The Côte d’Azur is a striking stretch of land where you can find over-the-top opulence living side by side with the charming villages that attracted artists and intellectuals and made this portion of the French Riviera a veritable art Mecca. Painters and sculptors were the first to call this place home. Pablo Picasso explored his passion for pottery when living in the clay-quarrying town of Vallarius where he also painted its main chapel, while Henri Matisse spent his last years in Nice and built a chapel of his own in nearby Vence. Nice has much to offer including the Musee Matisse, which houses an extensive permanent collection of the painter’s paintings, drawings, sculptures and personal items, and the Musee Chagall which was designed by the artist himself houses his series of 17 paintings illustrating the Message Biblique. 

Apart from the artists, the area also attracted many writers, movie stars and socialites in the 20th century. The first wave, post World War I, included Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Nabokov, James Joyce, Gerald and Sara Murphy, and Coco Chanel. The second wave, post World War II, brought in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, turning the artist and intellectual retreat into a playground for the rich and famous. Brigitte Bardot, Roger Vadim, Jane Fonda, Jane Birkin, and Serge Gainsbourg are only a few examples of the glamorous crowd that spent time on the sunny coast along with royalty and politicians, helping turn it into the opulent destination it is today.

A short drive from the more recognizable destinations of Nice, Cannes, and St. Tropez, lies the small town of Saint Paul de Vence where you will find La Colombe d’Or. The rustically charming, family-run inn opened in 1931, first as a restaurant then a hotel. Artists were regulars here and donated masterpieces to adorn its humble premises in exchange for meals or lodging: works by Picasso, Matisse, Calder, Léger, Miró, and Chagall were donated by the artists and are displayed without fanfare. Though it began as a haven for artists, the boutique hotel quickly became popular with the stars as well, such as Brigitte Bardot, François Truffaut, Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, and David Niven.

The nearby small town of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin contains two modernist architectural icons: E.1027, the house of Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier's Le Cabanon, a humble and rustic though no less modern cottage. Gray's summer home, built on an isolated stretch of the French Riviera between 1926 and 1929, is one of her most enduring achievements. Born into an aristocratic family in Ireland in 1878, her interest in art went beyond the boundaries of conventional expectations. Her screens, door panels, geometric rugs, and chairs made her one of the most influential architectural designers of the 20th century. She designed this sophisticated and utilitarian house so that inside and outside flowed together in a dynamic dialogue. This maison minimum, now completely restored, is simple and efficient and a fundamental contribution to modern architecture.

Gray ran in the same circles as the famous Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier who was a frequent visitor to E.1027. During one of his visits, Le Corbusier made the dubious decision to add his own touch to Gray’s masterpiece, painting large-scale murals on the walls with graphically sexual motifs. Whether from jealousy or as a prank on Corbusier’s part, Gray was furious and things spiraled down leading him to build his own summer home, Le Cabanon, on a nearby plot of land in 1951. In 1965, he died while swimming in the sea below both houses.