0:00:04 > 0:00:06I'm embarking on a new railway adventure
0:00:06 > 0:00:10that will take me across the heart of Europe.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15I'll be using this - my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17dated 1913,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:21for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26It told travellers where to go, what to see
0:00:26 > 0:00:29and how to navigate the thousands of miles of tracks
0:00:29 > 0:00:31criss-crossing the Continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Now, a century later, I'm using my copy
0:00:34 > 0:00:37to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:37 > 0:00:42where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44I want to rediscover that lost Europe
0:00:44 > 0:00:49that, in 1913, couldn't know that its way of life
0:00:49 > 0:00:52would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Steered by my 1913 railway guide,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12I'm journeying through a prosperous pre-war Europe
0:01:12 > 0:01:14of emperors and kings,
0:01:14 > 0:01:15pomp and elegance,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19a Continent whose industrialists, factories and mines
0:01:19 > 0:01:21had created wealth,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25whose scientists and engineers were discovering and building the marvellous,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and whose artists were challenging old ways
0:01:28 > 0:01:31whilst intellectuals plotted revolution.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38'On this leg, I'm following
0:01:38 > 0:01:41'the most popular route of the Edwardian traveller through France,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44'enjoying the final days of La Belle Epoque,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47'the country's "beautiful age" of peace
0:01:47 > 0:01:50'and economic and artistic triumph.'
0:01:51 > 0:01:54I'm standing where Claude Monet stood a century and a quarter ago,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and I've never felt more inadequate in my life.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02'I'll taste the tipple that fuelled the Bohemian nightlife of Paris...'
0:02:02 > 0:02:06I can see how in this place of hellish activity,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08this might have helped to take you to heaven.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11'..live the Edwardian high life...'
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Oh, to have been an Englishman a hundred years ago!
0:02:15 > 0:02:18'..and like so many tourists before me,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21'I'll have a flutter at the gaming tables of Monte Carlo.'
0:02:21 > 0:02:23I'm not the first British traveller
0:02:23 > 0:02:26to lose his colourful shirt on the roulette table.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41My journey begins on the Eurostar to Paris, which, in 1913 as now,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43was a capital city oozing sophistication.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49I'll then head south to the Mediterranean town of La Ciotat,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52home to a famous film-making duo,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55before continuing eastwards along the glamorous Cote d'Azur
0:02:55 > 0:03:00visiting some of 1913's best-loved tourist destinations,
0:03:00 > 0:03:05before ending my journey in that den of excess, Monte Carlo.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Of course, in 1913, the British tourist bound for the Continent
0:03:13 > 0:03:14had to cross the waters,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17and was spoilt for choice. My Bradshaw's says,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21"For the Dover route Londoners left from Charing Cross or Victoria.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23"The service is four times a day.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27"For the Folkestone route, Londoners left from Charing Cross."
0:03:27 > 0:03:32By any route, it was the start of the Briton's Continental adventure.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49- Andrew, hello.- Nice to see you.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51'I'm bound for Paris,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55'and to learn just how popular foreign travel was for Edwardians,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59'as I enter France, I'm meeting author Andrew Martin.'
0:04:03 > 0:04:07By 1913, what kind of numbers of British people
0:04:07 > 0:04:10were travelling to Paris, for example?
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Well, a revolution had occurred between about 1840 and 1913.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19In 1840 you had about...estimated about 150,000 going abroad.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21By 1913, perhaps as many as two million.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Really? I'm quite surprised by those numbers,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27but I suppose there was still a sense of adventure about travelling to the Continent.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30There WAS a sense of adventure.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33You would have marvelled at the strange coal smell
0:04:33 > 0:04:36coming off the locomotive because it was a different type of coal.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38The French locomotives of the Nord company
0:04:38 > 0:04:41looked odd to British eyes with all their fixtures and fittings
0:04:41 > 0:04:43seeming to be on the outside.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45They were a rather drab brown colour,
0:04:45 > 0:04:46which in itself was interesting.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49There was no platform on the French stations.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53You just stepped up into the carriage, which in itself was quite exciting.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56But then again, it was becoming much more affordable, foreign travel.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00You could have a third-class return to Paris in 1913
0:05:00 > 0:05:02for about two pounds.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04£150 in today's money.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07So, a week's wages for a fairly poorly paid working man,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09so it was quite doable.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Nowadays, when we travel by the Eurostar, we go under the Channel.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15We miss out stages of the journey.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Tell me about the stages of that traditional journey.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Well, on the boat train it was very definitely...
0:05:21 > 0:05:22a tripartite journey.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25You had a train and then a boat and then a train again,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and the nautical aspect of it is what we miss today.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29You would have been on a small boat.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33You stood a good chance of being sick.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35You would have boarded it, at Dover, from Admiralty Pier,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38which was just a stone pier sticking out into the sea.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The train went along it and the paddle steamer came alongside,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44and you would have not only got blown about on Admiralty Pier,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46you may well have got soaked as well.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49So, with the Channel Tunnel we really miss out, don't we?
0:05:49 > 0:05:52We miss out on being soaked and on throwing up.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Yes, it's... It's terrible really, isn't it(?)
0:06:14 > 0:06:16A hundred years ago, the traveller
0:06:16 > 0:06:18who'd use the route through Calais
0:06:18 > 0:06:20would have arrived at the Gare du Nord,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24and, a century later, I'm doing just the same.
0:06:31 > 0:06:32Au revoir, merci.
