913km (567 miles) S of Paris; 6km (4 miles) E of Cannes

Napoleon and 800 men landed at Golfe-Juan in 1815 to begin his march to Paris and famous Hundred Days in power; the pint-sized general meet his Waterloo against the combined forces of Britain and Continental Europe a few months later. Today it’s a family resort known for its beaches and tasty seafood restaurants right on the beach; they are far cheaper than those in Cannes, a short distance away. 

The 2km-long (1.25-mile) RN135 leads inland from Golfe-Juan to Vallauris. Once simply a stopover along the Riviera, Vallauris’s ceramics industry was in terminal decline until it was “discovered” by Picasso just after World War II. The artist’s legacy lives on both in snapshots of the master in local galleries and in his awesome La Paix et La Guerre fresco.