Hidden Riviera: on the Jean Cocteau trail - art, cinema and more on the Côte d'Azur

Explore interesting history, foodie places, film locations and quirky tales on the Jean Cocteau trail from the quirky side of the Côte d'Azur. Come with me to this beautiful part of France, where we explore ideal day trips from Nice, and discover the fascinating facts and little gems of the Riviera. Hot on the Jean Cocteau trail finding mysterious streets, a beautiful wedding, history and intrigue - this episode explores lots of fascinating parts of the hidden Riviera, in places such as St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, and Menton. 
Season 1 is all about this part of the Côte d'Azur, so wherever you are, come to France with me to explore the quirky, interesting and fascinating. 
It's the France Where You Are podcast, for armchair travellers and curious Francophiles everywhere. 

Transcript

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Show Notes – Episode 2, Season 1

Bonjour ! Hello and welcome to France Where You Are. In today's episode, we're following in the footsteps of one of France's greatest artists, dramatists, writers, and filmmakers. We are on the Jean Cocteau trail. And while we do that, we're also going to explore more of this glittering coastline on the Côte d’Azur.

 Are you ready? Let's go, c’est parti!

 Today, I'm in Menton feeling like the cat that got the cream. Menton is one of those places where I feel immediately at home and immediately happy. I think it must be the microclimate. Maybe has something to do with the 360 days of sunshine per year, something like that. Everyone just seems happier, and it makes everything brighter. So do you want to know a little bit more about Menton? Let's find out. 

Sometimes known as the pearl of France. Menton is in the east of the Alpes-Maritimes départment, very near to the border with Italy. Menton is known as the lemon capital of France and when you see the Menton lemons arrive in the markets of Paris, it feels like a very special gift. They somehow bring the sunshine with them. 

In fact, all citrus fruits tend to grow well here in this wonderful microclimate. It's often a few degrees warmer all year round here than other places along the coast. Did you know that you can try the world's smallest citrus fruit here in Menton? Yes, as well as clementines, oranges, lemons, mandarins, and more, the kumquat is also grown here. In fact, with the award winning three Michelin star Mirazur restaurant (*winner of the World’s greatest restaurant 2019), the wonderful Menton market les halles, this is a great place for foodies to explore. In February and March every year, there's usually the big lemon festival. It's spectacular. With a different theme each year and huge designs made from thousands of citrus fruits, it's a sight to see. Let's hope it will be continuing as normal in 2021. Other foodie delights you might find here and nearby in Italy, are the seasonal spiny artichokes apparently very delicious once carefully prepared as they are very sharp. Sadly, I didn't find any on my visit but I did find some delicious fruit marmalades and artisan bread made by the baker with a wood fired oven.

Menton has sunshine and the beautiful clear light of this part of the world. If you love the idea of seeing the famous lemons and citrus fruits, as well as gardens full of local planting, then there are some little gems to be found. The citrus fruits collection at the Palais Carnolès for example and a private walled garden where you can also arrange a private tour. I'll add some of those details on the blog if you'd like to know more. 

Of course, there's more to Menton than lemons. It has its own language, a variety of occitan called Mentonnais. Its own traditions, flag, and of course its own special history as well as beautiful beaches and some very special places to visit. 

In fact, Menton is a very special place on our Cocteau trail. It was a really special place for him and he worked tirelessly from around 1957 in restoring a 17th century fort right down by the sea. It became his first museum and being so involved in its restoration, he was able to design pebble mosaics, and wrought iron showcases for his artwork, including ceramics. The Bastion was completed according to his instructions, and the museum opened in 1966, three years after Cocteau's death. 

Now for nearly a decade, there's been an even larger and perhaps more fitting avant garde, museum of Jean Cocteau and his work. The musée Cocteau was created with over 900 artworks by an avid collector businessman, Séverin Wunderman. It was designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti, who won a competition to do so. And chances are that if you've been here, you've seen it down by the bastion, it's flat profile and white design, with an interspersed rhythm of dark windows, evoking images from La Belle et la bête with columns of varying forms and sizes. It's a fascinating if slightly odd addition to this part of Menton. Sadly on my visit and current time of recording, the museum was closed, having suffered severe water damage from a bad storm. So while the painstaking repairs and reconditioning of the precious Jean Cocteau art collections are underway, visitors have to content themselves with the Bastion Museum, which brings together Jean Cocteau themes, items he showcased there, and often also contemporary artists and their artworks. The theme of Beauty and the Beast  (La belle et la bête) was on when I visited and it was a visual feast of models and artefacts, all around the film of the same name and an inspiration to the artists whose works also appeared alongside. It's a short but fascinating visit and located right by the water. A walk outside is also very atmospheric and you have a beautiful view of mountain. A great start to our Jean Cocteau trail here on the Côte d’Azur.

