In the shadow of the Alps, with the Med on its doorstep, a land full of vines, history and Picassos is set to host rugby’s greatest show. Welcome to Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

Marseille came to the fore for many of us – admittedly of a certain vintage – not through its ancient port history, its viticulture dating back 2,600 years, or its white sandy shores that slowly dissolve into the azure waters of the Mediterranean, but through Chris Waddle. English footballers aren’t known for wanting to live in foreign climes, but the former Tottenham Hotspur winger was a pioneer and, together with the French city’s famous footballing son, Jean-Pierre Papin, he tore it up in European football in the early 90s.

Waddle was on to something, as those that visited the city in 2007 for England’s remarkable Rugby World Cup 12-10 quarter-final win over Australia will testify.

The capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur – a region that combines the Mediterranean-hugging French Riviera with the iconic winelands of Provence – Marseille was known as the gateway to the Orient, but its role as the gateway to this south-eastern corner of France and all that it offers is far more significant, especially to the rugby fans heading here next autumn.

Both England and Scotland begin their campaigns here [9th September against Argentina, and 10th September, against South Africa], and should Wales make it to the quarter-finals, they’ll also be heading for Marseille’s 67,847-capacity Stade Vélodrome, potentially to face England.

Aside from being Waddle’s home from home [the Vélodrome has been the home of Olympique de Marseille football club since it was built in the 1930s], and where England somehow made it to the 2007 Rugby World Cup semi-finals, this is a city that’s hosted matches for three Rugby League World Cups, two football European Championships, and two FIFA World Cups, not to mention the most recent Champions Cup final when La Rochelle shocked Leinster 24-21.

The sporting pedigree is clear: there are famous footballing sons everywhere, and really famous too – they don’t get much more iconic than Eric Cantona and Zinedine Zidane.

And it was also in Marseille where the late great rugby icon – no apologies for re-using the word ‘icon’ – Jonah Lomu last played professional rugby, turning out, aged 34, at No.8 for the city’s Marseilles-Vitrolles team, and bringing in a crowd of 2,500 and more than 100 media in the process.

But it’s not the great sporting moments of the past that should have rugby fans wanting to spend more time in the city in addition to the 80 minutes or so inside the Stade Velodrome, it’s what lies beyond the stadium walls. It’s how the past has crafted the present-day Marseille, something evident in every building, every statue, on every street and in every restaurant, bistro, or café kitchen.

Marseille’s cosmopolitan cuisine has been carefully curated through generations thanks to its role as France’s main port, and the melting pot of influences that goes with it. The Italians – whose homeland resides just 600km east on the region’s border – have brought with them some of the best pizza this side of Naples, the city they arrived from in the 19th century; the Arabs ensure plentiful fresh flatbreads, olives and North African pastries as good as any across the Mediterranean; and of course the French aren’t ones to be outdone by anyone on the gastronomy front, with the local favourite, bouillabaisse (Provençal fish soup), a match for any dish arriving via the port. It’s got the soul of a city at ease with its diversity – think London’s east – and it’s cool enough for the Parisians to frequent as their choice of destination for sunny weekends by the Mediterranean. Creative chefs are opting not for the well-trodden route to Paris or Lyon, but instead are heading to Marseille, France’s second largest city, and the Michelin stars peppering the streets are testament to its developing reputation.

One of those beginning to get a taste for this part of France is former England and Northampton Saints backrower Teimana Harrison, who signed for second-tier French side Provence Rugby – just half an hour north of Marseille – this summer. “Marseille is going to embrace the Rugby World Cup,” explains Teimana. “They hosted the Champions Cup final, so they’re no strangers to rugby, but fans coming here have to give themselves time to see the place. Outside of the rugby this is just a beautiful part of France and if you try and learn a little bit of the language, the locals will do everything for you.

“Marseille itself is going to be an amazing experience,” continues Teimana. “It’s right on the water and it’s easy to find beautiful places to eat.

“Pretty soon after we arrived, one of the boys hired a boat and took us out from Marseille to all these private beaches and little islands, basically along the Calanques National Park [home to the limestone cliffs once bordering ancient valleys, long since submerged by the Mediterranean], just along the coast towards Toulon. We pulled up in one of the bays, this town called Cassis, and it must be one of the most beautiful towns I’ve ever seen, honestly, it’s just an incredible place.”

Aix-en-Provence, the elegant former Provence capital, is Teimana’s home for at least the next two years. “I just didn’t expect it to be this beautiful,” admits Teimana, who moved to France with partner Charlotte and three-year-old son Wolf. “It’s a relatively small town, set in the hills, and it’s known as the City of Fountains: all along the main strip they’ve got these huge fountains. And a couple of times of week they shut down the town for this massive market. It’s an incredible spot, I think everyone should come here if they get the chance.

