Beaulieu

The southern part of France , the French Riviera, holds a fascination that never seems to fade. It is one of the glamour spots of the planet, and I am very glad I got to spend an Easter Holiday there in the spring of 1975. My parents knew a number of wealthy friends, and one of them, a very successful businessman, who lived in a charming small castle in Brielen, just outside of Ieper, in the Flemish part of Belgium, let us use for free, his beautiful villa in Beaulieu, in the heart of the French Riviera. Just so you appreciate the excitement I felt, Roger Moore had a villa in Beaulieu at the time. It was a favorite of a number of wealthy stars and millionaires from around the globe. We left by car all six of us, also accompanied in a separate car, by our uncle Frans, and his wife Ina. The weather down was dreadful, cold, rainy. The dominant color being gray. To this day, I can recall the emotional excitement of coming around this one uphill turn as we approached Beaulieu, and exclaiming in surprise at the sight of the Mediterranean , sparkling like a bright blue jewel in the distance. It was the very first time for me to see a sea that was not gray, or a dark green, as I was used to the colder waters and colors of the Atlantic Ocean. Seeing the turquoise water remains in my memory one of the emotional and visual highlights of that trip. The next vivid memory, visually speaking, is the bright white villa of our friends, that almost blinded me, when its white walls met with the spectacular view it gave from the balcony onto the sea. It was a spot of paradise, the villa , perched on a hill, with its aromatic lemon trees that were in bloom, the lushness of the flowers all around, the roaring turquoise sea beneath, the large , cool  rooms of the villa, that spoke of the casual luxury and taste of the owners. It was so wonderful to eat outside in the garden, looking down at the beach, taking a walk down to the water, passing by the bakery that made fresh lemon tarts, my favorite dessert to this day. We visited some of the artsy villages, like Tourettes-sur-Loup, famous for its artisans, and I bought a hand crafted leather purse that I had up to a few years ago. There is a known saying that goes like this: "Dieu est francais". God is French. I must admit, that after visiting the glorious region of the French Riviera and also the surrounding Provence with its scent of lavender and sweet southern winds, I can see why God would want to be French, if it allowed Him to live in Southern France.