0:06:37 > 0:06:401913 visitors to Paris
0:06:40 > 0:06:43happily endured the travails of their three-stage journey
0:06:43 > 0:06:45for a simple reason.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50They came to enjoy the most modern, beautiful and cultured city,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54not only in Europe, but, arguably, in the world.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57The wonderful thing about arriving by train
0:06:57 > 0:06:59is it delivers you to the heart of the city.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03And even here in the station, you see signs that this is Paris -
0:07:03 > 0:07:04something about the colour of the stone
0:07:04 > 0:07:07and the green-painted ironwork.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09And outside the station, I feel the buzz
0:07:09 > 0:07:14and the cafes and the bistros and the brasseries are beckoning me.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19After four decades without war,
0:07:19 > 0:07:231913 Paris was characterised by confidence, prosperity
0:07:23 > 0:07:24and joie de vivre.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Dominating its skyline, the Eiffel Tower
0:07:28 > 0:07:32was a symbol of French engineering and economic success.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Over the previous 60 years, the city centre
0:07:37 > 0:07:41had been expensively beautified with grand boulevards
0:07:41 > 0:07:42and imposing public buildings,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46which no doubt impressed the Edwardian tourist.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48But the gentrification of Paris,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53begun by city architect Georges Haussmann, had come at a price.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00Between 1851 and 1870, France was ruled by an emperor, Napoleon III.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03He employed Baron Haussmann to rebuild Paris.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08He created miles of new avenues and tremendous vistas.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11In the process, he demolished thousands of houses
0:08:11 > 0:08:14and displaced a much greater number of people.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16It's the sort of great project
0:08:16 > 0:08:18that could never have been done in Britain,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21where we think of the state as being the servant of the citizen,
0:08:21 > 0:08:26rather than the citizen being at the disposal of the state.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Constitutional issues aside,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38there's no doubt that early-20th-century Paris
0:08:38 > 0:08:40stood for beauty, elegance and fun.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46It was the centre of Europe's cafe society
0:08:46 > 0:08:49and a magnet for a burgeoning, often risque culture
0:08:49 > 0:08:51of arts and entertainment.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59But three years before my 1913 guidebook was written,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02a natural disaster struck this vibrant capital.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11My Bradshaw's tells me that in January 1910,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14"Widespread distress and damage were caused
0:09:14 > 0:09:17"by the unprecedented swelling of the River Seine,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20"the water rising nearly to the keystones
0:09:20 > 0:09:22"of the arches of the bridges.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24"The quays were entirely submerged,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27"and the flood covered the adjoining streets.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29"It was estimated that the property loss
0:09:29 > 0:09:32"reached a total of £40 million."
0:09:32 > 0:09:35I had no idea that the beautiful Seine
0:09:35 > 0:09:38could be capable of such violence,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41and I wonder whether Paris is safe today.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50It's hard to imagine such scenes of destruction
0:09:50 > 0:09:54and I'm keen to learn more about this largely forgotten episode
0:09:54 > 0:09:56in Parisian history.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59Flavie!
0:09:59 > 0:10:00Hello!
0:10:00 > 0:10:03'Flavie Sauve works for Paris Flood Protection.'
0:10:05 > 0:10:07What was the cause of the flood of 1910?
0:10:07 > 0:10:12So, in autumn for four months we have...huge rainfall.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14It was a nightmare, and...
0:10:14 > 0:10:15You know that in Paris
0:10:15 > 0:10:18it was a huge building area at this time.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23We had new sewers and...new metro tunnel,
0:10:23 > 0:10:28because at this period we had already four lines of metro in Paris,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31so the water spread into the tunnels
0:10:31 > 0:10:35- and the Seine and its tributaries... - Overflowed the banks.- Yes.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37So, actually, the very modernity of Paris,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40with its sewers, with its metro tunnels,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- this then became a cause of danger, made the disaster worse?- Yes, yes.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55In deep midwinter the river rose to almost nine metres.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59At some points the banks overflowed for up to a mile.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06- It must have been a very huge flood. - Yes, you can imagine.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10The flood was like... just disaster for Paris.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Is Paris still in danger of flooding?
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Yes, it is.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17You know that we have 1-on-100 chance per year
0:11:17 > 0:11:20to get a flood like this one happening.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24It's one of those things, isn't it? You have a great city built on a beautiful river,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26but, then, it does pose some sort of danger.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28Yes, it is.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30- Well, thank you so much. - You're welcome.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00'After a good night's sleep, I've woken with an appetite.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04'For Edwardian Britons visiting for the first time,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07'Parisian food must have taken some getting used to.'
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Merci.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12'No eggs and bacon here.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15'This is the town of the continental breakfast.'
0:12:15 > 0:12:19I'm going to start my day by taking up a Bradshaw recommendation.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23"It will save time, be inexpensive and give a better idea
0:12:23 > 0:12:26"of the situation of the more notable buildings of interest
0:12:26 > 0:12:30"to hire a car to drive around the heart of the city."
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Napoleon used to say that an army marches on its stomach,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and for my drive I'm preparing with a croissant.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45My 1913 Bradshaw's recommends hiring a taxi
0:12:45 > 0:12:47because Paris was awash with them.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51In 1906, there were a thousand cabs in Paris,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53compared to just one hundred in London.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58To correct that imbalance, the General Cab Company of London
0:12:58 > 0:13:02placed a massive order for 500 vehicles, built in France
0:13:02 > 0:13:04by Renault.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08With around 600 manufacturers compared to just 50
0:13:08 > 0:13:09in Edwardian Britain,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12when it came to making cars, France was streets ahead.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14HORN TOOTS
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Motoring historian Pierre-Jean des Fosses should know why.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Pierre-Jean! Hello! How lovely to see you.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26- Beautiful car.- Thank you.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29This car is Le Zebre.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Zebra, the animal.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33And French, of course,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35French, yes, built in 1910.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40Have you any idea what a car like this might have cost in 1910? Who could afford it?
0:13:40 > 0:13:43This car had been made to be a low-cost car,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46economic car for people,
0:13:46 > 0:13:47and the price was...
0:13:47 > 0:13:503,000 francs at the time.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52And 3,000 francs
0:13:52 > 0:13:57was a year's salary for an employee at the Zebre factory.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Why do you think the French were so advanced in car manufacture
0:14:00 > 0:14:01and the British so backward?
0:14:01 > 0:14:06Well, I think the English were very involved in steam for a long time.
0:14:06 > 0:14:07Yes, we were very good at locomotives
0:14:07 > 0:14:11and maybe then we didn't realise that this was the new technology.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Yes, you may realise that it was the new technology,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16but you have a law that obliged people
0:14:16 > 0:14:19to have someone walking in front of the car
0:14:19 > 0:14:21at two miles per hour maximum in town
0:14:21 > 0:14:25with a red flag just to say, "Hello, mind, the car is coming."
