By Anne Brugts, content manager Story Terrace
Radiant Riviera: holidays, love and inspiration for the famous
The French Riviera has long been a favourite holiday destination for the rich and famous, and an inspirational retreat for artists and intellectuals from all around the world. And a perfect backdrop for blossoming love affairs.
Hollywood regulars
As early as the 1940s, Hollywood stars and other US celebrities found their way to
the southern coast of France. Hotel-du-Cap was one of the high-end retreats where these guests would find the peace and luxury they were looking for. Famous guests included Marlene Dietrich and the Kennedy family. John F. played a part in one of Marlene’s home videos, and rumours got out about a love affair between Joe (John F.’s father, ed.) and Marlene.
Hollywood actress Grace Kelly found love on the southern French coast: she met Rainier III of Monaco in the region and left it as a princess. Elizabeth Taylor was a famous (or infamous) devotee of Cannes and the Riviera. Apart from haunting the Film Festival, she went to the area on numerous pool-side holidays with one or other of her successive husbands.
French artists and intelligentsia
The Riviera didn’t only attract foreigners. The French upper classes and French 
celebrities found their way to the region as well. Among all the pictures taken of Brigitte Bardot, those with Riviera scenery in the background may well be the most memorable. Other famous French visitors included Serge Gainsbourg (who wrote a song about the area) and Jane Birkin. In later times, the region even starred in a TV show, as the scenery for the series ‘My Riviera’ about the life of Charles Aznavour.
The region wasn’t beloved only for its relaxing qualities. Artists, singers and writers came there to seek inspiration. Some of them, like Picasso, had a local workshop. Picasso found he could be incredibly productive while living in this area. Some of his work can still be seen there, such as the fresco ‘La Guerre et la Paix’ in the Roman chapel of Vallauris.
Sartre took Simone de Beauvoir there in the 1930s and 
from then on they regularly retreated to the area to work. ‘I am dreaming of sun, silence and time to work,’ said Beauvoir as she reflected on the time she spent there.
Escaping British taxes
A few decades later, in the seventies, Rolling Stone Keith Richards rented Villa Nellcote, a 16-room mansion in the French Riviera for the duration of one year. It was here that the Stones produced their album ‘Exile on Main Street’, while hiding from the British tax authorities.
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This month we celebrate holiday memories. Also see our guest writer Persis Bekkering’s top 3 Autobiographies for this Summer and other articles. What’s your most treasured holiday memory?
