Intro Part II (Liguria & Lake Como) Part III (Villages & Friends) "From Napoleon to the Riviera II" Friday, 17 September. To our delight, Claude joined us for the breakfast buffet. He was always so charming and interesting to talk to. At 8:30 the bus took us to the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu-sur-Mer (France) at the base of Cap Ferrat. This house is an amazing "reconstitution" of an ancient Greek villa just as it would have appeared in the time of Pericles. It took six years to build (1902-1908). Even the furnishings are authentic reproductions. There is nothing like it even in Greece. The murals and mosaics were in perfect condition; there was a working bath, a working impluvium (to catch rain water). Everything was new! Darrell was absolutely fascinated.
Next the bus took us to the nearby Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild where we had lunch (salmon quiche, salad, apple tart) in the glass-walled salon de the (tea room) overlooking the coast of Cap Ferrat. The Baroness Ephrussi de Rothschild had the villa built (1905-1912) in the style popular in Italy during the Renaissance. It is situated on the narrowest part of Cap Ferrat so it enjoys sea views both to the east and to the west.
After lunch we had a guided tour of several rooms, as well as the "covered patio." Each room is furnished with exquisite paintings, sculpture, tapestries, porcelain, and furniture. The doors of the room housing the Far Eastern art collection came from the Imperial Palace in Peking! After the tour we explored the formal gardens and found them just as beautiful as the house.
When our bus took us back to Monaco, it was only 3:30, so we decided to stay in Monte Carlo for a time instead of returning to the Marriott with our group. We walked around the casino area and finally went inside. The huge lobby area was open, but all the doors to the gaming rooms were closed. Then we discovered that none of them opened until 4 p.m. and many not until much later. The slot machine room was open, but was less impressive than most of those in Las Vegas. After walking a bit more, we caught the public bus back to our hotel. At 6:45 our bus took us back into Monte Carlo to the restaurant Le Portofino, run by very friendly Italians. After another excellent three-course meal (vegetable terrine, grilled veal cutlet, torrone with raspberry sauce), the bus had us back at the Marriott before 9:00. We visited with fellow Elderhostelers in the bar for a while. Naturally, the pianist took a break just as we sat down, and he still hadn't come back when we decided to go up to our room and start packing. Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 |
