The French Riviera

France’s gilded southern coast continues to draw global elites to its lavish hotels, star-studded bars, and glistening shores

- Justin Rohrlich

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.  SAINT-JEAN-CAP-FERRAT

“This is a place where light plays the first part,” Henri Matisse once wrote about Saint-JeanCap-Ferrat. “Color comes afterwards. First you have to feel the light, absorb it into yourself.”

Cap Ferrat, as it is familiarly known, has played host to everyone from the political elite (Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and Bill Clinton have all spent time here over the years) and Hollywood royalty (Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, Edith Piaf, Roger Moore, and Jean-Paul Belmondo were frequent visitors) to royalty royalty (King Leopold II of Belgium owned an estate in Cap Ferrat, as did Baroness Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild).

The town, which is also known as Billionaires’ Playground, still attracts the world’s wealthiest people. Advertising mogul and arts patron Lord Maurice Saatchi vacations here, as do Andrew Lloyd Webber, Angelina Jolie, and Bono, who owns a villa nearby, in Eze-Bord-de-Mer.

Even if you already know how to swim, it might be worth your while booking a lesson with Pierre Gruneberg, an instructor at the Four Seasons Grand Hôtel du Cap Ferrat since 1950. Former clients, according to the hotel, include W. Somerset Maugham, Ralph Lauren, Elie Wiesel, Brigitte Bardot, several members of the Kennedy family, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Paul McCartney.