“In my first week here, the rugby club took us on a cohesion camp and we all went up into the mountains near the Italian border, which is really close, how amazing is that? We’ve already done a lot of exploring, the beach is twenty minutes away, there’s some awesome lakes, and of course this is rosé country, so I’m slowly learning a lot about that.”

Given that 90 per cent of the region’s wine production – the equivalent of some 150 million bottles (38 per cent of the world’s rosé) – is dedicated to creating the delicate berry-flavoured, pale pink wine, he’s got plenty to study.

But to make the most of wine in this part of the world, you have to get the pairing right, something Teimana is also working on. “The biggest difference for me, is the fresh food – the fresh seafood, the lobster, the oysters, everything’s so fresh, even sea urchins [a local speciality],” says Teimana. “And it’s the same with everything, the bread, and the steaks have been great too. It’s easy to find good places to eat in Aix-en-Provence, just heading down the main street, you can always dart down little alleyways and find somewhere new, with the tables set out on the street, and you’re being sprayed with mist sprinklers to keep you cool in the Mediterranean heat. It’s just an amazing place.

“I turned down Bordeaux two years ago, and much as I’d love to keep playing rugby, it’s not going to last forever so when this came along it felt like the perfect opportunity to spend two years in a beautiful place. And we’re lucky at this club because they’ve got good owners, who are throwing a lot of money in, the training facilities are some of the best I’ve seen, so everything is in line to start challenging for the Top 14. Provence is probably the biggest club around here until you get to Toulon, and it’s got a good fan base, there’s a stand that holds about 8,000, but they’re building a new one to take it to 10-12,000. There’s a lot of love for rugby here.”

And his family is settling in too. “Wolf is loving it,” says Teimana. “He just loves the outdoor lifestyle we’ve got here, we’ve got space, we can jump in the pool to cool off, it reminds me of the way we lived back in New Zealand.”

So enraptured is Teimana with his new home, he doesn’t know what the future will hold for him. “I’ve only been here for a month, but I love it, it’s an amazing place, so who knows what happens next.”

An hour north of Aix-en-Provence lies the Luberon, virtually an artist’s impression of what Provence should look like. Ancient villages clinging to lush, green hillsides; rows of vineyards lining up neatly in homage to the mountain backdrops; and dazzling ochre formations with an almost ethereal feel. It’s a diversion from rugby cities worth making, if only to catch a breath before heading back south to Toulon.

To see Provence at its very best, spend a day or three exploring the weekly markets, where locals pick the best of the season’s offerings to have with the exceptional local wines, or perhaps even some of the area’s truffles. This cluster of villages are the among the most beautiful in France, including the likes of Gordes, Roussillon and Lourmarin.

What’s more, the World Cup is the perfect time of year for truffles to be gathered and foraged – you can even book a course to do it – and as this is where 80 per cent of France’s most wondrous of fungi comes from, you know the quality is going to be Michelin-level. There are also the antique shops and markets, and medieval abbeys, such as Sénanque, still telling stories from when it was founded in 1148. Or hike, or bike your way across the land that’s also home to tenth-century castles and intricately designed chateaux, or take a kayak for a leisurely paddle down the Sorgue river, shaded by woodland from one town to another.

Toulon needs little introduction. Less than an hour from Marseille (and an hour’s drive south-west of Aix-en-Provence); it’s the perfect stopping point for those travelling the French Riviera coast to Nice, and something of a pilgrimage too. For rugby fans, Toulon has reflected the epitome of glamour and success in Europe for the past decade. Although its history takes us back to 1908, it’s from the reign of comic strip millionaire Mourad Boudjellal that most began to take note of the club, and indeed the city, as his ‘galactico’ approach to recruitment saw the signing of All Black captain Tana Umaga begin a trend that would see the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Giteau, Bryan Habana, Quade Cooper, Semi Radradra, Sonny Bill Williams and other genuine rugby legends follow suit. It worked too, as Toulon won three Champions Cups in three consecutive years.

Not quite a galactico, by his own admission, ex-England and current Bath lock Dave Attwood succumbed to the charms of both Boudjellal and Toulon two years ago. “The city has an enormous naval port, and I think randomly it once produced the most rope in Europe, but rugby really put it on the map,” explains Dave. “This part of the world has some amazing places – Nice is just up the road, St Tropez and its yachts, Cannes and its film festival, or even Monaco for Formula 1, just further up the coast – and Toulon is now on a par because of rugby.

“A lot the rugby players lived in a really lovely village called Carqueiranne (a few minutes from Toulon), but I lived just up the road in a small village called Le Pradet, with a fireman called Regis, who was as ‘south of France’ as you could be – very passionate, like everyone in this area.

“Passion for rugby is on another level here,” he continues. “Every player used to get this big Volkswagen truck emblazoned with the Toulon logo, so everywhere you went, you were welcomed with open arms, the locals did everything to make life easy and you were revered like royalty.

