If it’s Friday, it must be France …
Do you ever come across something special when you are looking for something else? Then you read it or hold it in your hands to admire and remember all sorts of good things about it?
This afternoon I was sending some information about Antibes to my good friend Julie Mautner, creator of the excellent website, The Provence Post.
The next thing I knew I was re-reading this article and a wealth of great memories wrapped around me. My husband and I often drop by the Hotel Belles Rives for a meal in the exceptional La Passagère restaurant or a drink on the dazzling terrace. It’s always memorable. But the particular morning I gathered information for this article is something I will not forget.
Today I’m reposting the article I wrote for The Good Life France in 2016. If you read it then, I hope you will enjoy it again. After all, we can never have too much of a good thing, n’est-ce pas?
Hotel Belles Rives ~ Antibes southern France
The frivolous lyrics from Cole Porter’s Let’s Misbehave might very well have epitomized the mood on the Côte d’Azur when the song was published in 1927.
“There’s something wild about you child, That’s so contagious. Let’s be outrageous, Let’s misbehave!!!”
Not only was he penning the song, but quite possibly Porter was working through it while he hung out with Zelda and F. Scott 
Fitzgerald. They were staying at their rented Villa Saint-Louis on the shore of a scenic cove on the west side of the iconic Cap d’Antibes. The Fitzgeralds loved partying with their Jazz Age friends. The semi-Bohemian crowd included wealthy Americans and visiting artists, writers and hangers-on. Picasso, Hemingway, Cocteau, John Dos Passos, Gertrude Stein and Dorothy Parker were just a few of the regulars. Porter was a fixture at the piano in the music room of Villa Saint-Louis, overlooking the shimmering Mediterranean.
From all accounts, notably captured in Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, along with letters, journal entries and recorded memories by others in the Roaring Twenties, the French Riviera was rather a wild place to be. It was also, and continues to be, a fabled coastline of incomparable beauty and light that inspires artists to settle there and create.
The Belle of the French Riviera
Since 1929 the privately-owned Villa Saint-Louis has been known as Hôtel Belles Rives. At the time it was the only hotel on the water along the Côte d’Azur. And since 2001, the gracious third-generation owner, Marianne Estène-Chauvin has guided her beloved 5-star, 43-room gem with a clear desire to keep the best of the Fitzgerald years alive.
TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK RIGHT HERE for the link to the entire article and photos on page 55 of The Good Life France magazine. It’s a long article but worth the read (she said modestly …). ENJOY!
It was a pleasure to spend the morning
with Madame Estène-Chauvin, a charming, savvy businesswoman and artist, who loves what she does. To sit and chat and then be shown around the beloved property by her was truly an honour. Have you visited this iconic hotel?
Love seeing the photos and hearing about your adventures. 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us.
And I love that you enjoy coming along! Thanks for your comment, Melissa. 🙂
Gorgeous place!
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Bien sûr! And I am so impressed with the international visitors you have been hosting at Baer House! Let’s do a blog post here about it. Bonne idée?
Okay. I’d love to. Let me know what I have to do. I’ll be on vacation (finally) from the 17th through the 27th of this month but after that I’m good to go.
Patricia
Have a wonderful holiday and I’ll be in touch when I get back from France at the end of September. Bonne vacance!
A little jealous here, Patricia 🙂
Such a beautiful area of France, for sure.
Glad you enjoy my native land as much as you do.
Evelyne, as much as I love France, I realize that every country has so much to offer with its own history and culture. You are one who celebrates other places often on your blog and I’ve learned much from your experiences. Even though it’s difficult to keep up with everyone’s posts, I do try to drop by yours when I can. It’s never a disappointment. It’s been a pleasure to watch your influence grow. I have such respect for all you do with schools and libraries and the students who fill those spaces. I also read the article you linked to about T-Rays Burger Station in Fernandina Beach, Florida. What a great story! I’m going to share it on FB and link to you. Merci!