D'Artagnan, Goya and wine: 15 good reasons to travel to France this year

Nearby countries are usually the most visited foreign destinations;

In addition, in Spain we are extremely lucky that our neighbor to the north is one of the most beautiful and attractive in Europe.

Almost six million Spaniards visited France in 2022, thus recovering pre-pandemic figures.

Atout France, the French Agency for Tourism Development, has just presented the program of major cultural events and historical celebrations that will mark this year's agenda.

And these are the top 15;

in case there were no excuses to visit France in 2023.

Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso (various venues)

Large exhibitions will remember the most universal painter from Malaga in the 50 years after his death.

Among them

, at the Pompidou Center in Paris (from October 18 to January 22, 2024) or

, at the Goya museum in Castres (from June 30 to October 1, 2023).

Exhibition 'Basquiat x Warhol, á quatre mains' (Paris)

'OP OP' work by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol in 1985. Bischofberger Collection, Männedorf-Zurich

From April 5 to August 28, 2023, the Louis Vuitton Foundation dedicates this exhibition to two artists and friends ―Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat

who made 160 paintings “with four hands” between 1984 and 1985.

Festival of Lights in Lyon

A perfect excuse to admire the city of Lyon illuminated by visual artists and lighting designers and discover the history of this centenary celebration.

An aperitif to the Christmas holidays that will be held between Thursday 7 and Sunday 10 December 2023.

News in the City of Wine (Bordeaux)

The Cité du Vin de Bordeaux is a unique place to discover the wine culture in France and in the rest of the world.

On February 4, a new permanent exhibition was inaugurated with more digital equipment and audiovisual productions.

From April 7 to November 5, 2023, a new immersive experience can also be seen and enjoyed: the

, a unique tasting where visual, sound and poetic creations are intermingled.

70th anniversary of the Alsace Wine Route

Eguisheim, one of the most picturesque villages in Alsace.

Pixabay

Along 170 kilometres, the legendary Alsace Wine Route allows you to tour the vineyards and cellars of this region in north-eastern France.

It runs through a succession of picturesque villages, such as Riquewihr, Hunawihr, Eguisheim and Obernai, and renowned wine-growing farms in exceptional landscapes.

The Marc Chagall National Museum turns 50 (Nice)

To celebrate the anniversary of the great Franco-Russian painter, his museum in the Alpes-Maritimes region opens the exhibition

, and invites from January 28, 2023 to January 8, 2024 (in three phases) 12 personalities from the current artistic scene to share a contemporary reading of the painter's works.

International Graphic Design Biennale (Chaumont, Haute-Marne)

A busy schedule of exhibitions and activities in the city of Chaumont is what the International Graphic Design Biennial displays to bring the challenges of this discipline and applied art closer to the general and professional public during the summer season.

Dive into prehistory (Lascaux–Dordogne)

Exterior of the International Center for Rock Art (Lascaux IV) in Montignac (Dordogne).Alamy Stock Photo

This 2023, Lascaux IV, the neo-cave where the replicas of the famous Lascaux cave paintings are exhibited in Montignac, in the Lascaux-Dordogne region (Perigord), premieres Our brothers, the animals, a new immersive experience on

fauna .

350th anniversary of the death of d´Artagnan (Lupiac, Midi-Pyrénées)

The summer months of 2023 will bring numerous events to the Gers countryside, in the Gascogne region, around the famous musketeer created by Alexandre Dumas.

The epicenter will be the

festival in Lupiac, the town where Charles de Batz Castelmore D'Artagnan was born in 1613 (the real character who inspired the hero of Dumas's novels), who died fighting in Maastricht (Countries Bajos) on June 25, 1673, when he led the prestigious Company of Musketeers of King Louis XIV.

The renovation of the Goya museum (Castres, Tarn)

One of the rooms of the Goya museum in Castres (Tarn).Luc Beziat

A renovated and expanded exhibition will turn this museum dedicated to the Aragonese painter —where works by other Spanish artists such as Velázquez or Picasso are also exhibited— into the most important collection of Hispanic art in France after the Louvre.

It is inaugurated on April 15, after a million-dollar investment and almost three years of work.

Inauguration of the International City of the French Language (Villers-Cotterêts, Picardy)

The Cité Internationale de la Langue Française will open its doors in June 2023 in Villers-Cotterêts with the vocation of being a multidisciplinary place entirely dedicated to the French language and French-speaking cultures.

The space will house temporary exhibitions, shows, will be a residence for artists and much more.

Summer festival in Nantes

Every summer, the Voyage à Nantes festival in the Loire capital enriches its permanent contemporary art collection with temporary installations in public spaces.

Its twelfth edition will be held from July 1 to September 3, 2023.

The Roman Days of Nîmes

Historical show in the Roman amphitheater of Nimes.

Nîmes Tourism

Nîmes, also known as French Rome, is home to some of the best-preserved Roman monuments in the world, such as the Maison Carrée temple or the Arènes de Nîmes amphitheatre.

Every year, historical days are held with the aim of enhancing and promoting the Roman heritage of the city (in 2023, from May 4 to 8).

60 years of the Matisse museum (Nice)

Nice was the city where Henri Matisse produced most of his work and to which he was very attached.

For lovers of the artist's work, the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Matisse Museum will be the perfect excuse to go there and enjoy his permanent collection or one of the temporary exhibitions he organizes.

The Palace of Versailles celebrates its 400 years

It was in 1623 when King Louis XIII ordered the construction of a hunting lodge in Versailles.

His successor Louis XIV, the

, was responsible for transforming it into a lavish palace to house his court of more than 6,000 people, a building surrounded by monumental fountains, canals and gardens that would become a symbol of power and greatness of the French monarchy.

Events related to the construction of the palace are being planned for his 400th birthday, in addition to the usual exhibitions.

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