0:14:25 > 0:14:27So that stopped the industry.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29At the beginning of the 21st century
0:14:29 > 0:14:32we were worried about having too much of a health-and-safety culture,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34but, apparently, we had one in the 19th century, too.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38Yeah, yeah, this is always a revolution. It will come back.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46- ENGINE STARTS - First time! Well done.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50This is very, very cosy, Pierre-Jean.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Yeah, yeah, it's a nice car.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07When Baron Haussmann beautified the centre of Paris,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09he did have a head start.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Some of the city's best-known buildings, like Notre Dame,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15had been here for centuries.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19This building behind now has a very special meaning for me.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21It's your Assemblee Nationale, isn't it?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Your parliament building. So I feel an affinity with it.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28And now we cross the River Seine.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31We felt that lovely cool breeze as we came across.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35And we come into the Place de la Concorde.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- Yeah.- So many people were guillotined here.- Yeah, that's true.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42And now it's the Concorde.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47With another early-20th-century mode of transport available,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49it's time for me to bid au revoir to Pierre-Jean
0:15:49 > 0:15:51and his vintage automobile.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Given the state of traffic in Paris today,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03it's probably more sensible for me to proceed on the Metropolitain,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07which, my Bradshaw's reminds me, is the underground railway,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12and it lists the nine lines that had already been built by 1913,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and tells me that "the fares are the same for any distance,"
0:16:15 > 0:16:18which I think is probably still true today,
0:16:18 > 0:16:23although I'd be lucky to get a first-class fare for 25 centimes.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29It was a combination of traffic congestion
0:16:29 > 0:16:32and the imminent arrival of the Universal Exposition
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and the Olympic Games, both in 1900,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37which prompted the building of the metro.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45Work started in 1898, 35 years later than London's underground.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49By contrast with London, the Paris metro seems to be
0:16:49 > 0:16:52mainly quite close to the surface,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54built by the cut-and-cover method -
0:16:54 > 0:16:55digging a trench
0:16:55 > 0:16:57and then filling it in.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59And that means you get these tall trains,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02whereas in London, of course, we have
0:17:02 > 0:17:04lots that were built very deep in round tubes
0:17:04 > 0:17:06and you have to stoop all the way.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09'I'm arriving north of the city centre
0:17:09 > 0:17:12'at Abbesses station in Montmartre.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15'In 1913, as now,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18'it's where Paris writes its prose, paints its pictures
0:17:18 > 0:17:20'and parties hard.'
0:17:22 > 0:17:27This beautiful metro station was built around the turn of the 20th century
0:17:27 > 0:17:31in Art Nouveau style, whose curves draw their inspiration from nature.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34This is an expression in public architecture
0:17:34 > 0:17:37of a broad cultural and artistic movement.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40After World War I, people would look back on this period
0:17:40 > 0:17:43with understandable nostalgia,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46and describe it as "La Belle Epoque" -
0:17:46 > 0:17:47"the beautiful era".
0:17:51 > 0:17:53Situated in the 18th arrondissement,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Montmartre's most notable landmark,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01completed just a year before my 1913 guidebook,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05sits atop the district's steep 130-metre-high hill.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09The area was populated by Bohemian types
0:18:09 > 0:18:12who'd been displaced by Haussmann's revamp of Paris.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17Writers and artists followed and, as a busy nightlife developed,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19out went the stifling morals of the 19th century,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23to be replaced with the risque cabarets and cancan girls
0:18:23 > 0:18:26of Le Chat Noir and the Moulin Rouge.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29And even a hundred years on,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32it seems the spirit of La Belle Epoque lingers here.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Hello. You know I came and joined you because,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39apart from being a beautiful lady,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41you're sitting here reading a book.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43You're reading Emile Zola,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47so you're in the tradition of La Belle Epoque.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Exactly. That's what I get inspired by.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54- These are your photographs?- They are actually, indeed.- Fascinating.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Do you feel that there's a very strong artistic tradition in Montmartre?
0:18:57 > 0:19:01There is, there is indeed. The whole neighbourhood has
0:19:01 > 0:19:03an artistic atmosphere actually,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and...lots of artists live here
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and expose their work in the street.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12- So the tradition continues?- It does.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14I notice they even paint the trucks.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17- Yes. That's true!- Bye-bye.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18- Bye-bye.- Lovely to see you. Bye-bye.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22MUSIC: "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Edith Piaf
0:19:29 > 0:19:32# Non
0:19:32 > 0:19:33# Rien de rien... #
0:19:33 > 0:19:36No tour of La Belle Epoque would be complete
0:19:36 > 0:19:38without a visit to the Hotel Fromentin
0:19:38 > 0:19:41which, in 1913, was a cabaret
0:19:41 > 0:19:45where they served a liquor affectionately known as "The Green Fairy" -
0:19:45 > 0:19:48which should help me with my fantasy of being in the Paris
0:19:48 > 0:19:52of Mondrian, Picasso, Pissarro and Toulouse-Lautrec.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57- Nadia!- Oh, hello, Michael. - Delighted to see you.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'Nadia Gallouze works at the Hotel Fromentin.'
0:20:00 > 0:20:04I've...I've come for some absinthe, please.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08- All right. Have you ever try it? - No, I have not.- No?
0:20:08 > 0:20:11I thought absinthe was...was banned.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14It used to be but it was at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16It used to be really strong
0:20:16 > 0:20:20and it used to make people really sick,
0:20:20 > 0:20:21especially the mind.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Banned in 1915,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33absinthe fuelled the booziness of La Belle Epoque.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35As high as 70% proof, the liquor was made
0:20:35 > 0:20:37from the bitter herb wormwood.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Absinthe was blamed for an explosion in debauched behaviour
0:20:44 > 0:20:47that turned respectable establishments into dens of vice
0:20:47 > 0:20:50and upright citizens into drunks.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Think the gin palaces of Britain with a twist of French.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00- So, may we begin the ceremony of the absinthe?- Yes, of course.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03So, you just have to pour some of it here
0:21:03 > 0:21:07and you use this special spoon.
0:21:07 > 0:21:08You put some sugar
0:21:08 > 0:21:11and you just have to open this little tap.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Oh, and now the drops...
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Yeah, the drops. And you just let the sugar dissolve.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20During that waiting time, you talk.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23It's about the art of conversation.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26It's a way to take life slowly.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29I'm so pleased you told me that it was about the art of conversation.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31I always thought it was about getting drunk.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Absinthe was a particular favourite in Bohemian Montmartre.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It's even rumoured that the artist Vincent Van Gogh
0:21:39 > 0:21:44cut off his ear under the influence of the green fairy.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46I'd best have just a sip.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49So, the water has dripped through the sugar
0:21:49 > 0:21:51and my absinthe has gone cloudy.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53It was quite clear before. And to taste it...
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Very sweet, still, of course. Even more sweet. Mmm.
