Walking in the Footsteps of F. Scott Fitzgerald on the French Riviera

In May 1926, one hundred years ago, Sarah Murphy, wife of the heir of an American leather manufacturing company, convinced Cap Eden Roc Hotel on Cap d’Antibes on the French Riviera to remain open after April. As Somerset Maugham coined it, La Côte d’Azur was a sunny place for shady people, and thanks to the Murphys, the summer season was born. In this guest post, Susan McDonald explores the Mediterranean coastline inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s time on the French Riviera.

Discovering F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Riviera

To commemorate this little-known fact, travel plans for my latest trip to France included taking a small apartment on Cap d’Antibes for the weekend at the end of May this year. I positioned myself in the small hamlet near a supermarket and the bus stop, within easy walking distance of some of the best beaches and swimming on the coast.

From Nice, I travelled by train to Antibes, a short trip and then by the No 2 bus to the Cap. We jolted through the working city of Antibes and along graceful avenues lined with leafy trees, providing some all-important shade. The climb to the Cap passed enormous villas with views into their fabulously green gardens.

French Riviera’s Famous Names

It was here that the Murphys purchased their forever holiday home, Villa America, which needed renovation in the summer of 1926; hence, they needed somewhere to stay. They were generous hosts, and Americans flocked to Cap Eden Roc that summer. There is a legend that Earnest Hemingway had a terrible fight with F. Scott Fitzgerald over dinner one night, which all the guests witnessed.

The Murphys’ favourite beach in the 1920s was La Garoupe. For me, the bus stopped where I wanted, a miracle, and I walked to their beach, down windy roads, and dodging crazy drivers on the Cap. The water sparkled to me through the pines like a call to the brave.

Each morning, the Murphy entourage set off with wagons full of equipment and food, drawn by staff in full livery, for a luncheon à la plage on the beach. Tents were set up, and children cleared away seaweed. The likes of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso were guests. Sarah was renowned for sunbathing with a long string of pearls down her back. Coco Chanel also enjoyed wearing pearls in the sun and helped make sunbathing a phenomenon at the time.

Following the Coastline

At the end of the beach, there was the coastal path walk Sentier Littoral. Known to be dangerous in windy weather, it was a magnificent stony stroll that took me to Villa Eilenroc, a stately mansion located on the waterfront, high above the sea. The gardens are supposedly haunted by the film star Greta Garbo. Next door is Villa Château de la Croë, where the Duke of Windsor, abdicated King Edward VII, spent his holidays with the world’s most hated woman, Mrs Wallis Simpson.

My final destination was the legendary Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, happily situated in an 11-hectare park of olive groves and rose gardens. From the not-so-casual cafe on the waterfront, I took lunch without a friend in sight. Famous photographer Aaron Slims took the iconic picture of the Eden Roc pool in the 1930’s.

Photo credit: ©Susan McDonald

Lovely Beaches

Saving the best to last, I strolled early on the Sunday morning past enormous places to the sandy beach of La Plage des Onges. Pink villas sat in the dawn light on the hillside of Juan-les-Pins. A few small boats moored nearby evoked the old fishing village of days gone by. I cherished the silence during the swim in crystal-clear water, full of fish and ancient ruins.

Often overlooked in favour of its grand neighbours, the bustling Antibes and the jazzy Juan Les Pins, Cap d’Antibes is a hidden gem and definitely the best swimming experience in my many visits to the French Riviera, even if I was 100 years too late.

Guest Writer

Susan McDonald retired from teaching to pursue a career in writing novels. She studied European history and Russian classics, focusing on wars from Napoleon to Stalin. After retiring, she fell in love with a Mediterranean village near Nice and uncovered stories about WWII. Notably, how French women saved thousands of Jewish children during the Occupation. Her novel, The Lost Children, is set on this extraordinary coastline. The novel’s inspiration comes from these stories from the heady days before World War II. Susan lives in Melbourne’s Bayside with her husband and Pablo, her energetic Kelpie.

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