The Cote d’Azur is home to a throng of jaw-dropping mansions and listed houses, which, being set in acre upon acre of impressive regal grounds and containing so many huge rooms with imposingly high ceilings, you are frightened that if you don’t keep up with the house’s guide you may get lost, for the majority of us humble mortals, a guided-tour around these mansions are the best we can hope for.

Whilst for most, the prospect of owning our own grade-listed mansion on the Cote d’Azur is almost second to none, there are certain design steps we can take to create a house that is resonant of a Cote d’Azur manor – Here’s how!

Balance the contemporary with rustic

According to a recent report in the Globe and Mail, Canadian expatriates, Max and Trudy bought a villa recently on the French Riviera. What the couple liked most about the villa was that, despite being 200 years old, situated in the ancient stone hills above Provence, it combined a charming mix of contemporary and rustic.

This ‘Cote d’Azur look’ can be achieved even if your home isn’t 200 years old, has six or more bedrooms and is located above Provence. Placing things like false wooden beams on the ceilings with give a room a ‘rustic’ character and make it look considerably older.

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Imagine this – Being served the most exquisite of French cuisine, whilst pouring out another glass of ice-cold Veuve Clicquot champagne, returning the bottle back into the ice bucket, digging your feet further into the soft white sand at the Mediterranean’s edge whilst taking in some of the most breath-taking views of Cannes and the globally acclaimed Promenade de la Croisette.

Scenes of utopia don’t come more ‘utopic’ than this and fortunately are a reality at the Vegaluna. This waterfront restaurant is situated opposite the Ritz Carlton in Cannes, and, given its enviable position, reputation for serving some of the best cuisine on the Cote d’Azur and idyllic ambience; it is hardly surprising that the Vegaluna is an eatery favourite amongst celebrities and some of the most ‘well-heeled’ tourists the French Riviera attracts.

The décor, like its food, is taken extremely seriously at the Vegaluna, which exudes style, taste and refinement with numerous floral arrangement and sculptures scattering amongst the modernist furniture under a pristine-white tent-like roof.

The candles that accompany each table augments the atmosphere of the restaurant, particularly at dusk when the first lights on the Promenade de la Croisette are lit and cast a twinkle of the gentle waters of the Mediterranean.

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It would be practically unheard of to spend time on the Cote d’Azur without sampling some of the region’s famous wines, in fact it wouldn’t just be unheard of, it would be darn right rude!

Vineyards on the Cote d’Azur are bounteous, as the mild sunny climate the region is blessed with, alongside the siliceous soils, which are permeable, stony and humus, makes it the perfect place to cultivating top-notch wine.

According to RedWine.co.uk, the annual production of wine on the Cote d’Azur is more than 160 million bottles, with almost 80% of this production being a dry, fruity rose, which the area has become most famous for.

Approximately 20% of the Cote d’Azur’s yearly production of wine is red, which are commonly fairly strong and full bodied. Only 5% are local winemaking is dedicated to white wines, which tend to be fresh and crisp, the perfect accompaniment for fish and seafood.

Despite the common belief that rose wine is a recent product of the winemaker’s art or is a mixture of red and white grapes, on the contrary, rose is in fact one of the earliest wines ever to have been made.

As the French government  imposes extremely strict laws about the making of wine in France, the highest quality wine carries a stamp of approval, known as the AOC (Appellation d’ Origin Controlee), which many of the bottles of wine on the Cote d’Azur possess.

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Stretching from Theoule-sur-Mer in the west to Menton and the Italian border on the right, running through the famous towns of Nice, Antibes and Cannes, the Cote d’Azur has, for decades, been ‘the place’ for winter vacations of the rich and famous, a place where artists have found inspiration in their brushes, and a place where writers find themselves unavoidably putting their pens to paper.

Asides its obvious charms of affluence, stateliness and grandeur which attracts the aristocracy to the Cote d’Azur, the vibrant scenes of colour, diversity and life that attracts the artists to this luscious stretch of coastline, the region’s remarkable history, untamed wildness, traditional and medieval villages, a stone’s throw from some of the most infamously glamorous cities in the world, attracts many a writer to write about this remarkably unique region of southern France.

Take a look at three such writers, whose desire to put the Cote d’Azur’s many charms onto paper, led them to create three fascinating books about a truly remarkable part of the world.

Cote d’Azur Le Reve / The Dream

Cote d’Azur Le Reve / The Dream is a tribute to what has become known as the ‘golden years’ of the Cote d’Azur, from around the beginning of the 20^th century until the 1970s.

This book provides a fascinating insight into what attracted the world’s most elite to winter on the Cote d’Azur, focusing on Le Prince Rainer de Monaco and Le Pricesse Grace, Madame Winston Churchill Jouant au Tennis, Queen Victoria and Bridget Bardot.

The words are accompanied with some great photographs and illustrations of the magic of the Cote d’Azur during its ‘golden years’.

Provence Cote d’Azur, Claude Herve-Bazin

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France is world renowned for its boulangeries, patisseries, chocolatiers, dulcet markets and cafes, all selling pastries, sweets, cakes and other sweet delicacies that make your mouth water by just looking at them!

The city of Marseille on the Cote d’Azur is particularly laden with a vibrant patisserie scene, and one does not have to wonder far without being tempted by the scent of freshly cooked sweets coming from the many delicious food establishments the city is home to.

If your trip to Marseille does come attached by a dark desire to sample some of the finest sweet delicacies in the whole of France then you may interested in reading about some of the best places to satisfy yearnings for pure confectionary gluttony in Marseille.

La Boutique du Chocolate

In the heart of Marseille you will stumble across ‘La Boutique du chocolate” located in the city’s Design Centre. Upon this ‘chocolate art gallery’s’ shelves is row upon row of chocolate delights, from chocolate lunch bags containing chocolate sausages, to boiled sweets surrounded by an envelope of chocolate – Absolutely heavenly!

Confiserie Leonard Parli

French confectioner Leonard Parli takes the confectionary industry extremely seriously, hence the popularity of his confiserie. From jars upon jars of jams, chocolates, almonds and sweets on display, Marseille’s Confiserie Leonard Parli is not the place to head to if you are on a diet!

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