0:21:59 > 0:22:00Tastes good.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03I can see how in this place of hellish activity,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06this might have helped to take you to heaven.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14I'll be leaving Paris for the Cote d'Azur early tomorrow morning,
0:22:14 > 0:22:16and, just like the Edwardians
0:22:16 > 0:22:19whose journey I'm retracing, my train will leave from Gare de Lyon.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Before I depart, I want to find out about this grand terminus.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29It was rebuilt in 1900 with some very evocative features.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32This clock face is reminiscent
0:22:32 > 0:22:34of one I lived with for many years - Big Ben -
0:22:34 > 0:22:38and, indeed, British travellers passing through here in 1913
0:22:38 > 0:22:40with their Bradshaw's guide
0:22:40 > 0:22:43would have been made to feel at home by it
0:22:43 > 0:22:45as they hastened through the Gare de Lyon
0:22:45 > 0:22:49on their way to their express trains and their overnight sleepers
0:22:49 > 0:22:51to the Riviera.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55In the station's restaurant,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58peckish passengers were greeted by a decadent salon
0:22:58 > 0:23:00befitting La Belle Epoque,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04and so well regarded in France that French president Emile Loubet
0:23:04 > 0:23:06attended its opening.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13I'm meeting railway historian Clive Lamming at Le Train Bleu.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Lovely to meet you here in Le Train Bleu.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21This is such a wonderful, beautifully decorated restaurant.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23It's more than a restaurant.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26- I would say, a sort of palace.- Hmm.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28It was made for the British people.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31They come during the night by the Blue Train, Le Train Bleu from Calais,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33and they need to feel at home,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37so we built for them a sort of little miniature Big Ben,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39a little tower, so they could feel at home.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43And here everything is supposed to be, I would say, British.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Just look at the furniture with the chesterfields,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48- the sofas and so on, you see.- Yes.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50So you are quite in a British place,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54but I can make you sure that the cooking is French and the wines, too.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Let's take a tour around
0:23:56 > 0:24:00because the whole place is decorated with frescos...
0:24:00 > 0:24:03what, I think of the destinations that you can go to from here?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Is that correct?
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Yes, they were ordered by the French railway
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and they wanted that people wished to be there, you see.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15It's a place rather, I would say, built for dreaming than reality.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24In the 1870s,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Belgian Georges Nagelmackers
0:24:26 > 0:24:28formed the International Sleeping Car Company.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31His trains mirrored the comfort of George Pullman's
0:24:31 > 0:24:34American overnight sleepers.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Edwardian Britons loved the Calais-to-Cannes route,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41which departed Paris from this station, the Gare de Lyon.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45- It's a wonderful view. - It's a wonderful view.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48My Bradshaw's is 1913.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Can you paint for me a picture of the station in 1913?
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Yes, in 1913 we would have seen engines,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59steam-engine locomotives, which were called Coupe-Vents - Windcutters -
0:24:59 > 0:25:02and behind, there were wooden carriages.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05And there were a lot of luggage vans
0:25:05 > 0:25:08because in that time people would travel heavily
0:25:08 > 0:25:09with plenty of luggage,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13and ladies would have plenty of boxes, parcels and big hats,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15and all these luggage vans were full up
0:25:15 > 0:25:18and it's famous because nobody was really wanting to travel
0:25:18 > 0:25:20just for the pleasure.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24The British invented travel for pleasure and travel for learning.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28All the other people at that time thought it was wasting your time.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31- Delightful prospect. Thank you so much.- Enjoy your travel.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44'Ready for the next leg of my journey,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46'I'm returning to the Gare de Lyon,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50'and venturing south, through central France.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53'Had I been travelling in 1913 using my Bradshaw's guide,
0:25:53 > 0:25:58'I would almost certainly have used the overnight sleeper to reach the French Riviera.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01'Overnight sleepers are very romantic,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04'although I don't find them very easy to sleep on.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06'Anyway, today, we have the high-speed train -
0:26:06 > 0:26:10'the train grande vitesse, the TGV - which covers'
0:26:10 > 0:26:13the 450 miles from Paris to Marseilles,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16incredibly, in three hours and five minutes,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18so I'm on the TGV.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38From Marseilles, I'll make for La Ciotat, a small town
0:26:38 > 0:26:40with an impressive history.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43From there via Toulon to the Cote d'Azur
0:26:43 > 0:26:46to retrace a typical Edwardian trip,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49taking in the artistic heritage of Antibes,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51the British influence on Nice
0:26:51 > 0:26:54and, finally, the brazenness of Monte Carlo.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59When you travel at these speeds by train,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02you have something of the experience of travelling by plane,
0:27:02 > 0:27:07that suddenly you wake up in a new landscape, new vegetation, new climate.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09We've swapped the cold light of northern Europe
0:27:09 > 0:27:12for the azure blue of the Mediterranean.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22I'm changing trains at Marseille to do what
0:27:22 > 0:27:25so many Britons did in 1913 - visit the Cote d'Azur.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33It's quite a short run now to my next stop, which is La Ciotat,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36which my Bradshaw's tells me is beautifully situated on the coast,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40and remarks that it was the Greek settlement of Kitharistes,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43but my interest is in more modern history
0:27:43 > 0:27:50because La Ciotat is the place where the passions of railway enthusiasts and film buffs coincide.
0:28:07 > 0:28:13'La Ciotat is something of a shrine to lovers of motion pictures
0:28:13 > 0:28:16'because this was the summer home of the Lumiere brothers,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19'whose films of the village
0:28:19 > 0:28:23'were some of the earliest movies ever made or shown,'
0:28:23 > 0:28:28amongst which the scene of a train entering La Ciotat station
0:28:28 > 0:28:30has become an icon of early cinema.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38'Encouraged by their father, a stills photography entrepreneur,
0:28:38 > 0:28:44'Auguste and Louis Lumiere patented their portable cinematograph camera in February 1895,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47'and the same year, the brothers were the first in the world to
0:28:47 > 0:28:50'showcase their films to a paying audience.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53'At the Eden Theatre, in coastal La Ciotat,
0:28:53 > 0:28:58'currently being restored under the watchful eye of Michel Cornille,
0:28:58 > 0:29:02'crowds gathered for screenings of one of the Lumiere brothers'
0:29:02 > 0:29:05'iconic films of a train pulling into the station.'
0:29:05 > 0:29:09It's wonderful to be here. I feel the dust of history upon me.
0:29:09 > 0:29:10This is extraordinary.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14It would be really thrilling to me to be able to sit in the seats here.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16- May we do that?- We may.
0:29:17 > 0:29:23Why did the Lumiere brothers decide to film a train entering the station at La Ciotat?
0:29:23 > 0:29:28Louis was playing with his cinematograph.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33His mother came from Marseille by train,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35he was on the platform
0:29:35 > 0:29:40and he filmed his mother coming from Marseille in La Ciotat.
