Finally back in my beloved Antibes. It feels like a lifetime since I was here and to be honest I’ve been counting down every day, minute, and second until I would be back. I’m so excited to be spending a few days here at Hôtel du Cap Eden-Roc and Hôtel Juana. While Sarah and I opted for not doing full-on photoshoots here in Antibes *to be fair, we have done multiple shoots in every city that we’ve traveled to and a girls gotta have a break sometime... *, I decided that I would do a “Checking-In” and a “Diaries” post to make up for it. I also just really wanted to share those mini-moments from Instagram stories, iPhone, and Polaroid.
Who knows about Antibes? While most people are familiar with Cannes (thanks to the wonderfully social and popularized film festival) or St. Tropez (thanks to their infamous Les Caves nightclub that I first danced at when I was 18 years of age), Antibes is the crown jewel of the SOF. Gaining popularity thanks to amfAR’s recent gala in May hosted at Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, foreigners aboard are now having a taste into what absolute luxury feels like during the summertime in France.
Hôtel du Cap is staged at the tip of the Cap d’Antibes peninsula and features a recreated nineteenth-century white-walled château. Ever since 1870, Hôtel du Cap has been a refuge for some of the world’s most glamorous socialites and celebrities including: the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Marlee Dietrich, and the place where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had their affair and later their honeymoon (thanks Wikipedia).
A bit of history of Antibes, in 1926, the old Château Grimaldi in Antibes was bought by the local municipality and later restored as a museum. Dear old Pablo (Picasso) decided to make Antibes his home for about six months during 1946, which also started making Antibes the place to go, see, and be seen. Picasso created so many pieces during his six-months that he ended up leaving most of it behind and donating it (which later became the Picasso Museum).
Additionally, Antibes is known for having a jazz festival, Jazz à Juan, every year in July. I am very much interested in jazz. During the German occupation, people were in a jail in France, and everything happening outside of jail was considered the unknown. At liberation, the windows and doors were opened and many new things arrived and then people were liberated. To me, jazz was very important at that time. Some people knew American jazz before the war, but during the war, it was impossible. After the war, there was a comeback of jazz music, of the old jazz music, New Orleans and so on, and after that, what is considered new jazz took form.
Sarah and I had plenty of time to explore around, eat at the local cafes, grab fresh fruit at the market, ride around on our white bicycles with little straw baskets, and sunbath at the local beach clubs like Plage Keller. I tried to be very colorful in Antibes, but I also opted for simple white crop shirts and white short-shorts that channeled Brigitte Bardot's Saint-Tropez days. I wore my hair in braids and split pony tails with white ribbon, put on the brightest of red lipsticks, and carried my baskets around town as my handbag. We would frequent local hotspot Michelangelo (Mamo) for dinner for fresh Branzino and get post-dinner cocktails at Absinthe Bar. Life in Antibes is living at its best. Frankly, I never want to leave.
Coco Wears: Vintage Stripe Collared Shirt, Aday Swimsuit, Vintage White Cotton Shorts, Vintage 70s Sunglasses // Pucci Top, Valentino Trousers, Prada Sandals, Dolce & Gabbana Sunglasses, Valentino Bag. Photography: Self. Location: Antibes, France. City Guide: Antibes.