In Juan-Les-Pins . . . re-living a riotous era

he three-week cruise from Dubai through the Suez Canal and across the Med to Monte Carlo is already a distant memory!

I’m staying at the Hotel Belles-Rives in Juan-Les Pins with sweeping sea views from what was once the Art Deco mansion of F Scott Fitzgerald, (the American novelist and writer of The Great Gatsby’). Sitting under an umbrella on the terrace with waters lapping at my feet, I take on the ‘Riviera ambience’ of this place and enjoy a simple Salade Niçoise. I could spend a week here and never leave the property.

The Art Deco Hôtel Belles-Rives in Juan-Les Pins, once the Art Deco mansion of F Scott Fitzgerald, (the American novelist and writer of The Great Gatsby’).

Re-creating my own heady days of the mid-70’s, when working for Amex and flying to exotic places for meetings at the drop of a hat, I decide to return to the small hill town of St-Paul de Vence, just as I did with June Whelan in 1976.

I recall choosing a convertible from Avis and driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road for the first time in my life, and with no fear. (I don’t know about June!) We had lunch on the terrace of La Colombe d’Or. This deserted medieval hill town was brought back to life by artists before the Second World War (lead by Marc Chagall), and today, artists continue to thrive and breathe life into the many colourful studios, shops and gardens dotted through the winding narrow streets.

Wandering, we come across La Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, decorated by Belgian artist Folon. It exudes such light and an instant sense of peace. In this small chapel, Folon has created a fairytale world, a blend of weightlessness, transparency and harmonious gradations of colour to arouse the imagination. Coincidentally, the artist was also a friend of the owners of the Colombe D’Or where June and I lunched forty years ago. The restaurant sign that he painted (in similar gradations of colour) still hangs outside today.

In St Paul de Vence, Michael and Agostino wander into La Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, decorated by Belgian artist Folon. It exudes such light and an instant sense of peace.

For lunch, we decide to follow the valley of the River Loup down through the mountains ending up at Pont du Loup. This pretty place used to be a fashionable country resort at the end of the 19th century where Queen Victoria would visit by train from Nice to lunch on fresh river trout. The cafe where we stop for a late lunch today is far from fashionable but the trout is fresh and sweet.

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