0:29:40 > 0:29:46So it's 1895, and you and I have been invited here to the Eden Theatre
0:29:46 > 0:29:51to see the arrival of the train at La Ciotat Station.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Do you think it was frightening for them?
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Yes. Yes.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59Because, as you can imagine, you are on your seat
0:29:59 > 0:30:07and suddenly the train is coming out of the screen
0:30:07 > 0:30:10and you are afraid.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17The train was the first horror movie in the world!
0:30:17 > 0:30:18MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:30:20 > 0:30:24Well, it's been a great privilege to be allowed to enter this building site and be, apparently,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27the last visitor to the old theatre,
0:30:27 > 0:30:29but I know that when it's been restored,
0:30:29 > 0:30:31people will come here in their thousands,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34because this is a very special place.
0:30:34 > 0:30:41You are very welcome to come again because Spielberg will open the new place.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44- Spielberg?- Spielberg with Michael.
0:30:44 > 0:30:45Another legend.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55This seaside town plays another significant part
0:30:55 > 0:30:58in early-20th-century cultural development.
0:30:58 > 0:31:03Apart from its important role in the history of cinema, La Ciotat,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06a place I had never heard of until today,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10has another claim to fame as the cradle of...petanque.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13MICHAEL SPEAKS FRENCH
0:31:29 > 0:31:31The trick of this game is that at the end,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35your boule needs to be the nearest to the little target ball,
0:31:35 > 0:31:39but, of course, in-between, you can hit other people's boules
0:31:39 > 0:31:43and knock them out the way, and you can move the target ball as well.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48In 1907, La Ciotat resident Jules Le Noir,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51a rheumatic with limited mobility,
0:31:51 > 0:31:56is thought to have tried playing French bowls without raising a foot.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01One good shot.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05'Believed to be the highest participation form of bowls on the planet
0:32:05 > 0:32:11'the game's name, petanque, derives from the Provencal words pieds tanques
0:32:11 > 0:32:15'which translate as feet together on the ground.'
0:32:15 > 0:32:17And that's the end of me!
0:32:17 > 0:32:21With one flick, he just sent my ball into paradise.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26With some time before my next train,
0:32:26 > 0:32:28I'm going to explore La Ciotat's harbour.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41As my Bradshaw's guide told me,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44La Ciotat really is beautifully situated by the sea.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47The contrasting blues of sea and sky,
0:32:47 > 0:32:51the contrasting browns of terracotta and brick,
0:32:51 > 0:32:52make it gorgeous.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54It just invites the painter's brush.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57I can't believe that I'd never heard of it,
0:32:57 > 0:32:58but it seems that I am not alone.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02As far as I can tell, it's undiscovered by the British tourist.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11'I'm bound now for Antibes on the Riviera.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15'When the railways arrived on the Cote d'Azur,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19'visitor numbers soared from 4,000 in 1860,
0:33:19 > 0:33:21'to 100,000 by 1900.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25'But mechanised travel wasn't the only reason
0:33:25 > 0:33:28'that they came in such droves.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31'They were following the lead of their monarch,
0:33:31 > 0:33:34'and the advice of an influential book -
0:33:34 > 0:33:38'Dr Henry Bennet's Winter And Spring On The Shores Of The Mediterranean.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44'Boba Vukadinovic, a tourist guide, knows more.'
0:33:44 > 0:33:49The first edition of the book definitely brought Queen Victoria
0:33:49 > 0:33:51to the French Riviera.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55She spent altogether 332 days on the Riviera,
0:33:55 > 0:33:59which was half of her foreign travelling.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Why did she come to the Riviera the first time?
0:34:02 > 0:34:06It was actually because of her son Leopold, Duke of Albany,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08who was a haemophiliac.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13Queen Victoria was convinced of the beneficial effects
0:34:13 > 0:34:16of the temperate Mediterranean climate on Leopold,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18her haemophiliac son,
0:34:18 > 0:34:22but another British royal also frequented the Cote d'Azur,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24for less wholesome reasons.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28Now, one of Queen Victoria's other sons, the Prince of Wales,
0:34:28 > 0:34:30who later became Edward VII,
0:34:30 > 0:34:34he was keen on the Riviera for different reasons from his mother's.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36You're absolutely right.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39- He would never stay in the same town as Queen Victoria.- Ha-ha!
0:34:39 > 0:34:43Never. Why? Because, actually, she didn't approve of his, um,
0:34:43 > 0:34:46let's say, uh, pleasure-seeking life,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49and, definitely, when he was on the Riviera,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51he was seeking for pleasure with young ladies,
0:34:51 > 0:34:53with elderly ladies later on,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55and he was keen on sport, too.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58He played a lot of tennis, the French liked him.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02Actually they adored him because he brought tennis to the Riviera,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05and, later on, on his yacht Britannia,
0:35:05 > 0:35:10he was participating in all the regattas on the French Riviera.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13My Bradshaw's guide, which is 1913,
0:35:13 > 0:35:18still refers to most of these places on the Riviera as winter resorts,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21so when does it begin to change to summer?
0:35:21 > 0:35:22It's in the '20s.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26They started actually integrating the idea of being
0:35:26 > 0:35:28on the French Riviera in the summer,
0:35:28 > 0:35:30and of hotels being open all the year round.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37The word scenic is a cliche,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41often used to describe towns along the Cote d'Azur.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43Antibes is amongst the most beguiling.
0:35:43 > 0:35:48Its bays define beautiful shapes in a glistening sea,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51whose intense blueness responds to the skies,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53and the changing angle of the sun.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Even the least artistic person
0:35:56 > 0:35:59would love somehow to capture that shifting light.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Antibes. My Bradshaw's promises,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26"A sheltered winter place and small seaport,"
0:36:26 > 0:36:29which is today filled with billionaires' yachts,
0:36:29 > 0:36:34"in a fine situation between Golfe-Juan and Baie des Anges."
0:36:34 > 0:36:37The rain has brought a cool evening,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41but the pink sky promises fine weather tomorrow.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56Le Figaro, s'il vous plait.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58Un euro cinquante.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Merci.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07- Merci.- Merci.- Un ticket pour vous. - Au revoir. Merci.- Bye-bye.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23My Bradshaw's says that, "The Cap d'Antibes
0:37:23 > 0:37:28"is a beautiful peninsula, about two and a half miles long,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31"clothed with a wonderfully rich vegetation,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34"and having a wild, picturesque coast.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37"As a winter resort, it's growing in favour."
