Provence, with its sundrenched ancient Roman towns which inspired many of the region's renowned artists and poets, today represents both the remnants of medieval Jewish culture as well as the resurgence of a Sephardic Jewish community due to the recent influx of Jews from North Africa.

Alsace, with its quaint, picturesque villages and charming city of Strasbourg has been home to Jews as far back as the 12th century. The impressive ethnographic Judaica collection at the Musee Alsacien attests to the curious melange of secular Alsatian folk art with Jewish religious art.

Paris is today, as it has been for centuries, the great center to which creative Jewish individuals gravitate to seek cosmopolitanism and modernity. From the Mesha stele in the Louvre depicting a battle between the ancient Moabites and Hebrews to the recently opened Jewish Museum in the Marais; from the beautiful 19th century synagogue on the Rue de Tournelles to the grand Rothschild synagogue; from the elegant Place de Vosges to the sophisticated area around the Elysee Palace, there is evidence of a historic and continuous Jewish presence.