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Comprehensive area guides, time-saving technology and local vacation rental support, all in the name of excellent customer service.
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These stories remind us of the romance of the Riviera that has captivated the world, for generations.
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Posted on Wednesday, 22 August 2007 |
 The Maltese Falcon is one of those phrases that makes people think 'oh yeah, what's that? A book I read, a movie I saw?' It is indeed a famous novel and movie directed by John Houston but to yacht spotters and superyacht fans everywhere it is one of the most spectacular racing superyachts to ever grace the waves.
The Falcon, as we shall affectionately call it, sailed into Monaco last year for the 16th Monaco Yacht Show, and thoroughly commanded the skyline, not to mention the sealine, for the four days of its occupancy.
Most people recognise that the Monaco Boat Show is the yearly French Riviera gathering place for the superyacht industry and so it takes no great leap of the imagination to conclude that this yacht is the fruition of some kind of dream, a zillionaires dream for sure.
Around the time of the show it was hailed as having the tallest masts. Of the show? In the world? It wasn't quite clear but it really didn't matter because any fool could see it was something pretty special. The masts, by the way, are 57 metres tall and may or may not be the tallest in the world but the Falcon is claimed to be the largest and fastest personal sailing yacht in the world and could possible add the moniker 'most expensive', costing in the region of €100 million to build. The stuff of zillionaires indeed.
The Maltese Falcon is the personal folly of American business man Tom Perkins. Perkins professional career has the lead weight seriousness upon which entire industries have been spawned. He is an MIT graduate, a Harvard business school graduate, a silicon valley pioneer, a company director many times over, an entrepeneur and a venture capitalist. He is also the author of a book called 'Sex and the Zillionaire'. A man with a sense of humour then?
A man who can build industries, run corporations, establish America's premier venture capital corporation and write a fluffy 'dicklit' novel called 'Sex and the Zillionaire' is a man of many facets it has to be deemed. It must also, however, take a considerable degree of imagination, courage and passion to conceive a project that results in the construction of a sailing yacht like the Maltese Falcon.
The sailboat was built by Italian superyacht experts Perini Navi and was built in Turkey. The 57 metre masts are not just exceptional for their height but also for their engineering making the Falcon something of a feat. Each of the three masts weighs 26 tons are contructed from lightweight carbon fibre, which was the largest single order of carbon fibre in history, are free standing and rotating. They can be set individually or as a single vast sail and can be turned, at the touch of a button, to whichever way the wind is blowing.
It has taken 300 labourers five years to complete and has been an exercise in every level of complexity invloved in building a yacht. Needless to say aside from being fast (19.6 knots), expensive, advanced and unique it is also the height of luxury and apointment with glass and leather floors encased behind its sleek exterior.
Yours for €350,000.00 a week if you fancy a cruise around the Med for a few days. Certainly the stuff of dreams, a zillionaires dreams for sure.
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Posted on Monday, 13 August 2007 |
 Many people are familiar with them. They have either bought them as souvenirs, as gifts or as straightforward post cards to send home. They are the bright and colourful images of a time gone by that were and still are, used to capture the essence of the Riviera. The sun, the style, the natural beauty and the glamour.
The posters of the French Riviera have become an artwork unto themselves. Originally used to sell and promote the French Riviera to tourists at home and abroad these images have become synonymous with if not the Riviera then all things French.
The posters originated in the late 1800's when they were used to promote the message of the day. The tourist industry on the French Riviera was flourishing. Grand Hotels were springing up at an incredible rate and visitor numbers were doubling and growing year on year.
As more and more people started to come, then more and more hotels, villas and apartments sprung up in more and more places along the coast to facilitate increasing numbers of tourists. Competition between the towns increased and tourists searched for the natural, wild and dramatic beauty that they had read about in the first editions of travel writings.
Tourism was important to everyone, the local inhabitants, the local business and in some cases the towns and cities very survival depended completely on tourism. It was important to promote oneself amongst the increasing competition not just from your neighbouring village but from neighbouring countries as the more and more wealthy European nobility embarked on the 'Grand Tour'.
