From Eze we drive to the coast to Beaulieu-sur-Mer to our next target, Villa Kerylos. However before being able to visit it we have to find a parking spot, we find the hard way that the Villa does not have parking so we have to search the surrounding streets before finding an available spot near a supermarket.
Then we have to walk to the entrance on the more or less one way road to the entrance on which we were stuck initially when we searched for parking at the Villa. We had to back away till the main street, luckily no other car tried to enter during that time.
We pay the entrance fee and enter the nice garden with some nice views of the nearby harbor. We decide to first explore the garden before entering the Villa proper so we continue on the trail around it to enjoy the views.
And there are some nice views of the Cap Ferrat peninsula, a very exclusive location with the Rothschild Villa on top, a museum now, clearly visible. And of the many luxurious yachts frolicking in the bay.
The coastline is also quite scenic with a few popular beaches visible in the distance. We enjoy the views for a while before returning towards the villa.
There are quite a few objects on the ground that seem to be fished from the bottom of the sea, it takes a bit for us to understand and register that they are art installations, quite interesting ones too.
And then at the back we notice some stairs downwards to the basement which is basically at sea level. There are quite a few statues here quite famous and not guarded and we are unsure what is happening until we understand that all of them are just reproductions of famous Greek statues.
They are quite well realized but the lack of any security should have been a giveaway really. We walk through them, exploring the beautiful classical art before climbing back up and going to the main entrance.
And now it is time to enter the Villa proper. It was built by a German businessman infatuated with Greek culture as a replica of a genuine Greek Villa with no expenses spared. As we notice from the entrance with luxurious bathrooms and a central open air patio.
We take in all the interesting details and notice that even here the eccentric art exhibit continues hidden among the more classical exhibits throughout.
The walls and the ceilings also draw our attention which some great classical paintings and painted wooden ceilings. It is really how we imagine a luxurious Greek Villa might have looked during the heyday of the Greek kingdoms.
The rooms itself are quite classy looking and the furniture is impressive, it wouldn’t look out of place in a modern luxury dwelling.
Some rooms have Greek inscriptions on the walls, likely all inhabitants of the villa at the time knew Greek. Well the owners not the servants of course.
Even the beds and the bathtubs are modelled after old examples found in Greece. We are especially intrigued by the bed, are they really that comfortable?!
We continue throughout the villa enjoying the many details, including pigeons and other words which were highly regarded by the old Greeks. And then it is time to buy some provisions from the supermarket and continue towards our AirBnB near Cannes.
Unfortunately as we drive through Nice and the mountains roads around it the tire pressure indicator lights up scaring us especially as it takes quite a bit until we can stop and check the pressure. However nothing seems wrong so we reset and move on arriving at the AirBnB to prepare it before our relatives arrival.
