Highlights of the Còte d’Azur

The French Riviera is one of the most mythical places in Europe, well documented in films, art, and literature. Both Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald have written about their experience in the south of France, as has Ernest Hemingway. Many of their stories have been turned into films, immortalising not only a certain place but a particular point in time, in-between the two world wars. Many people have felt a connection to the golden sunshine and turquoise sea in this part of the world, but some have left a stronger mark than others. 

Villa Kérylos, Beaulieu-sur-Mer

In Greek mythology, Princess Alcyone married Ceyx, son of Eoesphorus. Their relationship was happy and harmonious but still managed to upset Zeus, who threw a thunderbolt at the ship on which Ceyx was traveling.The ship sank and Ceyx drowned. In a dream, he visited Alcyone to tell her of his fate, after which she, in desperation, threw herself off a cliff. Out of compassion, the gods turned them both into kingfishers, or “halcyon birds”. “Kerylos” is another word for “kingfisher” and “Halcyon”. Ever since their transformation, the bird was considered a good omen, carrying the promise of peaceful times soon to come. 

The Greek name of the villa underscores the strong cultural underpinnings of the building, interconnecting 20th century France with Ancient Greece. Théodore Reinach, who commissioned the building, was an esteemed archaeologist who, together with his wife Fanny, wanted to build a modern house, but with aesthetic inspiration from the past. The couple contacted architect Emmanuel Pontremoli, who helped them realise their plans on the cliffs by the sea in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.

Throughout his life, Théodore Reinach had been fascinated with antiquity. Reinach was considered one of the most prominent Hellenists of his time, and was particularly interested in matters concerning Greek politics and democracy. Villa Kérylos was his attempt at reviving the beauty of an ancient civilization. Together, he and Pontremoli created a three-dimensional, complete artwork: not only the layout of the house but its furniture, fabrics, tableware and decoration were all designed to remind its inhabitants of Ancient Greece. 

The villa was modelled on the style of the noble houses of the island of Delos, the way they would have appeared in the 2nd century BC. The finished result can be viewed as his tribute to a past on which the foundation of modern society was built. The villa brought together the aesthetics of the past with the comforts of the modern era, making it not only beautiful but also pleasant to stay in. It was built between 1902 and 1908, and Reinach would come to spend almost twenty summers in the villa, before passing away in 1928. After his death, the villa was bequeathed to Institut de France (of which he was a member), but his children and grandchildren continued to live in the house until 1966. 

On the ground floor, a large hall (known as the Thyrôreion) welcomes the visitors. On one of its walls is written the Greek word XAIPE (in English “enjoy yourself”). All of the rooms on this floor are centred around a square courtyard, surrounded by twelve Carrara marble columns. A sundial in the middle of the yard indicates the evening hours. The furniture in the library is of particular importance: wooden chests and stools were among the main furnishings of a Greek house. The two desks in this room were used by Théodore Reinach when he wanted to work standing up, as was customary in ancient times. Another link to ancient customs can be found in the dining room (called The Triklinos), where plaited leather beds, at the same height as the tripod tables, made it possible to eat from a reclining position.

On the first floor is the villa’s private areas, including bedrooms and bathrooms. Théodore Reinach’s bedroom (called Erotés) was dedicated to Eros, God of love and desire, and thus painted red, reminiscent of the palace of Knossos in Crete, while the bed was made in the style of an original model found in Pompeii. 

Around the villa is a beautiful garden, full of Mediterranean plants and fruit trees. In the summertime, concerts are given here on a regular basis. The villa remains a manifestation of one man’s passionate interest for history, and the interlinking of two eras through one building.  

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

With its nine theme gardens spread out over seven hectares of land, in one of the most exclusive areas of Côte d’Azur, the park of Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild is one of the most remarkable in France. The romantic villa, in the centre of the imposing park, was constructed between 1907 and 1912 by baroness Béatrice Ephrussi, née Rothschild. 