Early Cote d'Azur posters depicted a glimpse of sweeping blue coastline, usually from behind the swooshing petticoats of a pretty local girl peeking demurely from under her traditional 'capeline' hat, surrounded by an abundance of blooming flowers.
Later the images became racier with the same local girl but this time wearing lower cut dresses and bare shoulders luring some visiting gent towards the shows and Casinos of the 'Jetée Promenade' and the Monte Carlo gambling houses.
The arrival of the railway opened up the French Riviera to a wider range of people as the journey became, not just easier, but also much quicker. The posters depicted luxury, speed and always the lure of the sun dappled coast.
More than just advertising these posters are a glimpse into the past. They tell us who was visiting, what they wore, how they liked to occupy their time and where they came from. In the 1800's the posters were often inscribed with English words. The ladies, in fashionable dresses promenaded along the sea front and carriages were drawn up outside imposing grand hotels.
They tell us that the French Riviera's visitors were wealthy, well dressed and for the most part behaved with decorum. At this time only the wealthy could travel and the arrival of all of Europes royalty to the region attracted only the most glamourous and well to do who could afford both the time and the priviledge to Winter in the South of France.
It wasn't until after the Great War and the arrival of Americans to the French Riviera that the notion of spending summers there even began to arise. However as the French Riviera swung into the spirit of the twenties the towns were naturally keen to promote the idea. So too were the train companies that would carry them to their sunny destination and the posters began to change.
They focused for the first time on the beaches rather than the Promenades and mountain views, always with the pretty local girl but this time bikini clad with her arms spread wide to herald 'Le Soleil Tout l'Année'. Sun all year round.
It took a long time to convince many of the local traders and hotels to stay open for a 'new season' despite the promise of bigger returns. The great depression of the 30's and World War II did little to assist the matter but by the time the 1950's rolled round the idea, heavily promoted in the posters artwork, had taken hold.
The 1950' and 60's saw the American literati arrive in force and, still holding onto that old school glamour, the French Riviera welcomed artists, writers and movie stars who were all keen to tread where the great and the glamourous had come before.
The style of the images remains the same. Frozen in an era, the French Riviera's heyday from the late 1800's to the early 1900's when her natural beauty; the light, the colour, the drama of her landscape captured the imagination of all who came to her shores.
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Posted on Wednesday, 8 August 2007 |
 Riviera Rental Guide's local team in St Tropez have literally been falling over George Clooney and his entourage for the last few days in St Tropez.
The tiny fishing port is buzzing with celebs and it's full-on party season for all. George rises to the top of the celebrity pile by laying on the charm wherever he goes.
Unlike most Hollywood heart throbs, Clooney makes himself available for all to see, he's a fast mover though and even the most seasoned paparazzi have trouble figuring out whether he's jumped on a speeding boat or is disappearing around the corner on foot.
The local conspiracy continues in St Tropez with residents and holidaymakers not immune to giving a fleeing star a hiding place from the throngs of paps. Clooney at one point disappeared off the face of the earth leaving the mystified paparazzi scratching their heads, only to reappear half an hour later having had tea with some locals in their home. One assumes his charm will provide succour wherever he goes and the Tropeziennes are hospitable to everyone, even if you are not a Hollywood superstar.
The big story is whether the young lady with him is a new girlfriend? But it's St Tropez in summertime, and every man has a pretty girl on his arm.
George Clooney is loved in St Tropez, he gets it, we get him. | | |
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Posted on Monday, 16 July 2007 |
 St. Tropez survival guide
With the celebrity holiday season in full swing, here is a short survival guide to St Tropez in the summertime.
It's hard to say why one small traditional fishing village on the edge of the Côte d'Azur is the place to be during the summer months of June through to September, but St Tropez is the global magnet for celebrities, film stars, the rich and the beautiful.
Everyone from Beyonce to the Beckhams flocks to St. Tropez in the summer for hot parties and chilled champagne.
But before you pack up your beach bag and jump on a jet, here's a guide to help you get by.
