The Elegant they used to name it, and the heart of town has retained some of its charms, if a little jaded. The Cours de la Révolution was the pride and joy of the French city and remains the full of life and heart today.

A long, broad street, its lanes split by a broad, tree-shaded walkway, it also boasts the city's most sophisticated architecture, where, with buildings such as the Amphorae and the Lion and Caryatid, colonial architects vied to exceed each other in the excessiveness of their facades. In the centre, palms and huge fig trees offer shade for a number of popular outdoor cafés, where the city is aged and idle while away the day.