Belonging to one of the world’s wealthiest family, Béatrice Rothschild grew up in a world of privilege, spending her childhood in-between the family’s 18th century palace on the northeast corner of Place de la Concorde in Paris and the château her grandfather, James Rothschild, had built in Ferrières.

Her father, baron Alphonse de Rothschild, had been an avid art collector, and after her divorce from Maurice Ephrussi in 1904, Beatrice Rothschild continued the family legacy – the Rothschild motto was Ars Patriae Decus (In English: Art in honour of the fatherland) – by collecting art and antiques, over the years creating an impressive private collection. A year after the divorce, her father died, leaving her with a large fortune. 

Keen on starting a new life project, she bought a plot of land on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (snatching it up before Belgian King Leopold II had a chance to make an offer). The reason she decided on this part of France was that she in recent years had visited nearby Villa Kerylos, commissioned by her ex-husband’s cousin Fanny Reinbach (and her husband Théodore), and then fallen in love with the region. The villa, designed in a Italian renaissance-style, was planned by architect Jacques-Marcel Auburtin, while Harold Peto and Achille Duchêne – and later Louis Marchand – were in charge of developing the gardens. It represents perfectly the taste of Béatrice Rothschild and the era that she lived in. 

Overlooking the Bay Fourmis de Beaulieu-sur-Mer, the villa’s spacious rooms were decorated with an eclectic mix of the many items that she had collected over the years. At the time of her death, the collection contained more than 5,000 artworks.

The largest garden in the park is the formal French garden (in French, Le jardin à la française). Symmetrical in its layout, the garden is centred around a large pond in the shape of a boat deck, surrounded by side ponds.

On the far end of the garden is a hill covered with cypress trees together with a replica of the Temple of Love (the original is found close to the Petit Trianon palace, in the park of Versailles).

The garden also contains beautiful, large Italian renaissance urns, as well as a cascade of water in the form of a stairway. The exotic garden, full of gigantic succulents and cacti, was initially known as the Mexican garden. Almost destroyed during the great frosts of 1985, it was completely restored a few years later.

The rose garden, located at the tip of the property, has a variety of old roses and modern hybrids, while the many paths of the Provençal garden are lined with olive trees and pines, as well as rosemary, cistus, santolina and lavender, with decorations of Sèvres porcelain. When Béatrice Rothschild still lived at the villa, there was also a small zoo in the garden, mainly inhabited by green parrots (but this has since long been removed).

Starting in 1912 and ten years onwards, Béatrice Rothschild would spend every winter here, as part of her annual rotation between her homes in Paris, Monaco and Deauville.

Her parties were memorable – one time she even had prima ballerina Anna Pavlova dance to the Chopin nocturnes in the French formal garden. When she died from tuberculosis, in Davos, Switzerland in 1934, she had already bequeathed her estate to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. 

During the Second World War, the villa was deserted and the area was mined, but once peace was restored, Louis Marchand returned and restored the gardens to their former glory. This is also when the villa was painted reddish pink (originally, it was painted in a ochre yellow).

Today, the villa and its gardens attract visitors from all corners of the world, who come here to experience its extravagance and beauty. It carries an echo from another time and another world, of extreme wealth, defined by Béatrice Rothschild’s extensive taste and curiosity in matters of art, architecture and design. 

Promenade Le Corbusier, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

Anyone who has been regularly to the ocean knows of its healing qualities. Being close to water is calming, for both body and soul. Deep-rooted, mystical connections between water and people relive stress and relaxes the mind. 