A stay in St. Tropez is not cheap, renting an apartment or a villa between friends is a great way to sidestep the lack of hotel rooms and their high cost leaving lots of cash for partying and having fun.
An ideal in St. Tropez is usually spent lounging at a beach club on Pampelonne beach, which overlooks the beautiful warm blue waters of the Mediterranean.
And there's no better way to kick off party mood than on a plush chaise at Nikki Beach (Route de Epi Ramatuelle), where waiters in white keep the alcohol flowing, and the drink of choice is champagne. But hitting the beach amongst the jet set is, well, no day at the beach. Nikki Beach and the other desirable beach clubs can often require reservations that must be made weeks in advance. If you don't have reservations during July and August, make sure you get in early in the day.
But a reservation doesn't guarantee admission. If you don't look glamorous and sexy with cool beachwear, you won't be getting in. You must look the part, look like you belong and brave it out. "It's not formal, you just have to be sexy and wear it well", according to a manager at Nikki beach.
And if you do get in, bring your credit cards - all of them. A basic bottle of bubbly starts at EUR250 and Cristal a cool EUR500.
In St. Tropez, there are parties day and night, and the first phase begins in the beach clubs sometime after 4 pm. Beginning around now, champagne spraying becomes the fun thing to do, you don't personally have to get involved, feel free to join the parties of those who are splashing out on their special day. Let's face it we all need to have one once.
And nowhere is the beach-party scene more legendary than at la Voile Rouge on Moorea Beach, a beachfront club where securing a table for lunch in July is exceptionally difficult and celebrity summer residents block book for every day for up to a month with parties of 10 of more. Never mind, you can still chill out at the bar and have a more commanding view of the proceedings.
La Voile Rouge has what can only be described as a catwalk running down it's centre where British and American popstars and European supermodels are seen providing impromptu sexy performances for the guests.
Lunch at Cinquante Cinq (Cub 55) and sample the superb seafood with a bottle of chilled rosé. Club 55 is the favoured lunch hang-out for Jay Z and Beyonce, Rod Stewart, Kate Moss and the Beckhams.
After lunch, a nap is in order to refuel for a very long night of partying. St Tropez's nightlife doesn't even get going until 11:00pm.
In the evenings it's all about the private parties. But if you're not on a list, all is not lost. Head to the hotel bar at Byblos, order another glass of champagne and mingle. Every night in St Tropez sees a selection of parties being thrown by household name celebrities and film stars, when you are out and about you must mingle and chat to people to find out what the word is on tonights party, and score yourself an invite. If you are utterly desperate, talk the crew on watch on the Superyachts in the harbour who will always know what the buzz is tonight.
Your best bet at securing admission to the city's most popular nightclub - Les Caves du Roy (Avenue Paul Signac) - located underneath the hotel Byblos, is to look like you belong.
"If you have an expensive watch on your arm or the right pair of heels, then you can talk your way in," according to Miriam Caro, entertainments manager at RRG.
Don't try to bribe the bouncer, "it doesn't work that way," according to Caro. "It's more about your look and how you fit in with the other guests."
Top nightime party venue is the VIP Room in the port, where Eva Longoria and Tony Parker recently kicked off the season with a "Love is the air" party they hosted just days before their Paris wedding. Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, the Beckhams, Gwen Stefani, Pamela Anderson and Sean Combs have all partied here as well.
But if you're looking for something more mellow, consider L'Octave (place de la Garonne). The piano bar is a good choice for those who prefer jazz to house.
As dawn breaks it is time to catch a few winks, either in your comfortable rented villa or on a sun lounger by the pool and plan how you are going to do it all again today. | | |
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Posted on Tuesday, 3 July 2007 |
 Eva Longoria and Tony Parker enjoyed a joint pre-wedding party in St Tropez. The couple frolicked on board a Superyacht in the port to the delight of the many Desperate Housewife fans present.
St Tropez was as busy and fun as always in June and Eva and Tony had a lot of fun in their chartered yacht, Club 55 on Pampelonne beach and the VIP rooms.
They got married the following Saturday in a French castle. | | |
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