EasyJet's view of Cap Ferat, Villefranche and Nice and other Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France Things to Do Tips

Flying out from Nice airport sometimes affords a magnificant view over this stretch of the Riviera coastline, Nice and the arriere pays and far back to the snow-capped Alps behind.

From high up you can see the proximity of the Cap Ferrat to Nice and Mont Boron, the connecting deepwater harbour of Villefranche and Beaulieu either side of the Cap, and the hills stretching up the coast towards Monaco.

Coming the other way , when descending in to Nice airport, window seats on the lefthand side of the airplane are rewarded by the total panorama from the gulf of St Tropez through to Cap d'Antibes and the Var.

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Some of the most oppulent and expensive real estate on the planet can be found on the elongated peninsula of Cap Ferrat, seen here from the old Fort on Mont Alban above Nice.

Home at one time to King Leopold of the Belgians and the Congo, the Rothchilds, wealthy American industrialists and socialites, Agnelli of Fiat, Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin, David Niven. This wonderful place is the apex of the French Riviera's "golden triangle", of Cap Ferrat, Beaulieu and Villefranche.

Yes, there are trophy homes in Malibu or Beverley Hills, tropical paradises in Barbados or the Seychelles. But none of those places have real culture. People like Cliff Richard and ex-Page 3 kiss-and-tell models have homes in Barbados. They live in a vacuous pretend paradise where reality is just poor people waiting table for tuppence. This is Europe. Real people live here. It has real history and class. Go back a hundred years and only royalty could afford to reach here. Enter La Reserve at Beaulieu, and maybe, just maybe, they will serve you. This is not a "resort", it is a real place.

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The best way to enjoy the magic of Cap Ferrat is to stroll the Promenade Maurice Rouvier, from the Royal Riviera Hotel - Beaulieu Baie de Formis side of the Cap, an easy kilometre, to the beach and yatching harbour of St Jean.

This red tarmac walkway is named after a former Maire of Cap Ferrrat, probably the most priviledged job on the planet. You look out on the open vista of the coastal mountains up to Eze and towards Monaco. On the distant seafront you should just be able to pick out the rich terracota outline of Bono's villa at Eze sur Mer.

On the way to St Jean the promenade passes through Place David Niven, and past the beautiful sugar pink waterside villa that was the actors former home. En route past the private villas that edge the walk you will see in the distance past the port the yellow battlements of the Chateau St Jean, a fairytale chateau built for an eccentric American industrialist in the 1920's.

Finally you will emerge at the little yatching village of St Jean, where edging the port is "restaurant row", including the gastronomic delight favoured by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michael Winner when in town, Le Sloop.

From here you can either retrace your steps to Beaulieu, continue the circumference of the Cap by rocky path, or head inland to cross the promentory via quiet residential roads to emerge at Pont St Jean on the main Nice - Monaco road. Here you will find road access to the Villa Ephrussi of the Baroness Rothchild, brush past the entrance to Paul Allen's Villa Maryland. But beware every entrance bears the sign "Chien Mechant", in case you were feeling nosy.

Welcome to paradise.

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Maybe its the light, maybe its the mountains reaching east towards Monaco, maybe its the calm open vista, maybe its the clinking of tethered yatch ropes against masts. Whatever, St Jean is a magical place you don't have to endure 12 hours longhaul to get to: its 15 minutes on the bus out of Nice to Pont St Jean, then fifteen minutes walk along the Promenade Maurice Rouvier. And there you are.

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Perfect in pink, the villa of the Baroness Ephrussi de Rothchild straddles the centre of the main spine of Cap Ferrat. Bequeathed to the French National Trust, the fee for entry will allow you a glimpse of what can be acheived when both immense wealth and good taste come together.

Having seen off Leopold King of the Belgians to buy the parcel of land, the Baroness spent years having the finest artisans and craftsmen working here. Piles of renaissance artifacts were assembled for her choice, and the design matched to her favourite colour pink. . After its completion Ephrussi actually spent very little time here. However you can. Linger a while over a coffee or a beer in the tea-room, with an immaculate interior and a just perfect view out over Villefranche. Utterly magical.

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Address: Cap Ferrat, Villefranche side
Directions: Not far from where the main road Nice - Monaco passes St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat at Pont St Jean, take the road up the Cap on the Villefranche side. A ringroute of the Cap is served by the new route 81 bus from Nice (not Sundays)

Magnificent interiors come at you room after room after room.

The position of the villa allows rooms to be flooded with light, sometimes with a double aspect through windows to Villefranche and Beaulieu.

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Baroness Ephrussi de Rothchild's gardens are in truly the most perfect setting on the med.

Seven seperately themed gardens allow you to wander away from the Villa into a new pleasure at each turn. Here a Japanese garden, there a spanish garden, alongside a full French Provencale garden..

It is said that Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild considered the Villa Ile de France - straddling the Cap - as though an ocean liner. Some twenty gardeners were employed and worked in full sailors uniforms, complete with red pompoms, to bring this place to perfection.

After her divorce she left, never to return.

Sit a while and capture this piece of paradise in your minds eye, so you can revisit it at will.

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Address: Villa Ile de France, Cap Ferat

Walk the promenade Maurice Rouvier from Pont St Jean to around the promentory about 1 Km to "brush past" the sugar pink villa that is Villa Socoglio - or La Fleur du Cap - actor David Niven's home until his death in the early 1980s.

Subsequently Nivens widow became one of Monaco's Princess Grace Kelly's circle of confidants, until the princess's untimely death in 1982. Both sharing roots in Hollywood's film culture and English. By reputation Grace tired of her fairytale princess role, and the claustrophobia of the Monaco royal court..

Ownership then "disappeared" into front-companies. Reference to the refurbishment contract for the villa below indicates it cost getting on for 20m euro just to "smarten it up".

A beautiful place it is, just seen from outside. The Place Niven allows you to see what elsewhere is locked away behind 15 foot gates and electrified fences - well, the exterior at least

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Directions: Promenade Maurice Rouvier
Website: http://www.andrewwilkes.co.uk/ProjectsPage4.html#anchor129092

A short walk uphill from the port of St Jean brings you to the Chapelle St Hospice, and a Disney-esque towering statue of the virgin Mary.

The hermit Saint Hospitius c. 580 lived at Cap-Saint-Hospice, between Villefranche and Beaulieu. According to Catholic history he girded himself with an iron chain, lived only on bread and dates, and was blessed with the gifts of prophecy and miracles. A painting within the chapelle shows St Hospice fallen to his knees and about to be beheaded by a sword-wielding figure standing behind. A chilling reference to the savagery still among us fifteen hundred years later.

In the chapel, visitors and locals enter requests and aspirations in a book. The last entry I read was from a local teenage girl, who hoped she would do well in her exams so her mother would be proud of her.

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Address: St Jean Cap Ferrat

An occasionally changing display of modern sculptures in the promenade overlooking the harbour at Saint Jean. A nice touch which shows the pride they take in their lovely village. Not covered in grafitti, not vandalised, as they would be in any "urban" setting.

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