Friday, April 4, 2014

Our Cote D'Azur Villa (rental)




I've told the story of my honeymoon in 1999, 
which my new husband had planned down to the last detail,
including reservations at restaurants.

as we dated,  he had listened to me discuss the things I wanted to do,
& places I wanted to go, but never had.

one of those things was to see Portofino, Italy.

so beginning in Paris, we travelled down to the Riviera coast to Cannes,
his favorite place.  
from there we went to Monte Carlo, then drove around to Portofino,
where we stayed at the Splendido Hotel, my dream place.

following the honeymoon in June, the next Christtmas he asked me what I wanted,
and being the girl I am, I told him I would love to go back to the South of France,
but this time I wanted to rent a villa,  with a view of the sea, where we could invite all our adult kids & our
friends to come & visit.

this is the home we rented for the month of July.


it is located in Juan les Pins, which is quite near Cannes & Antibes


the real estate agent had been the most wonderful woman, putting up with all my requests,
& all the work of finding just the right home.



if you look closely, just above the pool & over the trees you will see the sea.



the master bedroom
thankfully, behind those mirrored doors was enough room to put ALL our clothes,
after all we were going to be there for an entire month.


the master bath

the main salon,
which saw very little use as we were always outside by the pool,
or on the huge patio having dining al fresco.



I brought all our CD's, we moved the stereo speakers outside and had our favorite tunes playing
all the time.

talk about heaven?



just one of the  bedrooms

the villa had 5 bedrooms, so slept 10 people easily.
we invited the family over for one week so they would all be together.
then we invited several couples, and a lovely retired school teacher who lived in Monte Carlo,
  who had helped us find the house.
everyone got a week, then Ned & I had one week to ourselves, that was the plan.

when we didn't go out to some fantastic restaurant,
each couple & the kids too would take turns planning our dinners.
this was the most fun part, with the wines being the most important items on the menu.

we toured around everywhere in the region during the day, always returning home to get gussied up for dinner.

I could go on & on & on about the trials & tribulations of this dream-come-true holiday my
husband gifted to me, but I will save that for another post.

funny thing about finding this home again yesterday while I was reading my email.
Villas of Distinction had listed a few homes available for rental, and as I scrolled
through the list I saw these photos.  I recognized the home instantly.

somewhere in my many plastic bins of photographs I have 100's of pics from
this holiday.  it is legendary among our friends and we often laugh as we recall
some of the things that happened while we were there, like getting lost for HOURS
the 1st night we were there.  Literally HOURS. I think we arrived back home at around 3AM.
Ned was certain he knew the way home.   :)'s


to see the details of this home please click HERE.

believe it or not the price is a fair one for what you are renting and the location.

I know I'll never get to do this again, even though we went on to rent other
homes in both the Riviera & the Amalfi Coast of Italy, (still the absolute best way to
vacation, I think). 


 Once was definitely not enough !!




Photobucket

15 comments:

  1. Marsha, you struck gold when you met your husband! I love your story about your honeymoon and the villa rental the next year. The villa is lovely and as you said, not really a bad deal for what you get (a room in a five star hotel in Paris is that much these days). I often work with Villas of Distinction - they are a great company! So...when are you going back? Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo

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  2. Never say never dear Marsha and Juan les Pins is so lovely! What a perfect experience...

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  3. Oh my goodness, what a dream come true. That sounds like just the perfect vacation, Marsha - I can hear the laughter of friends and family that must have surrounded you. Agree that this is a wonderful way to travel. We shared a farm house in Provence last summer with another couple and their children and it was sooo much fun. Only a week, but we treasured every day!

    Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO

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  4. Marsha,
    I read your SO memorable beautiful post and these impressed me SO very much!
    Because your memories are truly forever...
    I love this place,this absolutely amazing place!
    How much I do admire this idea being together with your friends or family there,in a beautiful paradise place....

    Love you,
    Xxx,
    V.

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  5. OMG....!!! I'am so sory Marsha,I forgot to say how much I like you new header:) So Spring,So beautiful!!!
    Xxx,
    V.

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  6. Does he have a brother??? Just kidding! I have a treasure of my own, although we have never splurged on such luxury as this. We are planning a European River Cruise next year for our 50th wedding anniversary. Thank you for sharing this with us and giving us something to perhaps look forward to one of these days.

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  7. That looks like an amazing place!

    Lauren,
    http://www.atouchofsoutherngrace.com/

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  8. Marsha, you have a beautiful story, your husband certainly loves you very much.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Xo
    Tereza

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  9. Never say never Marsha, you may go back. I hope so, it's good to dream.
    Love your new header :-)
    Di
    X

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  10. Marsha, a very good evening
    .... firstly, I like your header too.. but I must find the photo of the leopard chiffon you had, I loved it!
    It is beautiful to hear of your fabulous holiday at Juan les Pins.I love the photos, your house is a dream come true.
    I have not been so far up the coast for some time......but it is magical, amazing, the cote d'azur is wonderful.........It is all still there......sparkling in the springtime with the sun nice and warm... just waiting for you, your family and your friends

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  11. What a fun share! We stayed at the Splendido Hotel in Portofino for our 25th Anniversary! And we traveled in the opposite direction...from Bellagio to Paris! I'd love to go to Italy and rent a villa! You lead a charmed life and share it beautifully!

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  12. Gorgeous it is such a magical part of the world.

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  13. What a gorgeous home and a dream vacation. Juan les Pins & Cannes are such a pretty area and I know every day must have been fabulous. I am amazed at the size of the beds and baths compared to Provence. Our house in Provence was charming but much smaller. Fortunately we had a large bed and bath by French standards, not American. Even though the kitchen was tiny. we managed for our two months and spent most of the time getting to know the area and the people as you did.

    Thank you for sharing this. You've brought back wonderful memories of the Cote d' Azur. You definitely lead a charmed life my dear.
    Sam.

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  14. What a glorious memory and the most fabulous place!! The pictures are stunning but I imagine it is much more magical in person. xoxJennifer

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  15. Marsha,
    The villa is splendid and rentals always make more sense to me, especially combined stays with friends and family. But here I am in Philadelphia working with John on our Villa del Sogni (house of dreams).
    Vera

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