The top French cities are not just wonders of jaw-dropping architecture and captivating charm: they are monuments to civilisation that dance with life all year round.
Marseille-Provence leads the way in 2013, flying the prestigious banner of European culture capital of 2013. France's second city will rock with more than 400 events, from exhibitions to street art to hundreds of concerts, on the back of 10 cultural building renovations in a city already famous for the Euroméditerranée project, in which architects from Zaha Hadid (CMA CGM Tower) to Kengo Kuma (the new home of the Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain, or Frac) have restored the former glory of the city's central business district.
Marseille is at the heart of Provence, which celebrates its role as open-air workshop to the 20th century's most revolutionary artists with Grand Atelier du Midi: From Cézanne to Matisse (13 June-13 October), featuring 200 masterpieces from dada to surrealism, including Miró, Staël, Van Velde, Matisse and more. In the baroque splendour of nearby Aix-en-Provence, you can even follow the life of Cézanne – the "father" of modern art for Braque, Matisse and Picasso – along the celebrated Cézanne Road.
If theatre is more your thing, skip 60 miles (100km) or so up to Avignon: this city's annual festival of theatre and comedy (5-26 July) may be second only to Edinburgh's as the squares of this Unesco world heritage site come alive in the shadow of the Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes).
Just 28 miles (45km) away, Nîmes delves into its history with the Great Roman Games (4-5 May) at the city's Roman-era amphitheatre. Thousands attend this re-enactment of antiquity, which prides itself on historical accuracy and spectacle.
Or put the wind in your sails and head west to Bordeaux. This year, the famous wine region's Fête le Fleuve river festival (24 May-2 June) welcomes the elite sailing competition La Solitaire du Figaro. An eight-day party, including opportunities to meet the skippers, builds up to the flag drop on 1 June as the boats race off towards the finishing line in Dieppe.
From 4 May to 4 August, Nancy celebrates an unprecedented era when the sharing of artistic and cultural ideas led to European society being transformed. Renaissance Nancy 2013 features exhibitions, conferences, food tastings and heritage walks. The festival's opening day kicks things off with a colourful, festive procession with 500 dancers, digital artists and musicians.
In Versailles, the Grandes Eaux Musicales (grand musical fountain display) will give visitors the chance to experience the gardens as Louis XIV imagined them with fountains gushing and classical music playing.
For sheer brio, however, nothing tops the incredible flea market at Lille. This charming northern city near Belgium explodes on the last weekend in August with a crazy street market, the Braderie de Lille (31 August-1 September). Explore, haggle, and eat moules-frites – restaurants compete to produce the biggest pile of opened mussel shells. Remember, wherever you go in France in 2013, there's only one rule: celebrate.
Other places to visit
AMIENS The city's 32nd international film festival (16-24 November) includes a retrospective of Croatian cinema and a tribute to award-winning Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck. For Shaun of the Dead fans, there's a season of new British horror films.
DIJON Dijon's renowned antiques fair (11-20 May). Since 1973, furniture from the 17th to 20th centuries, and from art nouveau to 1970s fashion, has sat alongside specialists in jewellery, painting, earthenware, tapestry, glassware, archaeological artefacts and more.
CLERMONT-FERRAND The Europavox festival celebrates Europe's diverse music scene (23-25 May). The festival includes 50 concerts and is expected to attract 25,000 people.
LE HAVRE The Normandy impressionist festival celebrates the role of the industrial ports Rouen, Dieppe and Le Havre as a central motif in the works of masters from Monet to Pissarro.
METZ Nestled between the Moselle and Seille rivers, the capital of Lorraine welcomes summer with a street party, a real sandy beach set up around the lake and the famous Mirabelle plum festival in late August.
MONTPELLIER The International Extreme Sport Festival (FISE) is the biggest of its kind in Europe, with everything from skateboarding to BMX to wakeboarding along the banks of the river Lez (7-12 May).
MULHOUSE The city that's half-Alsace, half-something pleasingly different, will host Calacas, the latest joyfully macabre work from stage pioneers Bartabas, whose combinations of equestrianism with music, dance and acting make for a wild theatrical carnival (12-30 April).
NANCY Celebrate the Renaissance (4 May-4 August) with exhibitions, conferences, food tastings and heritage walks.
NANTES Nantes will enjoy its new status in 2013 as European Green Capital with bike trails, slow food celebrations and eco-friendly accommodation.
NICE If the exceptional climate weren't reason enough to visit the capital of the French Riviera, the Marc Chagall exhibition (until 20 May) is the icing on the cultural cake.
POITIERS The Festival des Expressifs (3-6 October) is four days of entertainment from circus to dance, marionettes to mime, with more than 100 free shows.
RENNES Enjoy a galette saucisse while taking in Rendez-vous Place du Parlement, a free sound and light show staged every night in summer against the awesome backdrop of Brittany's 17th-century parliament buildings.
RHEIMS The kings of France were crowned in the 13th-century stone cathedral, which is now illuminated every evening in summer with a special show from the Skertzó light artists.
STRASBOURG Its 12 Christmas markets centre around the "gigantic and delicate marvel", as Victor Hugo called Strasbourg's cathedral.
SAINT-ETIENNE: The Words and Music festival that started in 1992, has grown into an event attended by thousands of people. This year's event from 28 May to 1 June includes a closing set from La Caravane Passe.
TOULOUSE FestOval rugby festival (27 May-1 June), the Toulouse International Art festival (24 May-23 June), the Rio Loco festival of all things Caribbean (13-17 June) – and even an international organ festival (9-20 October).
To find out more about all these destinations, visit gotofrancenow.com/city-breaks
Holiday offer
Two people can stay four nights at the superb Hotel Le Pigonnet in Aix-en-Provence, and pay only for three. For details, see kirkerholidays.com/hotel/le-pigonnet