0:37:37 > 0:37:41And that word picturesque is well chosen because
0:37:41 > 0:37:45the intensity of the light, and vibrancy of the colour,
0:37:45 > 0:37:50attracted to Antibes some of the greatest painters who'd ever lifted a paintbrush.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56Antibes was a magnet for Edwardian art lovers,
0:37:56 > 0:37:59although the great impressionist painter Claude Monet
0:37:59 > 0:38:02first worked here as early as 1888.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04Inspired by beautiful surroundings,
0:38:04 > 0:38:08impressionist artists usually painted in the open air,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11rather than in a studio, depicting everyday life
0:38:11 > 0:38:17and using vibrant colours to recreate the effect of light and atmosphere.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20By 1913, many of the most influential painters
0:38:20 > 0:38:23of the early 20th century had followed Monet to Antibes
0:38:23 > 0:38:28as, in the 21st, has British artist Mitch Waite.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31- Mitch, good to see you.- And you.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34I suppose on a day like today I don't really have to ask
0:38:34 > 0:38:37what it was about Antibes that attracted artists.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39No! Well, it's right there in front of us, isn't it?
0:38:39 > 0:38:43Clear blue skies, deep blue sea, crystal-clear horizon.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47And my Bradshaw's refers also to the richness of the vegetation,
0:38:47 > 0:38:49so that would be a factor, too?
0:38:49 > 0:38:51Absolutely. Just look around us here.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55We've got the sun coming through the yellow in this plant here,
0:38:55 > 0:38:59and that brings a highlight and a sparkle and a richness to colour
0:38:59 > 0:39:01which artists like to use.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03And if you go back into this sort of vegetation,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06the colours go bluer and deeper,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10and contrast with the highlights that we like to put in a picture.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14And then, if you look further back, at Cap d'Antibes there,
0:39:14 > 0:39:19the grey-blues in all of the shadows of the trees give depth to the picture.
0:39:19 > 0:39:20Just what we want.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23That's an absolutely wonderful explanation.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26- Shall we take a walk through the town?- Absolutely.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Which is the first of the famous artists, then, to come to Antibes?
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Well, that would have to be Claude Monet,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36who famously painted from the Cap d'Antibes several paintings.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40- Came on the train, I imagine. - I should think he did, yes.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43And with the railways I suppose other artists followed in his train.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46Yes. Well, he inspired Paul Signac
0:39:46 > 0:39:49who came and was very inspired by Monet's work.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52I'm interested in Paul Signac because
0:39:52 > 0:39:56he came here, I think, in 1913, the year of my Bradshaw's guide.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59Yes, in fact he did, that's right. He came from St Tropez,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01where he'd been painting for many years before that.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05- And it was very important to them to paint in the open air? - Absolutely. That's what they wanted.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10They were outside and they came to places like this for the beautiful light, of course,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14and they in turn inspired people like Signac, in fact,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17who developed into something called Pointillism,
0:40:17 > 0:40:21painting very small brush strokes, almost mosaic-like,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23with bright, fresh, clean colours,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26and he in turn inspired people like Henry Matisse,
0:40:26 > 0:40:28who was part of the Fauvism movement.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32Bright strong colours but bigger, bolder, brush strokes
0:40:32 > 0:40:35and, again, inspired by this beautiful light from this area.
0:40:35 > 0:40:41So, really, you can read the history of art in the late 19th, early 20th century here in Antibes.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43It's all here, in Antibes.
0:40:43 > 0:40:48Mitch wants to show me the shoreline that many Edwardian art connoisseurs
0:40:48 > 0:40:52would have visited to see where Monet painted his famous work
0:40:52 > 0:40:55Antibes Seen From La Salis.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58I see you have a group of artists here.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01Is it good to be part of a community of painters?
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Absolutely. We enjoy it a lot, go out together painting,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07inspire each other, share common interests.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10And here is Paul Rafferty, one of my friends.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13- Paul, Michael.- A pleasure to meet you.- A great pleasure to see you.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15- Beautiful piece of work.- Thank you.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19Do you find yourself treading in giants' footsteps as you stand here?
0:41:19 > 0:41:24Well, I think any artist does when there's such a plethora of fantastic art that's gone before,
0:41:24 > 0:41:26but that doesn't stop you doing it.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Do you think there was anything special about the beginning of the 20th century?
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Do you feel really important changes were occurring then?
0:41:33 > 0:41:38Everything was changing and I think the nice thing about the impressionists, for instance,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41is they depicted what was the reality,
0:41:41 > 0:41:43from train stations to lamp fixtures,
0:41:43 > 0:41:45that I'm reluctant to do.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48I don't like cars for instance, but I have to put them in,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52and it just seems maybe with passage of time, it looks more bucolic then,
0:41:52 > 0:41:56but there really were so many changes going on for them.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00You can't really compare a modern-day car with a classic locomotive.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03No, but that might be your and my romanticism rather than...
0:42:03 > 0:42:07To them it might have been ugly, but they depicted it.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14Well, Michael, you've seen how the experts do it,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17and I thought you might like to have a go yourself.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19I haven't lifted a paintbrush since I was at school.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:42:21 > 0:42:24All right, you better show me exactly what to do, please.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26What we're looking for on here...
0:42:26 > 0:42:29We've got a roughly rendered in sky and tree and sea,
0:42:29 > 0:42:34but what's really special about Antibes is the golden light on the town here,
0:42:34 > 0:42:36and that I've totally left off for the moment,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40so what you have to do is keep your eye on the subject all the time.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45What the impressionists did was paint reality as they saw it, brush stroke by brush stroke.
0:42:45 > 0:42:46It wasn't invented.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50So every time you put a brush stroke down, you're looking across there.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53You've got to know where to stop, exactly where the tower is.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Then you look for the little bit of light coming on that building.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59It just goes slightly down diagonally, like that.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01See if you can just continue
0:43:01 > 0:43:05and maybe put a few brush strokes of light coming down here.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10- The light is on this side. - Exactly that.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15That's perfect!
0:43:15 > 0:43:19I'm standing where Claude Monet stood a century and a quarter ago,
0:43:19 > 0:43:22I'm holding a paintbrush for the first time in 40 years,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25and I've never felt more inadequate in my life.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32OK, Michael, I would like to congratulate you
0:43:32 > 0:43:34and now welcome you to our painting group.
0:43:34 > 0:43:39You know, it's quite a tradition that we painters paint each other when we go out together.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Oh, my goodness! That's absolutely lovely.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45And you've got this shirt and, of course,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49you got the towers of the Picasso Museum of Antibes.
0:43:49 > 0:43:54- Thank you so much. Just wait until you see mine of you!- Oh, yes!
