Villa Gallici – Aix En Provence

Villa Gallici, Aix En Provence

“See how the light tenderly love the apricots, it takes them over completely, enters into their pulp, lights them from all sides! But it is miserly with the peaches and lights only one side of them.” -  Paul Cezanne

Only an artist such as the incomparable Paul Cézanne could ruminate over how the light in the South of France compares when it hits apricots versus peaches.

Cezanne, famous for painting Mt. St. Victoire in increasingly abstract and beautiful compositions, was born in the lovely Provencal village of Aix En Provence (about 10 minutes from the famed mountain) and for the art-lover a stay there is essential.

Villa Gallici – Aix En Provence

The still charming town boasts a boulevard lined with leafy Plane Trees creating a natural triumphal arch and tourists and natives linger over endless cups of espresso and  the morning’s copy of Le Matin at the village’s many cafes.

But it is the singular light that suffuses the ambience of a Florentine residence, today turned into Villa Gallici, a gem of a hotel managed by the Relais & Chateaux group. The rooms are sumptuously decorated with Provencal toile in delicate floral patterns and most open onto a private garden filled with the fragrance of lavender.

Villa Gallici, Aix En Provence

The cuisine also pays tribute to Provence with dishes like sautéed loin of lamb and aubergine caviar with olives, black garlic sauce and fried basil. Try the famous local speciality of Calisson, sweets flavored with melon and orange. Another plus is that Villa Gallici offers a special “Cézanne package” which includes a visit to the painter’s studio.

Carlton Intercontinental – Cannes

The place to be seen in Cannes. This 354-room Belle Epoque luxury palace is the preferred haunt of Middle Eastern princes, film moguls and high-wattage celebs. There is a pool, casino and beauty spa and gastronomic glitz on the seventh floor at La Belle Otero, as well as sun, sea and gorgeous buffets across the road at the Carlton Beach Restaurant. The bar has taken over from the Bar Bleu as the place to meet and be seen. It is also the notorious site of Meg Ryan’s fight with the cake trolley in the film “French Kiss”.

La Colombe d’Or – St. Paul de Vence

Picasso at the Bar Colombe d’Or

Rashid Al Khalifa at Colombe d’Or

For the art lover it is hard to beat a hotel with a Calder mobile over the swimming pool and a vaulted stone dining room, flickering with shadows cast from roaring fireplaces, and decorated with a private collection of paintings by Picasso, Leger and other “struggling” artists who traded their pictures here in exchange for a meal or a bed.

Manoir de L’Etang – Mougin

Smothered in blushing Virginia creeper, roofed in traditional terracotta pantiles, and punctuated with white shutters, the Manoir is a very private and special place to stay.

Although secluded, this 19th-century manor house is a stone’s throw from the charming, cobbled medieval town of Mougins (where Picasso spent the last 15 years of his life), and while you are certain your co-guests are billionaires, the atmosphere is so informal and charming that no one pays any attention to anyone else in an extremely chic and discreet way.

The atmosphere has to be credited, in large part to owner and Swedish transplant, Camilla Richards, who is constantly present yet acts more like a casual hostess at a grand French family home than a manager at a hotel.

Italian chef, Luigi Fiore puts a modern spin on traditional Provencal dishes, such as saffron-infused seafood risotto and ricotta-stuffed courgette flowers, all served on a terrace overlooking the swimming pool.

The rooms are “French-tiny”, but no one minds as most of them have balconies upon which you can choose to have your croissant and cafe au lait gazing out over the pine and fig-scented countryside.

This is the ultimate luxurious hideout that stands apart because of its personal feel, immaculate service and deep comfort. You can imagine shy celebrities (are there any?) choosing to hide out here from relentless paparazzi during the Cannes Film Festival. And they do.

Hotel du Cap Eden Roc – Nice

Hotel du Cap Eden Roc – One bedroom suite

If one has not actually been to Hotel du Cap – as regulars call it – it is hard to put into words the atmosphere created by this famed hotel perched on a promontory over Nice harbor. The hotel achieves the nearly impossible feat of being both exceptionally grand and discreetly chic – all at the same time.

Gracing the southern tip of the Cap d’Antibes, the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc belongs to those iconic establishments, now very few in number, where time seems to stand still. Once one has been “on the property” for a day or two, one can easily imagine Grace Kelly turning up the drive in a gleaming convertible roadster, her hair flying about her face as it escapes from her signature Hermes scarf.

For the past century, this elegant Napoleon III hotel first welcomed artists and writers and then later Europe’s elite and aristocracy. Today, the property has become a confidential sanctuary for movies stars, politicians and well-heeled travelers from around the globe.

For celebs and sun-worshippers the hotel’s luxurious sea cabanas are tucked into rock cliffs stepping down to the azure Mediterranean. Sheltered by a grove of century-old pine trees, they offer guests high-end rustic charm and secluded privacy. Lazing at the cabanas one is served by a staff just dedicated to their service, who never hover, but are always available to deliver light lunch including a Rocbaron goat cheese pie or the Eden-Roc club sandwich .

If one has the wardrobe “to be seen” and wants to splash out, the hotel’s haute gourmand restaurants range from the Eden-Roc with one of the best wine lists in France, or if one wants a chic but less formal experience, the Eden-Roc Grill and Lounge Bar proffers cocktails, sushi and tapas poolside.

Eden Roc restaurant terrace

Other not to be missed experiences include a drink at the Bellini Bar graced by Corinthian stone columns or a snuggle in at La Rotonde Piano Bar, where the tinkling of Cole Porter accompanies a breathtaking view of the sea by day and the competition between lights twinkling on sailboat masts and stars  in the heavens by night.

A favorite of guests ranging from George Bernard Shaw to Marc Chagall, (who never signed a bill in the many August idylls that he spent there), Hotel du Cap has seamlessly combined the creative soul of its early incarnation as a colony for artists and writers with its ineffable style as the destination for decades since, to everyone from Royals to rock stars.