Hello everyone. I am sitting in the train between Villefranche Sur Mer and Bordeaux, which for the record is running 75 minutes late! Yay. I had to take the time to tell you all about the beautiful Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, just around the bay from Villefranche. It was built at the turn of the 20th century by Beatrice de Rothschild and her husband. She was an avid art and artefacts collector and used these items in her (then new) home. She has incorporated carved reliefs, fabrics, tapestries, painted panels, etc into her home, collected from many historical places. This includes a rug from the chapel at Versailles for example. As you enter the house, there is a large 'patio' (made to look like an enclosed courtyard) and the doors to rooms leading off this patio are all different, having been collected from a range of old buildings.
The following photos show the boudoir and bedroom. The magnificent bed is Venetian, and I'm not 100% sure, but I think the dress is 18th century.
The picture below shows part of what I think I think is a dress. It was exquisite but difficult to photograph in dim light.
This picture is a view of part of the French garden. Baronness de Rothschild was also into gardens.
This picture shows part of the house exterior, with the entryway visible behind. It wasn't a huge house, given these people obviously had huge amounts of money.
If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend a visit. It was so lovely. It has given me so much inspiration for my own mini French chateau and I fully intend returning one day, hopefully with a really fancy camera for better pictures! And the hot chocolate in the tearoom was to die for!
And PS also on the band-wagon with the new Blogger interface dislike. It's so clumsy. I don't understand why you'd make it so complicated and non-intuitive.
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I have been there too and it is truly marvellous!
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