0:44:07 > 0:44:09On this journey, I'd already discovered that,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12at the turn of the 20th century,
0:44:12 > 0:44:16the French had a lead in the manufacture of cars and a lead in cinema.
0:44:16 > 0:44:17Here in Antibes,
0:44:17 > 0:44:22I've discovered how remarkable were the developments in French painting.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25France, on the eve of the First World War,
0:44:25 > 0:44:28was a country of extraordinary intellectual energy.
0:44:44 > 0:44:49But my next destination is a place to rest the brain and the body.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54The crowded beaches and elegant seafront
0:44:54 > 0:44:57confirm that Nice is a city built on tourism.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Bradshaw's is always helpful with directions.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09"The principal railway station is on the north-west side of the town.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13"All the streets running south from the railway lead through the town
0:45:13 > 0:45:15"and eventually to the sea."
0:45:15 > 0:45:18And it's to the water that I'm bound,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21to find the lasting legacy of those British people
0:45:21 > 0:45:24who flocked here over the centuries.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33The town was a winter destination of choice
0:45:33 > 0:45:36for grand-touring early Victorians,
0:45:36 > 0:45:38and some, who made Nice their home,
0:45:38 > 0:45:41played a surprisingly important role
0:45:41 > 0:45:45in creating one of the town's best-known landmarks.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50Built in the 19th century as perhaps the world's most elegant and fashionable seaside boulevard,
0:45:50 > 0:45:55the Promenade des Anglais has origins in the Anglican church of Nice,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58where British residents and visitors worshipped.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04Kenneth Letts is Holy Trinity's rector.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07So what is the connection between the Anglican church
0:46:07 > 0:46:11- and this very fashionable promenade? - Well, it's a big connection.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14This began as an act of solidarity with the unemployed.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18That was in the 1820s and Father Lewis Way,
0:46:18 > 0:46:23who was the priest in charge of the parish at that time,
0:46:23 > 0:46:24said to his people,
0:46:24 > 0:46:29"We need to do something to help the unemployed of the area in which we live,"
0:46:29 > 0:46:31and he got a subscription going,
0:46:31 > 0:46:36and, with that money, they employed the local Nicois
0:46:36 > 0:46:42to build a path for the ladies to take a stroll along the seaside.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46That's extraordinary. It's one of the best-known promenades, probably, in the world,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48and it began as a poverty relief project.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51I think you could put it that way, yes.
0:46:53 > 0:46:59I doubt whether many Edwardian visitors knew that the swankiest esplanade in Europe
0:46:59 > 0:47:02started as a dusty two-metre-wide path funded by Anglicans,
0:47:02 > 0:47:06and I'd be amazed if today's tourists have the slightest idea.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13- Hello! Do you speak English? - A little bit.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Do you know the name of the promenade you're walking on?
0:47:17 > 0:47:19Of course. It's the Promenade des Anglais.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23Do you know particularly why it's called "des Anglais"?
0:47:23 > 0:47:29Ah, there's a part that was built by a reverend and that's how it started.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32He gave some work, but it's because we had a tour this morning!
0:47:32 > 0:47:34That's why we know!
0:47:36 > 0:47:39- Hello, ladies.- Hello.- Hello. Are you English?- We are.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43- Do you know that you're on the Promenade des Anglais?- We did.- Yes.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45- Do you know why it's called the Promenade des Anglais?- No.
0:47:45 > 0:47:46- I only found out today.- OK.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50Apparently, it's because the Anglican church here raised some money
0:47:50 > 0:47:54to do a project and give work to the unemployed people in the 1820s.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56What do you think of that?
0:47:56 > 0:48:00- That's a nice connection between our country and here, isn't it?- Yes.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04We'll feel different carrying on our promenade now, I think.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06- Enjoy your holiday.- Thank you.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14I know that my hotel for the night
0:48:14 > 0:48:18is somewhere along the Promenade des Anglais.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20All I need now is to locate it.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29A-ha! My Bradshaw's often has a recommendation or an advertisement for a hotel.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32On this occasion, it has a picture,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36and since the Negresco appears not to have changed in a century,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39I had no excuse for not being able to find it.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Just months before my guidebook was published,
0:48:47 > 0:48:53Hotel Negresco, the most famous Belle Epoque building in Nice, opened for business.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59It was owned by Romanian Henri Negresco,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02who had left Bucharest as a teenager
0:49:02 > 0:49:06to seek his fortune and succeeded as a Nice hotelier.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Sadly, war was on the horizon, and when it came in 1914,
0:49:09 > 0:49:14Henri funded the running of his palatial hotel as a military hospital.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20In the post-war period, bookings didn't pick up and Henri died in 1920,
0:49:20 > 0:49:25without seeing his beloved hotel returned to its former glory.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31In the 1950s, the Negresco's new golden age dawned.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37The list of the 20th century's best-known statesmen
0:49:37 > 0:49:41and celebrities who have spent the night here is endless.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46'And, tonight, I'm excited to have a room here.'
0:49:49 > 0:49:53It's a beautiful lift, in mahogany and mirrors.
0:49:53 > 0:49:54Oh, look at that!
0:49:54 > 0:49:57Gold leaf, and an automatically opening door.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59That is classy.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05Ah! Such elegance!
0:50:07 > 0:50:11Oh, to have been an Englishman a hundred years ago!
0:50:23 > 0:50:25Breakfast facing the Mediterranean.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27Not bad!
0:50:33 > 0:50:37After a breakfast contemplating the azure sea,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40the final destination on this leg of my European journey
0:50:40 > 0:50:44is about two other very significant colours - red and black,
0:50:44 > 0:50:46rouge et noir.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50In France, before you get on the train,
0:50:50 > 0:50:56you have to stamp your ticket in a little machine to validate it,
0:50:56 > 0:51:00and it prints some numbers on there.
0:51:00 > 0:51:01Ready to go.
0:51:07 > 0:51:08'I'm visiting Monaco,
0:51:08 > 0:51:13'the second-smallest independent state in the world...
0:51:16 > 0:51:21'..a principality whose royal family was able to adopt a novel approach
0:51:21 > 0:51:23'to swelling the state's coffers.'
0:51:26 > 0:51:30My journey takes me through some of the most beautiful resorts in the world,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33towards Monte Carlo, which Bradshaw's tells me is
0:51:33 > 0:51:37"situated on a sheltered bay and enjoys a delightful climate,
0:51:37 > 0:51:41"while the surrounding scenery is full of charm and variety.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46"The bath establishment is supplied with every form of medical and hygienic bath,
0:51:46 > 0:51:47"and at the 'bar',"
0:51:47 > 0:51:49the word is in inverted commas,
0:51:49 > 0:51:53"the mineral waters of all the best-known European resorts may be obtained."
