THE FRENCH RIVIERA
British playwright and novelist W. Somerset Maugham famously described the French Riviera as “a sunny place for shady people.” This charmed stretch of coastline has always exuded intrigue, with a dash of raffishness lurking underneath its impossibly graceful surface. The mixture can be even more intoxicating than the area’s much-lauded rosé wine; Maugham purchased a villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in 1927 and spent the rest of his days—he died in nearby Nice 38 years later— living there.
View from the grounds of the Four Seasons Grand Hôtel du Cap Ferrat.
The hotel’s glass funicular whisks guests down toward the sea.
SAINT-JEAN-CAP-FERRAT
“This is a place where light plays the first part,” Henri Matisse once wrote about Saint-Jean- Cap-Ferrat. “Color comes afterwards. First you have to feel the