Menton was a very special place for Jean Cocteau. And I like to think that it still inspires today. So let's have a little chat about Jean Cocteau and then we'll continue our trail through the sunny streets of the old town until we reach the town hall. 

 Jean Cocteau was an artist, Illustrator, extraordinary filmmaker, and thinker. He's probably one of the most important French figures of the 20th century. Born into a fairly wealthy family in 1889. He spent a great deal of his life in the south of France, especially later on throughout the 50s he was based here in Menton, St – Jean – Cap – Ferrat and the area.

 In many ways, his art and carefully crafted public persona were out of their time and more of our postmodern era. He refused and resisted fixed interpretations of his work and for him, cinema was dreamlike and magical beauty. And you can see this very easily if you watch his deeply affecting cinema at once intense and also concerned with surface and illusion. 

 If you're just discovering Cocteau, then I recommend starting with (the film) La Belle et la bête,  Beauty and the Beast based on the original fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince. For me, this is a great way to start. The way the film starts with a card to ask for us to watch the film with the wonderment of a child reminds me of that cornerstone of French culture Le Petit Prince, we adults are so unable to suspend our disbelief and be children once again. 

 For more on Cocteau, museum links, book recommendations, films, images and more, please have a look at the show notes for the episode and the blog post on France where you are.com. I'll share plenty of photographs of the beautiful artwork you can find in Menton and all the way along the trail we're discovering today.

 So with the thoughts of what makes beauty what makes ugliness the themes of appearance and reality, and the smell of a lemon shop as I walk by, I'm hot on the Cocteau trail once more. 

 Off through the old town I find myself for the second time in a week at the town hall of mountain. When I first visited it was closed during opening hours. This is not unusual if you've travelled around France and especially if you make the mistake of arriving at lunchtime. Even though I was careful to avoid noon until two it was all shut up.

 The second time, I am much luckier as the reception at my hotel has called ahead for me. Still when I arrived, I'm told that there are no tours today. The reason is slightly unclear.

But when faced with post - lunch problems, you have to try and try again.

 The magic phrase of “I called earlier”, and hey presto, a private entrance was granted, not quite what I was expecting. And I can't recommend it as a way to get a private showing of the Salle des mariages. But there I was standing in this amazing room all on my own, with an English audio tape playing to tell me all about it. Cocteau was invited by the mayor of Menton to decorate a room at the town hall, which is now the registry office or Salle des mariages. It's like no other registry office or town hall anywhere in the world. I've added some images to the show notes and the blog posts so that you can see the allegorical illustrations by Jean Cocteau. His vision is exactly what you see today. All the furniture, carpet, murals, mirrors, lights. Everything was designed as one whole and so spectacularly dramatic it is. The scene of many happy and joyful marriages. I'm sure the room is a delight. In peace and quiet, it is wonderful to be able to study the original artwork, sit on the chairs, and imagine the wedding taking place right there. The murals depict a local couple's nuptials, in their traditional Menton costumes, they strike a timeless note in this special place. If you're from Menton, you can get married here. How amazing! 

 So with my private viewing completed, it was time to see more of the sunshine and a little more history to one of the finest views in Menton is to climb the winding streets and steps of the old town right up to the cemetery, where so many of Menton’s, former tuberculosis patients are buried. It's a very poignant place to take in the stunning views in peace, solitude and the sanctuary of this place.

 Working my way, thoughtfully, all the way down the hill. I walk through the streets of Menton wondering where else Jean Cocteau felt inspired to paint.

 Of course, the villa Santo Sospir came to mind. The villa is like a domestic version of the Salle des mariages, in a way.  It [too] started with plain walls and became tattooed by Cocteau, first in line drawings and then with colours being added; just like a lot of his work in the late 50s, we see the colour coming in, and his immense illustrations are there on a smaller scale and in a home. Importantly, there's a great responsibility to ensure their longevity and on a wall in a building on the coast, that's not so easy. 

 So the Villa Santo Sospir was closed while repairs and maintenance were carried out when I was in St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and the whole area. So I have to content myself with reading Virginia Johnson's gorgeous watercolour filled book and dream of visiting the next time I'm back. My little one wants to come for the lemon festival in February / March and to taste a Menton lemon. So, I hope one day we can visit both. So we're going to continue the Cocteau Trail today and venture out of Menton. Not far though. We're only heading along the coast hugging railway line through Monaco and onto Villefranche – sur - Mer.

