Riviera Pebbles Blog: Top 25 Riviera celebrity hotspots - Part 3

Posted on 21st Dec 2014 in Nice News

Week 3 - Movie Stars

11) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

It's not just red carpets that link Brangelina to the Cote d'Azur. Jolie gave birth to twins Knox and Vivienne - children 5 and 6 for the Hollywood couple - at Nice's seafront Hospital Lenval. Their private jet regularly touches down at Nice Cote d’Azur airport. Did they purchase speedy boarding? Or pre-order a bacon sandwich? I wonder…

Pitt and Jolie’s love affair with the Riviera was cemented when they tied the knot at their Provençal vineyard in August 2014. The chateau can’t be visited for wine tastings, but the nearby village of Correns is a delight. Their Miraval vintage can also be sampled at Alain Ducasse’s Restaurant Rivea in St Tropez.

12) Greta Garbo

Like scores of 20th century stars, the Swedish actress was smitten by the South of France. She also fell in love with Villa Rock on Cap d’Ail. And who wouldn’t? The property boasts a swimming pool and direct sea access. It was put up for sale in 2013. The price is unknown, but the villa of near neighbour Coco Chanel recently sold for €40m. Just saying.

Mere mortals can walk the sentier littoral that connects Garbo’s mansion with the heliport in Monaco. It’s one of the Riviera’s most secret seaside paths and runs past a cracking beach, Plage Marquet, en-route.

13) Selena Gomez

Ex-Bieber squeeze Gomez likes to do St Tropez in style. Nice Pebbles guests can mirror the actress’s summer break with a Heli Air Monaco charter from Nice Airport for €1,000 then a parasail across the bay for €120. But adding the model Cara Delevingne (Gomez’s BFF) and the superyacht Ecstasea (it’s €550,000 per week) into mix might be pushing it.

On land Gomez likes to stroll St Tropez’s boutique-filled streets, sip coffee at Café Senequier, then disappear by speedboat from the ferry quay. It’s a long way from Barney & Friends.

14) Tim Burton

Tim Burton is the zany brain behind Edward Scissorhands, Batman and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The American director is a Cannes regular – he presided over the Film Festival in 2010 – but his tastes are A-list expensive.

To spend like Tim try a Red Carpet ice cream at his favourite haunt, the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. The price? €20 please.

The finest chef in Cannes, double-Michelin starred Christian Sinicropi, created a special Alice in Wonderland tasting menu for Burton. Diners at La Palme d'Or may still select this crystal ball dessert wreathed in smoke. Other items include roast pigeon. It’s €95. And I thought they flew around Cannes train station.

15) Brigitte Bardot

Local girl Brigitte Bardot is synonymous with St Tropez. Her suggestive shimmies in 1956 movie And Got Created Woman pulled thousands of punters to the South of France. The teenage actress enjoyed nothing more than a game of pétanque in place des Lices, where Le Café now offers sets of boules for customer use. Bardot’s ambitions were fuelled by a slice of Tarte Tropézienne, the now famous cake sold in the bakery across the street.

Bardot fans can Google her two stylish mansions, the Madrague and the Guarrigue. Or cruise past the villas of the rich and famous – Bardot’s included – on Transport Tropézien’s €10 boat trip.