Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Did you know? Deported to Auschwitz at sixteen, Simone Veil carried the tattooed number 78651 for the rest of her life. In 1974, as France's health minister, she faced an almost entirely male National Assembly to legalize abortion. The debate was venomous — swastikas even appeared on her car. She stayed composed, and passed the law that still bears her name: the "Loi Veil."

Did you know? Magali Noël was Federico Fellini's favourite performer — his muse across three films. In "Amarcord" (1973) she played Gradisca, the smouldering small-town beauty an entire village pines for. Born to French parents in İzmir, Turkey, she became a symbol of Italian cinema's longing.