The French Riviera’s heyday is generally considered to have been the 1960s, but for Peter Taylor, who has lived in the area for the past 12 years, the glory days are far from over. “The region is enjoying a noticeable renaissance right now,” he says. “There’s been a huge amount of investment and the entire coastline is better geared up for visitors than it was a decade ago.”

As Scott Dunn’s representative in the South of France, Peter divides his time between the coast in the summer and the ski resort of Courchevel in the winter, having originally moved to France to run a yacht charter company. “What I like best about the Côte,” he says, “is the range of options on your doorstep, from beaches and cities to spectacular mountains. In the winter you can be on a boat in the morning and skiing in the afternoon.”

He is also keen to stress, for those who want to follow in the glamorous footsteps of Brigitte Bardot and Alain Delon, that there’s more to this fabled stretch of coastline than chic cafés and star-studded ports. Culture and gastronomy are prime reasons for visiting, while art also plays a prominent role in the Côte’s appeal. Many of the 20th century’s leading painters were drawn to the Riviera for its light and lifestyle, including Henri Matisse (who settled in Nice), Picasso (Vallauris and then Mougins), Renoir (Cagnes-sur-Mer) and Cézanne (l’Estaque). Their unique legacy even pops up in unexpected places, like the famous La Colombe d’Or restaurant in Saint-Paul-de-Vence – where many of these legends would settle their bills with artworks, resulting in a restaurant that doubles as an art gallery.

“What I love about this area is that there’s always so much going on,” Peter adds. “There are major events throughout the summer, from jazz and pop concerts to the firework festivals that happen in most of the major towns along the coast.” He does offer one important recommendation, however: “You can avoid the long queues of traffic into St. Tropez in the summer if you arrive by boat. In fact, most destinations on the coast are best reached using the public ferries from Cannes and Nice. It’s a lot quicker, and you get to enjoy a fantastic view of this amazing coastline.”

Here, Peter shares with us his top 10 South of France experiences.