With its deliciously warm climate, laid back atmosphere, twisting streets leading to historical sites, exclusive shops and top-class restaurants, all backed by an emerald mass of densely wooded hillsides, the town of La Seyne sur Mer, sitting comfortably on the Mediterranean coast, is typical of southern France.

Given that the town was fortified and defended by a young Napoleon Bonaparte combined with its prime position of the Med, it is hardly surprising that La Seyne sur Mer became and continues to be one of the most important shipbuilding centres in France.

Its long and lustrous culture of the sea is still very much at the heart of this pleasant southern French town, and its harbour, known as the Port of Bregaillon, remains one of the most picturesque points of the French Riviera.

Like many of the harbours on the Cote d’Azur and throughout the south of France, the harbour of La Seyne sur Mer is a popular spot for rich and elite boat owners to anchor their beautiful, luxury vessels.

Epitomising the intense exclusivity of harbouring one’s yacht in a harbour on the French Riviera, is the fact that Charles Siimonyi, the American-Hungarian billionaire and former boss of Microsoft, recently dropped anchor at the Port of Bregaillon in his grand and obscenely luxurious superyacht.

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Being a maritime city, Marseille is perhaps best known for its legendary sailing events. Although despite the city’s exquisite harbour, where vessels of different shapes, sizes and value gently bob up and down on the translucent water all year round, a scene that is world-renowned for hosting some of the world’s most exclusive sailing events, Marseille also plays host to a myriad of cultural, colourful and candid festivals and carnivals.

The Festival of Marseille is one such event, which has been referred to as being a “reflection of the city’s soul.” What is particularly spectacular about this annual event it is focus on appealing to a multi-faceted miscellany of cultures.

The inimitable reputation that the Festival of Marseille has built up for itself over the years for being uninhibited by boundaries, for being undaunted by touching upon the controversial, and for exploring the most cutting edge in art, culture, theatre, music and dance.

This truly remarkable festival never fails to attract the most highly acclaimed of artists and performers to engross themselves in a remarkable cultural experience.

This year the Festival of Marseille is taking place from June 9 until July 7 and promises to as culturally diverse and mind-opening than ever.

A mosaic of exhibitions will line Marseille’s atmospheric streets, the rhythmic sounds of theatrical performances will emerge from of Marseille’s buildings, in which quirky-looking doors will lure visitors to stop what they are doing and go and take a look.

Visitors will also be drawn to Marseille’s squares which are rapidly swelling in numbers as people gather to catch site of the many “cine-concerts” that will be projected onto large, open-air screens.

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With salaries generally high, with an average five hours of sunshine in January and 12 hours in July, and with property seemingly resistant to the drop in prices many areas have been subjected to in recent years, it is of little surprise that the Cote d’Azur remains a popular place to both live and visit.

Although now the Cote d’Azur’s outwardly indomitable popularity has been made ‘official’, since it was announced that the Cote d’Azur, along with Paris and the Atlantic coast trial Rhone-Alpes have been named as the best places in France to work and live.

The results of a survey, which was conducted by the recruitment firm Apec, were published on The Connexion, one of France’s leading English-language newspapers.

The survey interviewed young professionals living in France who said that the high standard of living and economic dynamism, made the Cote d’Azur, Paris and the Rhone-Alps, the regions of France where they dreamed of being based.

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Lord Norman Foster is one of the world’s most pioneering, accredited and celebrated architects.

In 2013, the city of Marseille on France’s exquisite Cote d’Azur will become the European Capital of Culture and it has been announced that the British architect Norman Foster will be renovating Marseille’s port ahead of the city’s 2013 accolade.

From designing Monaco’s ultra-glamorous yacht club, to designing the World Port Centre in Rotterdam maritime architecture, Norman Foster is no stranger to maritime architecture.

But how exactly will the legendary British architecture transform Marseille’s 2,600 year old port?

Working in collaboration with the French landscape designer Michel Designer and Emmanuel Dujardin, reports are emerging that the three architectural geniuses plan to make Marseille’s port more accessible to tourists and residents by pedestrianizing several of the lanes that run along the waterfront where a new sandstone promenade will frame the shore.

Talking about the project in a press statement, Lord Foster said:

“I know the port….I want to make it better.”

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Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, the twin sons of a winegrower who grew up on the shores of the Mediterranean in the Herault region of France, are currently the youngest chefs to hold three Michelin stars.

These world-renowned French chefs opened their first restaurant, Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, in 1988, which was quickly awarded in recognition for its elegant, creative Mediterranean cooking.

In 2000, the talented duo branched out onto an international stage, opening restaurants in Geneva, Casablanca, Paris, Tokyo, Bangkok and Marrakesh.

In Paris, the restaurant ‘La Maison Blanche’, located at 15 ‘so chic’ Avenue Montaigne, is perched above the ‘Theatre des Champs Elysees’, and provides a piece of heaven looking right across the Paris roof tops. Having taken Paris and pretty much every city in the world by storm, the Montpellier twin chefs are returning to the south of France and opening a restaurant in Cannes.

Named the Sea Sens, this super-chic new restaurant is located in The Five Hotel, one of the most luxurious hotels in the whole of Cannes. The restaurant’s lavish décor comprises of deck chairs beneath huge flower murals, whilst its decidedly exquisite menu includes Asian-spiced cuisine, Blue Lobster and truly delectable dessert creations, and a Sunday brunch that has been described as being one of the ‘best on the Cote d’Azur’.

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