“Rugby is a minnow sport in the UK really, and even in hot spots like Bath, Gloucester and Leicester, it’s nowhere near Toulon. It’s the life and blood down here. Even on a Tuesday morning training session, you’d have 50-60 people watching through the fence, trying to catch a glimpse, or to get autographs in the car park. Primary schools would run trips to watch, even just to stand outside. They’re so proud of their rugby team.”

The club’s ground (The Mayol stadium, located in the heart of Toulon) may have a capacity of 18,200, but a match-day crowd generates the noise equivalent to ten times that number. “It’s very much like an ampitheatre,” says Dave, “there’s so much drama, they’re louder than anything you’ve ever heard, even Wales v England at the Principality doesn’t compare. They’re just so incredibly passionately vocal – and it’s male/female, old/young, children/grandparents – everyone is there screaming in this cauldron of French rugby fans.”

While Dave’s day job included playing in front of a baying crowding, singing the famous ‘Pilou Pilou’ – their war cry before each game, chills guaranteed – he made the most of his time in Toulon, exploring the coastline and heading into the nearby Alps too. “My first day at Toulon, we went on a ski trip into the Alps,” he recalls. “I couldn’t ski, and neither could Bryan Habana, so we had lessons before hitting the slopes – the coach Fabien Galthié was already gone [up the mountains] as soon we arrived. That’s not something you’d normally find yourself doing at an English club.”

Making the most of his time in the region, Dave would go off exploring at every chance. “Most days after training, I’d head out on my own and find a new village, vineyard or café to explore and just chat to local people. There was always something new to find, that’s why I loved it so much.

“At the bottom of the peninsular there’s this town called Hyeres, and from there I’d take a very small boat out to this little island (of Porquerolles) with this unbelievably picturesque little bay, and do a tour around the local restaurants.

“You could head into the countryside and find these fantastic old aquaducts, where there’d be amazing places to go swimming.”

Such is the beauty of the coastline, the beach of Notre Dame was once voted the most beautiful in Europe. Inland, lies more eye candy. “Or you’d head west into the vineyards of Bandol,” continues Dave, “for red wines, or north for the rosé, which the area’s famous for, and you learn a lot quickly – the people in my village always told me never to drink rosé more than two years old because it loses some of its freshness.”

When he wasn’t wild swimming, kayaking along the coast, kitesurfing on beaches, touring vineyards, Dave could be found playing pétanque in the village,  with Regis or maybe even calling bingo numbers. “Everyone loves rugby, so much so that Toulon had been asked to send a player to call the numbers at a bingo hall, so I offered myself up. I got to practise my French numbers and then some old lady would win a TV!”

Also among the Toulon highlights is the fact it’s home to the only cable car [as seen on our back cover] in the French Riviera, elevating you to a view of the most beautiful bay in Europe from Mont Faron in Toulon. Back to Dave, and he also found the area’s gastronomy to be next level. “Bread is so much better,” he says, “they do bread so well, fresh bread, no preservatives, and every morning they go to a baker to get a fresh one, they don’t buy one that stays fresh for a week.

“You go around a market and you’re blown away by the colour of the fruit and veg,” he says. “There’s a lot more sunshine down there, and the vegetables taste sweeter, the fruit is more vibrant, and when you have that with the cured meats and cheese, you find yourself transitioning into this Mediterranean diet.”

Although he tried hard to make his stay in Toulon last longer than the initial six months, Dave returned home, but still has fond memories. “It was a dream,” he says. “It was the first time in my life I’d lived by the sea; on my balcony I could lie in the sun and all I saw was the Mediterranean.

“It rekindled my love for the sport,” he admits. “The life energy from being in France gave me a better perspective, it opened my eyes to balance in life, and that’s something I took with me back to England. The year I came back I was player of the year, and that’s because of my time in France.”

Dave would love to return to France at some point, but he knows those heading there in 2023 will get a good welcome. “The French love rugby, particularly in the south,” he says. “And if travelling teams make it their business to engage the communities, they’ll get it back in spades. Reach out to the people, they’ll follow you through thick and thin, and if your side finds itself in Paris for the semis or final, then you may well find you have some new French supporters on your side.”

