French Country Escapes
Domaine de Chalamon. Photo courtesy of Les Domaines de Fontenille.
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France is the main character right now. In anticipation, we’ve put together a few getaways around the country and asked Paris-based music video director and gadabout Phil Andelman to share his favorites. We’re checking out:
- a new hot spot in an old seaside castle
- a fantastic floral fantasy
- the chic boutique group flying under the radar
- two grand escapes with all the Michelin trappings
- an enchanting estate just an hour from Paris
Le Château de Théoule
New this summer and just twenty minutes from glittering Cannes in Théoule-sur-Mer, a seaside castle — with a former life as a 17th-century soap factory — has been transformed into a 44-room resort with two restaurants, a spa, prized sea views, a swimming pool, the private beach La Plage Blanche, and a boat for guests and easy transfers to and from Cannes.
Hôtel Belles Rives
On the other side of the Bay of Cannes in easygoing Antibes, lies Belles Rives (“beautiful shores”). The Art Deco gem may be a century old — still run by the same family (now the fourth generation), still proud of its literary past (F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote Tender Is the Night in room 50) — but it’s not standing still. The 43 rooms have been renovated with fun wall coverings, as has Bar Fitzgerald (order a Hemingway). The aesthetician at the bijoux Valmont Beauty Corner has magic hands, and the Water Ski Butler will have you out on the water in no time.
La Chèvre d'Or
It takes one glance to fall in love with Èze, the charming medieval town that teeters above the Mediterranean just east of Nice, and even less time with the hotel that makes its home in structures scattered throughout the village. Daylight hours are languid — will you spend the time in the sculpture-filled gardens listening to a waterfall or in the infinity pool staring at the horizon? Come evening, get ready for an inventive Michelin-starred feast at the hotel’s restaurant.
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