Visiting Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

I’m so excited to tell you guys about this property. Only because it has been on my bucket list in years. After I knew that we were heading to Monaco to end our trip I looked up how far it would be from us. Thankfully it was just short of half an hour drive away from where we were staying. I was super excited.

The drive along the french riviera was so picturesque. The Mediterranean sea with the boats, pretty houses adorning the hills, I fell in love even more with the french riviera.  But in case you are driving be careful with the winding , hilltop roads and keep an eye out for road signs. I’d like to give kudos to hubby for driving us in these conditions with a manual car! Go Bae!

So what is that Villa Situation I’m raving about? Well it is none other than The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, that belonged to Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild. The daughter of Alphonse James e Rothschild one of the richest families at the time. Like these people were rich rich!

Admission is at about 15 euros and free parking, which is amazing because on the other side of the pond Parking does not come cheap. With the general admission comes an audio guide with different channels corresponding to the different rooms in the mansion. I highly recommend getting it because not only it is already included but it also provide good details about Beatrice’s life at the villa.

After separating from her husband Maurice Ephrussi, Beatrice decided to move to the south of France and had this villa built. Located in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the beautiful mansion took 7 years to build, and is surrounded with 9 different gardens.

Beatrice filled her new home with fine china, art pieces from very famous artists at the time and even had tapestries and objects that once belonged in the Palace of Versailles and Marie-Antoinette. That was really cool too see. Even if we didn’t get to visit the Palace of Versailles at least we got to see glimpses of it through these objects.

Look closer and you’le be able to see Marie-Antoinette’s initials engraved on this art piece. Super cool right!

I’m a sucker for open space floor plans and the villa offered just that. From the entryway to the living area, balconies galore, the place offers amazing natural light. Although built in the early 1900s, I was picturing myself enjoying a glass of pink lemonade in the living room in front of the open windows or perusing through the gardens. The villa and grounds are truly a sight to see. The views of the Mediterranean Sea from the gardens was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. No wonder the villa gardens is classified by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the notable gardens of France.

Oh and another venue alert yet again, you can get married at the villa and host other events even.

I was so so happy to actually be there and see this property in the flesh. To think that such a beautiful place like that exist and I was there to see it was pretty cool to me.

Besides indulging in all the beauty of the villa, I left somewhat inspired. Because here was this lady in the early 1900s, newly separated from her husband and way before any women empowerment movement started and, she decides to uproot her life somewhere completely different and not to let those circumstances define her. She did this by HERSELF, with no precedent or role model of women who did this before her. She used her resources to build this beautiful magnificent villa, and filled it with parties,  gatherings that probably fulfilled her. Ultimately in that process she was able to recreate herself as an important socialite and less known for being the rich daughter or the newly divorced. Around a time like this it was probably unheard of. Known to be somewhat eccentric and demanding, she had her 30 gardners dress as sailors with berets and red pom-poms and also hosted at the villa a real wedding for her two dogs! She was way ahead of her time and obviously marched to the beat of her drums. It made me realize that, especially as women, no matter the circumstances, we have the ability to rebuild ourselves and narrate our stories as we want it to be told. Granted most of us don’t have to means to build a huge villa on the french riviera to live happily ever after with our dogs and for some of us that is not our ideal way of doing so either; but I encourage you to look past your circumstances and know that you have the ability to rewrite your story and fill up your life with the little and big things that make your soul happy.

Thank you guys so much for coming week after week to read about our European adventures! I really appreciate you all sticking around with me!

Til’ our next travel ventures friends!

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