French Riviera

It was a trip I had been longing to do for years! Ever since that summer evening when I saw the movie called: “How to Catch a Thief”, the memory of the French Riviera haunted me like a ghost. Alfred Hitchcock framed all the elements of perfection in one single shot: first, a dramatic view of the Mediterranean, lying like a giant blue carpet at the feet of a rocky precipice; then, a serpentine coastal road –known by the locals as the “Corniche”– with pine trees and flowers here and there. A blue-gray convertible enters the frame and an ethereal young lady appears on its steering wheel: Grace Kelly. In the script, Kelly was driving Cary Grant to a romantic picnic on the cliffs. In reality -little did she know-, the princess-to-be was shooting the first act of a plot that would lead her up the steps of the Monegasque royal palace. The American girl from Philadelphia became Princess Grace of Monaco. “That’s the Riviera!” I told myself: a land of turquoise seas and purple sunsets; of drives with dramatic views and pick-nicks on velvet sand….of legends being born! This fantasy of mine was made of a fairytale fabric, and only a visit could ward it off.

Embraced by nature

Happiness! From up close, I found the Riviera even more impressive than in my thoughts. I landed in Nice, perhaps the most easy-going city I’ve ever visited. I was instantly attracted by the fact that Nissa (its Occitan name) is built on a human scale: its small size creates a sense of intimacy and control. Nothing is too far neither from the beach, nor from the mountains of the nearby Provence; it only takes a short walk from the Bay of Angels up to the closest cliffs, where one can feel the tight embrace between the city and nature. It is just as quick to hop from the old city of Cours Saleya –with its picturesque grid of food markets- to the more modern areas around the Garibaldi square -a square that French historian Max Gallo described as utterly “Mediterranean by its vibration, roof colors, loud voices and radiant light”. I find something really revitalizing in the plurality of sceneries in this small Mediterranean city: for every golden beach there is a mountain, for every rose garden a rocky cliff, for every shady alley a sun-washed promenade, and for every humble grocery a flashy boutique. I figured that the capital city of the French Coast is a colorful patchwork of perfectly balanced poles.

Color bomb

The vibrant, colorful landscape of the Coast is a timeless hallmark and a reason why this place can feel like home to residents and visitors alike -a joyful, lively home. Like an orange dripping its juice, the Riviera drips a rainbow of colors spanning over the entire spectrum: green for the olive and pine trees, the cypresses and well-trimmed villa gardens; yellow for the blinding sunlight, sandy beaches, and ocher buildings; pink for the old fortifications; fuchsia and carmine for its flowers; red and purple for the flaming sunsets; black and silver for its starry nights…Writers and painters felt deeply moved by the sensation of this color explosion. When Matisse realized he was going to have “this light every single day” he could not believe his “good fortune”; Nietzsche regretted for not being able “to send some of the coloring of Nice” to his friends. Prosper Mérimée, Virginia Woolf, Alexandre Dumas, Scott Fitzgerald are some of the artists who made similar remarks in their travel notes.

Belle Époque 

With such a vibrant natural landscape, it was inevitable for the Riviera to be established as one of the world’s most coveted vacation spots, and one of the oldest ones too: the area was put in the spotlight in the middle of the 19th century, when Russian Czars and Queen Victoria made it their second home. A playful bunch of Princes, Counts and Barons came along, thus helping the Riviera build a name synonymous to prestige and luxury that stays intact to this day.

At the dawn of the 20th century, a passenger could hardly cross the freshly paved streets of Monte-Carlo, Nice or Cannes without bumping into a fancy carriage, the Bentleys of the time. Hotel-palaces, such as the Excelsior Hotel Regina, were designed according to the high life standards of their distinguished guests. Stately casinos were built in response to a frenetic fashion of spending fortunes in the most ostentatious manner. Ladies and courtesans filled gleaming music halls, armed to the teeth with pearls and diamonds to conquer a world of nobles, tycoons and impostors alike. The “Belle Otero”, reportedly the most captivating courtesan of them all, went down in history with her countless lovers, some of whom protested her rejection with suicide acts.

Champagne for everyone! 

The brutalities of the Great War turned its fortunate survivors into the wildest party animals: having brushed past their own demise, they were eager to ward off the shadow of death in expensive alcohol, fast cars, and frenetic dances. The Riviera’s established reputation in the Old World started now to expand in the New World. Wealthy Americans who had settled in Paris during the years of prohibition embarked en masse in the Coast for the summer. Around that time, the French government introduced the policy of paid leave, and thousands of middle-class employees ran off to live their myth in the Riviera, as the media was raising awareness around the benefits of sunbathing.

Growing demand for new tourist installations propelled a real-estate speculation race around the area of the French Coast: The King of Belgium speculated big in the town of Villefranche, while renowned industrialists such as, Walter Owen Bentley and Frank Jay Gould, transformed the cap of Antibes from a port hamlet into a glamorous seaside resort. From there on, the Riviera would be a permanent pole of attraction for nobles, celebrities, nouveau riches and socialites from all over the world. In a dedicated article, Scott Fitzgerald and other writers recount the daily routines of fellow jetsetters spent in tennis courts, yachts, casinos and dancing halls.

Capital of the avant-garde

Next to the American emigrants who settled in the Riviera during the Interwar period, a young generation of designers, artists and architects came along: Painters such as Matisse and Picasso were looking for inspiration in the Mediterranean light to push the boundaries of their art; socialite artists such as, Jean Cocteau and Anne De Noailles, simply wanted to hang around the international elite; while a handful of architects were commissioned to build “new-age” summer houses. The Bauhaus school opened new horizons in design and their disciples set out to apply the Modernist movement in residences along the Coast. Some of those buildings became iconic.

In Hyères, viscount Charles and Marie-Laure De Noailles commissioned Robert Mallet-Stevens, leading figure of the French Union of Modern Artists, to build a villa for hosting the avant-garde scene of Paris -unique talents such as Picasso, Dalì, Giacometti, Buñuel, and Man Ray to name just a few. Mallet-Stevens designed a “Machine for Living in” by the standards of Le Corbusier. His cubic concrete villa impressed by the nudity of its forms –unseen by 1920s standards- and sophisticated infrastructure, including a rooftop pool for owners and guests to do aqua gym (!) while soaking-in the Mediterranean sun. Thanks to visionary architects like Mallet-Stevens, Eileen Gray, Garabed Hovnanian and others, the Riviera was found center stage in the evolution of architecture. And it was not the first time.

From roughly 1850 to 1930, the French Coast witnessed a phenomenal wave of construction of apartment buildings, villas, hotels, and casinos. We warmly invite you to explore the area’s extraordinary architectural heritage that spans across movements -notably, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Modernism; you will find recommendations of our favorite architectural gems in the City Maps section at the end of our article Crème de la crème. This heritage is emblematic not only of the Riviera’s glorious past, but also of its timeless verve: a vibrant source of energy, ambition and creative talent that keeps the Coast at the pole position of modernity.