Join comedian, writer and TV host Sandi Toksvig has she heads off on a rail trip through the French Riviera exploring history, culture and sights.
Sandi Toksvig’s Great Riviera Rail Trip makes its debut on SBS on Wednesday, 11 March at 7.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand. The two episode series sees Toksvig travel from Marseilles in France to Italian border and the town of Ventimiglia.
The region features a one hundred and sixty kilometre stretch of coastline that became the great dream destination of the twentieth century and still glitters today.
Sandi explores not just the luxurious high life of this playground of the rich and famous, but the fascinating cultural history, treading in the footsteps of the some of the greatest artists and writers of the last 150 years.
She meets winemakers and parfumiers and enjoys great food as she strolls the old towns, promenades and beaches of the Cote D’Azur. She also jokes about the excessive number of steps she has to climb as she works her way around the different town.
From taking to a boat in Sanary-sur-Mer to see the beautiful port city from the Mediterranean waters, and explore the fishing tradition of the area. Which leads to into a culinary adventure of sampling the classic bouillabaisse French fish soup.
Toksvig dives into the literary world exploring some of the famous writers who created works in the area including Berthold Brecht and Aldous Huxley. The region saw an influx of German writers moving to the area during the rise of Adolf Hitler, drawn the regions affordable living. While the region was affordable in the 1930s, it’s at the opposite end of the scale nowadays.
One of the series most powerful moments comes as Toksvig discusses how French people are confronting their history of the Second World War and the events that occurred during Nazi occupation.
A brief stop in La Ciotat notes the birth of cinema where brothers August and Louis Lumiere shot their first footage and created the world’s first cinema.
Hyères is filled with historical buildings including many built in the 12th century, and Toksvig visits the former home and garden of writer Edith Warton who lived in the city between the world wars. The author of The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome and The House of Mirth was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
St Tropez features on of the most famous beaches in the world, the spot featured in the Brigitte Bardot film And God Created Woman. Its a world of glitz and glamour where celebrities spend their holidays., and it wouldn’t be a trip to France withut sampling some of the region’s acclaimed wines.
It’s amazing how many sights, how much history and culture and unexpected content Sandi Toksvig can squeeze into an hour of television.
Sandi Toksvig’s Great Riviera Rail Trip makes its debut on SBS on Wednesday, 11 March at 7.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand.
Check out our 2022 chat with Sandi Toksvig.