0:51:53 > 0:51:56But since my Bradshaw's was written,
0:51:56 > 0:51:59I think Monte Carlo has become famous for an activity
0:51:59 > 0:52:02which most people would regard as less healthy.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12In the 19th century,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15gambling was illegal in Britain and much of Europe,
0:52:15 > 0:52:19so Monaco legalised it and sanctioned a casino,
0:52:19 > 0:52:23which became so successful the government was able to
0:52:23 > 0:52:25abolish taxation on its citizens.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29The plan succeeded beyond expectation as Monte Carlo
0:52:29 > 0:52:34attracted Edwardian gentlemen keen on a flutter like moths to a candle.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40And if Nice is the tourist hotspot,
0:52:40 > 0:52:44then Monte Carlo draws in the uber rich -
0:52:44 > 0:52:47those who can afford to lose a fortune,
0:52:47 > 0:52:51but hold on to their super yachts,
0:52:51 > 0:52:54super cars and supermodel girlfriends.
0:52:58 > 0:52:59The casino, my Bradshaw's says,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02"is on a promontory on the east side of the town.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07"There are elaborately decorated and widely known salles de jeu,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10"or gaming rooms, open from 11.30am until midnight.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14"Trente et quarante and roulette are the games played here."
0:53:14 > 0:53:15It must be worth a whirl.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32The Monte Carlo Casino was designed in 1863
0:53:32 > 0:53:35by the renowned French architect Charles Garnier,
0:53:35 > 0:53:37who also built the Paris Opera.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Guillaume Jahan de Lestang is the press officer.
0:53:44 > 0:53:45Hello, Michael.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49Welcome to the Monte Carlo Casino, the legendary of Monte Carlo.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51Legendary and magnificent.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54Casinos were not legalised until the middle of the 20th century,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58so it must have been very attractive to British travellers.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Yes, and it was not even in Italy or France,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03so this is what made the casino that successful.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Was it an instant success?
0:54:05 > 0:54:09- It was a great success from the beginning.- Yes.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12Monte Carlo already had a railway station?
0:54:12 > 0:54:14Yes, it was located just nearby the casino,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18so it was easy access also to the gamblers to come and enter,
0:54:18 > 0:54:23gamble a little chip on a table, and then get us some more income.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26- They could just get off their train and have a flutter?- Yes.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28Baroque in style,
0:54:28 > 0:54:33the casino has several ornately decorated gaming rooms.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35- Another beautiful salon.- Yeah.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40I'm wondering how much things have changed since my Bradshaw's guide was written in 1913.
0:54:40 > 0:54:41For instance, it says that
0:54:41 > 0:54:45"inhabitants of the principality were not allowed to enter the casino."
0:54:45 > 0:54:47- Is that still true? - Yes, it is still true.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51The Monaco people are not allowed to come, enter and gamble.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Even the prince is not allowed to come and gamble.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57So everyone here is, by definition, a foreigner.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00- I think it's time to have a spin. - Yes.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05My 1913 guidebook says that the minimum stake at the roulette table
0:55:05 > 0:55:09is five francs and the maximum 6,000 - a sizeable sum.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Today, I'll not be wagering a single centime as we're playing just for fun.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19Mr Croupier, may I have some money, please?
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Wow! Those are thousands, those are hundreds,
0:55:23 > 0:55:25and those are fifties...
0:55:25 > 0:55:28- and these are twenty thousand!- Yes.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31No-one seems to have bet on even, so I'll bet on that.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34Messieurs, faites le jeu.
0:55:37 > 0:55:38Ooh!
0:55:38 > 0:55:44At the last minute, I bet on 26 and 25 has come up,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47and my counter has been swept away.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51Well, Guillaume, I'm not the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo,
0:55:51 > 0:55:53nor, I think, the first British traveller
0:55:53 > 0:55:56to lose his colourful shirt on the roulette table.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59I'm sure you will do better next time.
0:55:59 > 0:56:00MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:56:00 > 0:56:03There's a hidden treasure in this building that
0:56:03 > 0:56:07I hope the Edwardians, whose steps I'm retracing, would have seen.
0:56:08 > 0:56:13Surprisingly, just a few yards from the riches of the gambling tables,
0:56:13 > 0:56:15is a little gem, a little temple,
0:56:15 > 0:56:19devoted to an art that's close to my heart.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36I love opera.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40It's the most demanding and complicated form of theatre,
0:56:40 > 0:56:44and opera houses have to be equally over the top.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48One of the finest houses in the world is that at Paris,
0:56:48 > 0:56:50built by the architect Charles Garnier,
0:56:50 > 0:56:56and he was employed here in Monte Carlo to build a replica in miniature,
0:56:56 > 0:57:02and here have been played works by Mozart, Verdi, Rossini, Gounod.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06But here the audience would have experienced an intimacy
0:57:06 > 0:57:09with the singers and with the players,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12because if there's one thing that's better than
0:57:12 > 0:57:14a big, grand opera house,
0:57:14 > 0:57:17it's a small, grand opera house.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24Using my Bradshaw's guide, I've followed in the footsteps
0:57:24 > 0:57:28of British travellers journeying across France in 1913.
0:57:28 > 0:57:34It's given me a window on a society at the pinnacle of achievement
0:57:34 > 0:57:37in technology, cinematography and art,
0:57:37 > 0:57:40and brought me here to Monte Carlo
0:57:40 > 0:57:43to perceive the heights of elegance and of decadence.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49That universe was about to be destroyed by war
0:57:49 > 0:57:53and, looking back through the haze of that catastrophe,
0:57:53 > 0:57:55we glimpse a golden age.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09'My next continental journey waltzes into pre-war Austria-Hungary.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11'A proud empire.'
0:58:11 > 0:58:14The Hapsburgs were one of the most dynamic
0:58:14 > 0:58:17and powerful European families.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19'Pulling middle European strings.'
0:58:19 > 0:58:20Rargh!
0:58:20 > 0:58:23'Countries with surprising vistas.'
0:58:23 > 0:58:27I never expected anything as grand and as magnificent as this.
0:58:27 > 0:58:32'And an emperor with Europe's destiny on his mind.'
0:58:32 > 0:58:35He knew even then that this was going to mean war.
0:58:58 > 0:59:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd