Provence & Côte d’Azur, southern France 8 Part 2 - Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
The hillside roads between Nice and Èze had some 'worth the stop' viewpoints, like one over the Marinière Beach in a small resort town on the sweeping bay east of Nice. Many tiny dots of people on the beach looked like they were enjoying the shiny hot summer time. The left side of the bay is the peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, where we were heading to.
We arrived at the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. Situated in the heart of the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the early 20th century splendid building was the winter residence of Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, a Baroness who had limitless wealth. In 1905 she decided to build her dream home in Cap Ferrat. When she found this plot of land, she fell in love with the beauty of the surroundings and purchased it without a second thought.
The villa was designed according to Béatrice's requirements. The façades were inspired by the Florence and Venice schools, among others. The Italian Renaissance style patio was where Béatrice welcomed her visitors. Impressive!
Art collecting was one of Béatrice's passions. The Villa was decorated with her collections of masterpieces of porcelain, furniture and paintings from different time periods. For example, the whist table in the Grand Salon was created in the 18th century by the French cabinetmaker René Dubois and was a gift from Marie-Antoinette to one of her friends.
The first floor was as sumptuous as the ground floor.
The balcony on the first floor looked over the French formal garden. Creating a garden on the rocky cape exposed to strong sea breeze was troublesome and took seven years to complete. Probably it wouldn't have made it without her financial power.
The view from the balcony made me reconfirm the location, the high point of the peninsula overlooking the Bay of Villefranche and the Bay of Beaulieu on each side, was extraordinary.
We stepped out to the French formal garden. The fountains performed a water show with classical music. It was pretty hot outside. Watching dancing water felt like I was cooling down, even in a brief moment...
In addition to the French formal garden, there were eight themed gardens. First we walked through Provencal garden...
Then we passed though the Exotic garden...
We reached the Rose garden. It looked like the peak of the roses was some weeks ago, but some were still pretty.
Here was the Japanese garden. To be honest I would say it was a Japanese-ish garden.
Somehow we missed the Stone garden and jumped into the Florentine garden.
The pool in the Spanish garden might need some attention.
The last was the Sèvres garden. The small garden next to the ville was decorated with some porcelain vases and sculptures, named after the famous French porcelain town near Versailles.
After the long and enjoyable garden walk, We had lemonade at the terrace of the tearoom in the villa. They also served fancy cakes but I saved my appetite for lunch.
The parking at the villa also provided great views! I was completely possessed by the Mediterranean blue...
The Bay of Beaulieu looked crowded, by the way.
I could see the Villa Kerylos on the tip of the bay over there. It's another early 1900s stately home and I would like to visit it when we come back to French riviera in the future.
La Véranda was located at the outside terrace. The restaurant "offers a sense of informality with an atmosphere and menu reminiscent of a chic French Riviera bistro, combining influences from Italy and the Mediterranean Sea and inspiration from the coastline of Cap-Ferrat," according to the hotel.
We strolled in the garden until our reservation time. The hotel stands at the south tip of the cape, among six hectares of gardens overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
The restaurant was quiet with only a few customers. We were seated at a table in the shade and with a lovely view of the garden and the horizon.
My starter was Crispy Eggplant with Apricot Condiments from Provence. I hadn't expected the whole eggplant would be served! The outside was crispy while the inside was melt-in-mouth. The combination of eggplant and apricot sounded interesting but surprisingly it was pretty nice.
J had Bastien Beetroots Salad with Fresh Goat Cheese and Salted Pistachios for a starter. It looked lovely.
For the main dish, I chose Seared Squid with Stuffed Zucchini Flower. The dish was absolutely delicious! The squid was cooked to perfection. The stuffed zucchini flower was delicate and tasted like summer. Stuffed courgette flowers are a traditional food in Provence as well as Italy. I was happy to try one in this sophisticated way.
J's main was Shellfish with Artisanal Pasta made with Black Petanielle flour from Nice. It was the outstanding version of the Italian classic, Pasta Vongole in Rosso.
When J's coffee arrived, four little cute cookies also joined our table.
J skipped a dessert but I didn't. How could I? I ordered Omelette Norvégienne with Raspberry and Verbena Berry. Omelette Norvégienne is also known as Baked Alaska. Baked Alaska is often served with the flambé, but mine wasn't presented in that way. Instead, our waitress poured the ruby red sauce over the cake at the table. The white meringue layer, the ice cream inside and the fruity sauce were delightful all together.
She also brought us a chocolate plate with a surprise. J must have told the restaurant the lunch was for our anniversary celebration when he booked a table. How sweet!!
There was a walking trail around the peninsula and the man at the restaurant kindly told us how to get the tail via the hotel's private gate. We tried to find the trail but somehow we got lost in the hotel's pool and seaside club. We could see some people walking on the trail through the fence but couldn't find a way to be there. Meanwhile, it looked like the shore was fully exposed to the sun and it would be too hot to enjoy strolling there. We appreciated the beautiful view of the sea in a shade near the hotel building.
Happy Anniversary and Thank You, J! I had a fantastic day with you!!
To be continued...