According to marine biologist Wallace Nichols, this has less to do with nature’s mysteries and more to do with science. Water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and makes up nearly 70 percent of the human body, which is why our brains will release neurochemicals when we are near water. Seawater contains potassium, magnesium, chloride and sodium, beneficial for skin and hair (including treatment for eczema) while also fighting infections and reducing inflammations. The ocean air is also different from inland air – as it has a higher salt content and is thus quite “thick”; as you inhale, it clears your throat and respiratory system, allowing clearer breathing and subsequently also better quality of sleep. The ocean can also restore equilibrium to the soul, as expressed already by the narrator in Herbert Melville’s Moby Dick: 

”Whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off— then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” 

Even politicians have realised the benefits of being close to water. In 2016, the European Union initiated Blue Health 2020, with the aim to get its citizens to spend more time close to water, so that they can lead healthier and happier lives. Water can improve the well-being of people, regardless of whether they are living in densely populated cities or in the countryside. Water is the antidote to anxiety and stress, and the sound of waves crashing have been shown to have an almost immediately relaxing effect. Being close to the ocean engages almost all of the senses – sight, smell, hearing and touch – and this physical immersion can also have beneficial emotional effects as well. 

On a more esoteric note, staring into the deep blue sea can have calming effects on the mind, as it is an almost meditative experience. Some scientists have suggested that regularly being close to the sea can even temporarily change the frequency of brain waves to match that of the sea. 

Perhaps this was part of the reason that Le Corbusier incorporated ocean swimming into his daily routine. However, Le Corbusier’s love for the sea had not been without incidents. In August 1938, outside of Saint-Tropez, he had a dangerous encounter with a boat’s propeller, which he outlined in a letter to his mother: 

"After the first turn of the blades, I was thrown out of the circuit and seemed not to have been hurt. I reached the surface, and breathed air. I hadn't swallowed a drop of water. I saw the boat gliding slowly away. I shouted: 'Hey, wait a second, you went right over me, there may be some damage!' Quite automatically my hand went to my right thigh, my arm fitting nicely inside. I looked down: a big area of blood-red water, and half my thigh floating like a ray (the fish!), attached by a narrow strip of flesh: 'throw me a buoy, I’m badly hurt.' The yacht headed toward me, throwing me a sort of rope knot too big to be held in one hand. The side of the yacht was too high for anyone to help me. 'Throw a lifesaver'. It comes, and I sit inside it. And here are some fishermen coming into port; their boat is low, they hold out their hands, and I give them my left hand, because I'm holding my thigh together with my right; we reach the place I started from, on the breakwater; I get up on the jetty; a kind driver appears out of nowhere and helps me sit down beside him. The fisherman gets in the backseat. Hospital. They put me on the table and began sewing me together. This lasts from six to midnight, in two sessions. I’ve already told you the rest.”

The boat’s propeller had cut lengthwise, rather than across, which gave him a large scar that stayed with him for the rest of his life, but left him without any serious or lasting damage to the nerves. And even after this close encounter, he continued going for a daily swim whenever he was by the ocean.

In 1965, Le Corbusier was 77 years old. On August 27, he (as he did on all summer days) went for his daily swim by the Buse Beach, when unexpectedly he suffered a heart attack and drowned. 

He received a grand national funeral in the Louvre’s courtyard, orchestrated by the Minister of Culture André Malraux, after which he was buried in Roquebrune, next to his wife, in a grave he designed for the two of them, with a beautiful view of the sea that they both had loved so much. 

To commemorate his legacy, the town changed the name of the promenade that stretches from Roquebrune-Cap-Martin to Menton, from “Le sentier des douaniers” to “Promenade Le Corbusier”. 

(The original name referred to how this walk used to be patrolled by customs officers.)

If accessing the promenade from Menton, one only has to look for the bust of Le Corbusier: the promenade starts shortly after and follows the curve of Cap-Martin. Soon, the skyscrapers of Monaco will become visible. The view is the most dramatic on the western side, and the sea takes on an almost turquoise colour here. 

It is advisable to avoid the promenade after lunch in the summer, as the heat will be quite intense. Better to go in the morning, bringing a bottle of water, a swimsuit, a towel and a good book. There are plenty of rocks to sit down, rest, read or go for a swim. 

When you reach Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, passing Villa E–1027 as well as the buildings designed by Le Corbusier, you will come to an SNCF train station. If you continue walking past the station building, you will soon arrive in Monaco.