 A popular spot for frequented by cruise ships for shore excursions, and an ideal day trip from Nice. Villefranche is a hotspot for the trail in the footsteps of Jean Cocteau. A lovely walk from Nice or from St – Jean – Cap – Ferrat, it has a lovely beach, beautiful harbour and plenty of little streets to explore full of cafes, restaurants, wine caves and more. So Cocteau live nearby and the villa Santo Sospir, the home of a friend at St – Jean- Cap- Ferrat [just across the water] which you can see from Villefranche, where you’ll remember from the last episode I found a beautiful little Cocteau artwork like a way marker in the streets. 

 Well, Villefranche is not just the film-set famous town from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or Ronin, but much further back was also the location for Jean Cocteau's film The Testament of Orpheus. His last film, and kind of eschewing any traditional narrative, it's more like a dream. And it's not a film I would recommend to startexploring Cocteau. But it is fascinating. With an 18th century poet travelling through time in search of wisdom [played by Jean Cocteau himself]. The film contains themes, the shapeshifting Cocteau love to explore and was partly filmed on location here back at the end of the 1950s, starring many famous artists in often uncredited roles, including wait for it, Yul Brynner, Picasso, Charles Aznavour and Brigitte Bardot. I mean, come on!  According to the end credits of the film, they star in the film because they fit the roles and they are friends and not because they're famous. 

 It was also filmed in various locations including the Victorine Studios in Nice, [film] studios with a very chequered past. But above all, it's a wonderful film, whether you watch it for its surrealist storytelling, or just to see a Villefranche around 1960. 

 Today you can walk along the covered medieval Street, which runs parallel to the port, but in its own half light otherworldliness the Rue Obscure [is where] you can retrace those movie set footsteps. On a quiet morning, I stand in the street’s strange light, imagining the footsteps of Edouard Dhermitte and Jean Cocteau, both acting their scene, hearing him describe how he had painted St Peter’s chapel, as if it were his own tomb, and for the fishermen and fishing villages of his youth, Beaulieu, St Jean and Villefranche; a film lover’s delight. 

 Down by the seafront, you can still see the fishermen working like the real little fishing port, it still is, albeit much smaller than its heyday. By the lovely deep water harbour is the Welcome hotel, where Jean Cocteau lived for a while through the 20s and beyond. In fact, it's said that part of his play of The Testament of Orpheus was written in the hotel where he lived in room number 22. The room and parts of the hotel are still decorated in honour of Cocteau today, and right opposite the hotel is a bust of Jean Cocteau. And across the street is the fisherman's or St. Peter's chapel, the Chappelle Saint Pierre.

 It's pure Cocteau on every surface. Again, he was allowed to produce his very particular storytelling through surface decoration of every wall in the chapel, as well as the design of the stained glass windows and objects within. There are strictly no photographs allowed here at any time, so I definitely recommend paying the small entrance fee and enjoying the special atmosphere inside and a chat with Madame at the front desk. She works hard to restore and maintain the chapel with little funding, and it's still owned by the fishermen of Villefranche today. Inside and out this building is an absolute gem and wonderful to visit on the Cocteau Trail.

 Once you've stepped out to the road, head over and up the hill a little for a lovely vantage point taking the hotel, the chapel and the sea. In fact, after all this walking I think it's time for a rest. And Villefranche has the restaurants cafes to tempt anyone. A little nap on the beach this afternoon actually might be just the thing…

 At night, the lights glitter across the town and harbour, but I like to think that you could still sit here like Cocteau, right here in Villefranche.

 He says, “Every evening, I sit alone on the port. The routine is sweet. A star appears on the right, another will appear above St Jean. I will know in which order the stars will shine. Between the first and the second one, an old man passes by with a goat on a lead. Boats knock together, the beacon lights up the sea.”

 I like to think that those same stars come out each night too.

Well, that's all for today's episode. Join me next time when we'll be uncovering more unusual aspects and quirky finds on Côte d’Azur. Until then, goodbye! A bientôt !

Transcribed by https://otter.ai with edits by France Where You Are for clarity.

 

 

For more images, fascinating facts and explorations, visit the blog post, for this Series on the Hidden Riviera. 

Thanks for listening!

Bisous, 

Katya

Note on this episode: yes, a booboo. Sorry about that – everyone can have an “off” day and this was mine. I said Palais Carnolès like carn-o-lay instead of carn-o-less. I’ll have a word with the editor. 😂