Pierre Pisoni; intended to accommodate seminars, meetings, congresses and prestigious receptions since the castle is the subject of a luxurious renovation. While perpetuating the famous wine place Pisoni M maintains the motto of the house "we do not want to be the biggest, we want to be the best" In 2001 it is a wine of Bellet lovers who bought the castle: the Dutchman Cornelis Kamerbeek. His goal: find the historical area of ​​25 ha. For now, this program is realized with the expansion and modernization of cellars, installing new sales and tasting rooms and a special attention to the vineyard.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/chateau-de-cremat.html

Château de Crémat

The modest-sized castle Château de Tourrette-Levens dates back to the 12th century. It overlooks the ancient 'salt road'. The castle was buily by Raymond Chabaud whose family owned the estate until 1684. The castle was one of the finest in the region with six towers. Only one tower survives. Today it hosts a museum devoted to entomology.
https://www.spottinghistory.com/view/7877/chateau-de-tourrette-levens/

Château de Tourette-Levens

The Château Grimaldi at Cagnes-sur-Mer in the département of Alpes-Maritimes, in France, is built on the site of an earlier fortress occupied by the Greeks and then the Romans. The present castle was built in 1309 by Rainier Grimaldi (Lord of Cagnes and an admiral of France) - a distant ancestor of the present ruling house of Monaco. Later it became the residence of the Governors of the province. Following the French Revolution, it was used as barracks and later as a hospital. Now owned by the city of Cagnes, it is known as le Château Musée Grimaldi (the Grimaldi Castle and Museum).
Built upon a hilltop, the castle towers over the town. Constructed in the local stone, it retains many of its original medieval features and motifs, it is machicolated with crenelations surmounting its towers and keep. The castle is built around a triangular courtyard. During the reign of Louis XIII (1610 to 1643) the castle was altered, and the principal rooms made more comfortable and redecorated in the contemporary taste. The great hall has a painted ceiling depicting the Fall of Phaëton, completed in the 1620s by the Genovese painter Giulio Benso (though sometimes attributed to Giovanni Battista Carlone), while the chapel has a ceiling painted with folk scenes.
Today the castle is an exhibition centre for contemporary art from around the world, and a museum of modern art.

Château Grimaldi

Conrad I, Count of Vintimiglia, built the castle in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in 970 to defend the Western border of his feudal domain from attack by hordes of Saracens that rampaged around the area. Initially the entire village was encompassed by the castle. The keep's military strength was reinforced in the 15th century by the Grimaldi family. In 1808  the castle was sold as a Bien National to five Roquebrune inhabitants. A century later, in 1911, it was sold again – this time to wealthy Englishman Sir William Ingram, who set about renovating it but eventually gave it to the town of Roquebrune in 1921. The castle overlooks the medieval village and its atmospheric alleyways, sometimes carved out of the rock itself.
https://www.spottinghistory.com/view/7859/chateau-de-roquebrune-cap-martin/

Château de Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

The Bastion Museum is a museum of works by Jean Cocteau, on the harbour wall of Menton, on the French Riviera, in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. The Bastion was built in the 17th century by Honoré II, Prince of Monaco. Cocteau restored the Bastion himself, decorating the alcoves, reception hall and outer walls with mosaics made from pebbles.
The Bastion Museum opened in 1966, three years after Cocteau's death.
A new exhibition of Cocteau's work is installed in the Bastion every year.
History
In 1619, Honoré II Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, ordered the construction of a small fort on what was then a rock islet to defend Menton from seaward attacks. Construction was completed in 1636.
The fort housed a brick-vaulted guardroom and a kitchen on the upper floor and a gunpowder magazine on the lower floor. The oven can still be seen in what used to be the kitchen. Access from land was made via a wooden walkway and steps through a doorway on the upper level, above which the Grimaldi crest carved in the stone lintel is still visible.
After Menton seceded from Monaco in 1848, the fort was used as a salt storehouse. When the harbor was built in the late 19th century, the Bastion was integrated into the mole and converted into a lighthouse. It later served as a jail during World War II.
Name
Although not technically a bastion but rather a blockhouse, the building was known to locals as u Bastian in the Mentonasc dialect. Jean Cocteau nicknamed it "the Citadel".
Collection
The original collection was made up of 102 pieces selected by Jean Cocteau specifically for this museum, including 70 drawings, 2 paintings, 3 lithographs, 2 tapestries and 11 ceramic pieces, all colorful works from Cocteau's Mediterranean period (1950-1963). It was later expanded through purchases and donations by Cocteau's legatee Édouard Dermit and artist Irène Lagut. Notable works include the Innamorati and Sphinxes series of wax pastel drawings, the Judith and Holofernes tapestry and sketches for the decor of the Menton wedding hall.
Since the opening of musée Jean Cocteau collection Severin Wunderman in 2011, both museums' collections have been merged. The Bastion museum hosts sections of musée Jean Cocteau collection Severin Wunderman's exhibitions or its own.

Musée du bastion de Menton

The Musée Picasso, formerly the Château Grimaldi at Antibes, is built upon the foundations of the ancient Greek town of Antipolis. Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France, on the Mediterranean Sea.
History
In 1608 it became a stronghold of the Grimaldi family and has borne their name ever since. In 1702 it became the town hall of Antibes.
From 1925 the chateau was known as the Grimaldi Museum. In 1946 it was the home for six months of the artist Pablo Picasso. Today the museum is known as the Picasso Museum, the first museum in the world to be dedicated to the artist.
Picasso himself donated works to the museum, most notably his paintings The Goat and La Joie de Vivre. In 1990 Jacqueline Picasso bequeathed many works by Picasso to the museum. These included 4 paintings, 10 drawings, 2 ceramics and 6 etchings. These are displayed at the Château in addition to the 3 works on paper, 60 etchings and 6 carpets by Pablo Picasso which the museum collected between 1952 and 2001. Today the collection totals 245 works by Picasso.

Musée Picasso (Antibes)

Fort Carré, often Fort Carré d'Antibes, is a 16th-century star-shaped fort of four arrow-head shaped bastions, that stands on the outskirts of Antibes, France. Henri de Mandon built the fort and then during the 17th century, the Marquis de Vauban redeveloped it.
History
The Romans probably built the first fortifications at Antibes. In 1553, a tower called la tour Saint-Florent was built around a preexisting chapel. Henry III had four bastions added in 1565, whereupon it became Fort Carré (the squared fort).
In the 1680s, Vauban strengthened Fort Carré, adding traverses to protect against ricochet fire and exchanging the stone parapets, which were liable to scatter deadly splinters when hit by shot, for brick ones. Vauban also enlarged the embrasures and added outer walls to the fortification.
Later, the fort's design was modified to take eighteen cannon. The entrance to the fort is through a triangular work that protrudes from the walls, and which is loopholed and pierced by a heavy wooden door. From here, there is a narrow bridge that leads into the fort itself via the flank of one of the arrow-headed bastions. Inside, there are barrack buildings for officers and men as well as the ancient chapel, which has been preserved through the successive stages of military development of the site.
In addition to improving the defences of Fort Carré, Vauban fortified Antibes itself, adding a land front of four arrow-headed bastions around the town, as well as seaward fortifications, including a bastion on the breakwater closing the harbor.
During the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte was briefly imprisoned here. In July 1794, after the violent overthrow of Robespierre, General Bonaparte was detained as a Jacobin sympathizer and held in Fort Carré for ten days. His friend and political ally, Antoine Christophe Saliceti, secured his release.
Then in 1860, the fort played an important role when France annexed Nice.