Where History and High Society Meet

By Linda Tancs

Once Provence was annexed to France in 1481, Antibes became the outermost stonghold of the kingdom, a place where a young Napoleon Bonaparte settled his family before distinguishing himself during the siege of Toulon. Only such an ambitious general could part from an idyllic setting in the French Riviera. Centuries later it would become the summer resort of choice for the world’s elite in political, social and literary circles. In fact, the area is thought to have inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, Tender is the Night. You can bet that the glitterati stayed at Hôtel du Cap-Eden Roc, one of the most legendary and luxurious resorts in the world set at the tip of the Cap d’Antibes peninsula. With no shortage of yachting harbors for the jet set, Port Vauban is the largest marina in Europe.