Antibes is the perfect place for a final stop before you arrive in Nice. Art is everywhere you go in this corner of France, perhaps unsurprisingly given the palette from which artists can draw inspiration. Paul Cezanne had lived and painted in Aix; Van Gogh, Renoir, Matisse and Picasso also lived in, and were inspired by, the region at some point. For the latter, you must go to Antibes. Almost exactly halfway between Cannes and Nice, there’s a distinct pause for reflection in Antibes, the perfect setting for taking in art. An old, kindly town between two far more glamorous neighbours, it has assets that deserve to be clamoured over: a tangle of alleys and lanes to get lost in exploration; a market that’s one of the best on the coast; a sixteenth-century fort overlooking its harbour; and Picasso. The artist lived and worked here, proving to be quite prolific thanks surely to his setting, and it’s reflected in the work on show at Musée Picasso, the château he called home for several months and that includes his former studio. When Picasso brought an end to his stint here, he left behind 23 paintings and 44 sketches that form the basis of the collection today. The château was once the home for bishops in the Middle Ages, then the Monegasque family gave it the name Grimaldi Castle, until it became a city hall and then army barracks. Picasso took up residence in 1946, and in addition to the art he left, he later also donated 78 ceramics to bolster the collection, leading to the castle becoming the first Picasso Museum in the 1960s. More donations followed from assorted benefactors, taking its total to an astonishing 245 works. “Antibes is an arty area,” says Martin Purdy, the former Wasps lock, now working as a carpenter in Nice. “I used to live there and it’s not just Picasso, there’s a lot of little museums, art shops and just people selling their art on the streets, and a lot of the old masters were based or lived near here too.

“I lived in the Old Town and it’s a beautiful place, lots of tiny little streets full of flowers – great for Instagram – and then you head to the harbour to see all the yachts, or the strange-shaped castle. It’s like a star so they could fire at people from all directions!”

Nice, where Martin moved next, similarly has art running through its veins, with Henri Matisse among its former residents, and also honoured with a museum. Like so much of the region, history is written in its streets and buildings, helping to earn it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list. What’s more, it’s also had connections with Britain through the ages, with Queen Victoria choosing it as one of her favourite destinations – a decision that led to the building of the Excelsior Regina Palace hotel, a fine example of the city’s Belle-Époque heritage.

The visitors in autumn 2023 may not be quite as blue-blooded, but they are important none the less. As well as being the base camp for Scotland, who have a relationship with the ambitious local club Stade Niçois Rugby, who recently signed English former European Player of the Year Steffon Armitage, Nice is hosting four Rugby World Cup matches: Wales versus a qualifier; England versus giant-killers Japan; Italy against Uruguay; and Scotland against a qualifier. The games will be played in the Stade de Nice, the 36,178-capacity stadium that only opened in 2013, in time to host four games at the 2016 European Championships, including England’s 1-2 defeat to Iceland. England’s footballing women played there three times at the 2019 World Cup, winning two of their matches.

The city is where most arrive into the region, and often stay due to its plethora of restaurants, history, architecture, 7km stretch of beach, festivals, events and the fact it’s already hosted so many major sporting events. That Italy is virtually next door is a bonus. “There’s a lot more happening in Nice,” Martin admits. “There’s more of a night out, more bars and restaurants, and you’ve got the Promenade des Anglais [named due to the English favouring Nice as a winter resort], this huge stretch of pebbly beach, where people just sit looking over with a glass of rosé, or if they’re feeling active, get involved in a game of volleyball.

“And,” he says, continuing his tour of Nice, “right behind that you’ve got Cours Saleya, this amazing market, which seems to alternate between having flowers one day, antiques the next, then the best fruits and vegetables.”

Geography is in Nice’s favour, the coast to the south offers endless water-based sport and has the small matter of the most famed mountains in Europe behind it. “You’re right next to the Alps here, so you’ve got some great cycling – the 2020 Tour de France started here – and I think Lance Armstrong used to live here, so I try and get out when I can. There’s skiing too, with the slopes not far away.

“I think one thing you have to do here is take the lift up to the Colline de Chateau [where a medieval castle once stood] and you’ve got the best views in the city, right over the Promenade des Anglais and the bay.

“You should also drive up to one of the medieval villages; Eze village, right at the top of a mountain, is quite cool and it’s only twenty minutes from Nice.”

Martin has experienced the city in hosting mode, not just for the 2020 Tour, but also during football’s European Championships, so it has the right pedigree. “The atmosphere was amazing, the bars were full and we had all these Northern Ireland fans here that everyone loved, they were helping everyone, it was a change to see football fans and locals getting along.

“The Rugby World Cup will have that same atmosphere, especially as France are going to win it. I think now, even people who aren’t normally rugby fans are following France because they’re doing well, they’re really popular.”

Good weather will also help the atmosphere. “You have 300 days of sunshine a year here, so that changes the mood of everyone,” says Martin. “And in September and October, it’s still going to be lovely and warm, far better than the grey skies we’d have back home.”

Marseille and surrounds: marseille-tourisme.com
Toulon and surrounds: tourismeprovencemediterranee.com
Nice and surrounds: explorenicecotedazur.com
Aix and surrounds: Aix-en-Provence: aixenprovencetourism.com
The Luberon: luberoncoeurdeprovence.com
Antibes Juan-les-Pins: antibesjuanlespins.com