Provence and the Cote d'Azur by Janelle McCulloch

Author:Janelle McCulloch [McCulloch, Janelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Published: 2015-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

You aren’t allowed inside the hotel unless you’re a guest, but you may lunch at the waterfront restaurant (you’ll need to book ahead), where you can peek down onto the famous cliffside pool, the setting for so many of Slim Aarons’s celebrity photographs.

It’s at this end of Cap d’Antibes where it will start to feel as though you’re in a film version of the French Riviera. Every bend brings a glimpse of a glamorous villa, a peek at a private plunge pool, a view of the sea, or even a helicopter taking off, ferrying someone back to the airport. As you walk toward the end of the cape, the hedges grow denser and the price tags higher. There are only 2,000 or so properties on the cape, and they’re mostly valued in the scores of millions.

One of the best known is Château de la Croë, the former home of King Edward VII, the Duke of Windsor, who lived here for several years after World War II. It was also the home, for a while, of Aristotle Onassis. After being left empty for many years, it’s now the Riviera escape for Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who is restoring it.

And then there is its palatial neighbor, Villa Eilenroc (Avenue Mrs. Beaumont). Once regularly open to visitors, Eilenroc has since narrowed its hours to very irregular times, usually Wednesdays. The 10-acre garden is magnificent, thanks to the restoration efforts of the council, with views across the bay and plantings of pines, cypress, oaks, olive trees, lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, roses, figs, and more than a mile/two kilometers of pittosporum hedges. The villa was once owned by wealthy American businessman Louis Dudley Beaumont, and still stands as one of the most valuable pieces of real estate on the entire Riviera coast. (Its nearest equivalent, La Leopolda on Cap Ferrat, was rumored to have been sold to a Russian for 300 million Euros.)

From the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, near the Villa Eilenroc, continue walking around Boulevard John F. Kennedy, which becomes Boulevard Maréchal Juin. As you round the point, look out for the pretty cove on the left, a postcard-worthy scene of weathered fishing boats and cobalt water. There are lots of beautiful villas around here too, and roaming through any of the side streets will reward you with architectural eye candy. In fact, there are tantalizing glimpses of the grand villas and gardens at almost every turn: Just make sure you don’t get run over by an Aston Martin or a Lamborghini while you’re taking a photo.

From here you can wander back to Antibes or, if you have the energy, continue exploring the other side of Antibes, the vastly different Juan-les-Pins.

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