The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

The Sunday Times May 29, 2022 9

A JAZZ RIFF IN THE RHÔNE

Wherever in France you are

this summer there’ll be a sax

soloist close by. Among dozens

of jazz festivals in the country,

though, the one at Vienne in

the Rhône Valley between June

29 and July 13 takes the biscuit.

This year the main stage in

the magnificent Roman

Théâtre Antique hosts George

Benson, Herbie Hancock and

Jamie Cullum, among others.

A further 190 concerts will

take over the old town’s nooks

and crannies, and most are

free (seven-night pass from

£151; jazzavienne.com).

Devote the savings you make

to a blowout at the town’s

famed hotel and its two-

Michelin-star restaurant.

Details Room-only doubles

at La Pyramide from £149

(lapyramide.com). Fly to

Lyons or take a train to

Vienne via Paris

BORDEAUX WINE FESTIVAL

The usually biennial Bordeaux

Fête le Vin, back after a Covid

absence, is the wine festival

to aim for this year. It will

draw hundreds of

winemakers and food

producers to the banks

of the Garonne between

June 23 and 26. A pass

including a glass and

holder, 11 tastings

at the steel-

fronted design

hotel Arbre

Voyageur

from £138

(hotelarbre

voyageur.com).

Take the Eurostar

to Lille

GREEN POP IN

CHARLEVILLE-MÉZIÈRES

For a country that long failed

to excel at pop music ( Johnny

Hallyday — really?), France

has learnt how to rock out in

summer. Allying top-class

tunes to green issues, the

Cabaret Vert festival takes

place from August 17 to 21 in

Charleville-Mézières, near the

Belgian border. No surprise,

then, that the nascent

environmentalist Liam

Gallagher is one bill-topper;

Madness and Slipknot are also

there, alongside the Belgian

superstar Stromae and the

veteran songstress Véronique

Sanson (who wrote the lovely

Amoureuse). A five-day pass

costs £151 (cabaretvert.com).

Details Room-only doubles

at Hotel Le Château Fort —

20 minutes’ by car — from

£84 (hotel-lechateaufort.fr).

A spot on the festival

campsite costs £16 for the

duration of the festival

and a workshop

with the Bordeaux

Wine School costs

£18 (bordeaux-

wine-

festival.com).

While in the city,

don’t miss the

booze-themed Picasso

show at the Cité

du Vin wine exhibition

centre; entry to both costs

£21 (laciteduvin.com).

Details Room-only

doubles at the hip, all-white

Seeko’o from £128 (seekoo-

hotel.com). Fly to Bordeaux

LILLE UTOPIA

Once every three or four

years the imaginative city

of Lille is energised by a

summer-long popular art

thrash. The theme this year

is Utopia, and interpretations

running until October 2 will

be many and varied — we’re

talking streets full of giant

green elves, a main square

transformed into Alice’s

Wonderland, human

sculptures with fruit and

veg heads, 35 exhibitions

and shows, dances, costume

balls and much more

besides. A pass to

all exhibitions costs

from £34 (utopia.

lille3000.com).

Details Room-only doubles Continued on page 10→

from£ 149

m). Fly to

train to

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Clockwise from left: Vienne;

Lille 3000; the late Serge

Gainsbourg at home in Paris

George Benson

and Herbie

Hancock are

on the bill in

Vienne