Cocteau on the Cote

After spending time in Cocteau's home town of Milly la Foret, we were eager to see more of his work here on the Côte d'Azur. Ira, of course, had found a relatively obscure place to visit, Santo Sospir, a villa owned by Francine Weisweiller. It's open by application for small, guided tours. So, armed with a reservation, we drove up the coast to Cap Ferrat. Such a lovely drive, we hugged the shore as closely as we could, stopping to marvel at the bay that enriches Ville Franches.

Cap Ferrat was equally lovely, filled with rock pines and grand houses, mostly secrets behind walls. We found our own particular hidden-away villa and rang the door bell. Our guide, Erich, was an amiable, cute and bearish guy. He was charming and eloquent in two languages for the French couple and us. Alas, he didn't speak Japanese for the third couple, but they understood English. It was terrific to hear the stories in two languages, because there would often be small details that differed. The French version, of course, was the best as it was his native tongue.

Cocteau was a particular friend of Francine, and had his own room. They even shared a boyfriend! Cocteau painted the walls with wonderful, casual murals, mostly in tempera. The themes were mostly strong women killing men: Judith and Holofernes, Diana and Acteon.... fun stories. I didn't take any pictures inside. It seemed weird since Francine's daughter still lives there occasionally. If you're a Cocteau fan, and why wouldn't you be?, then seek out the pictures on the Web. 

Erich was charming, the murals terrific, and even the furniture was a blast. Leopard print carpet, horns turned into fishes, 19th-century Balinese furniture. It was interior design by an eccentric leading light, Madeleine Castaing. It was pure pleasure, and the views from the villa were terrific. You could see Nice laid out along the distant shore. Apparently, there's not much good swimming because jellyfish have invaded. According to Erich, he doesn't swim anymore because the pollution has killed all of the sea turtles, which were the main predator of the jellyfish. I didn't encounter any off the Hotel du Cap, but maybe they don't come to the higher rent districts.

We drove down to the town to eat and ended up at a touristy place along the waterfront with views of the cliffs in the background and boat and yachts in the foreground. Absolutely lovely. Ira and I split a seafood paella and it was terrifically rich. I have a feeling there's lots of paella in our future.

We made it a short day because the skies were clouding over. It rained on the drive back. By the time we made it to our hotel, it was sunny again and we sat out at the pool.

Time for a light dinner!