There's nowhere better to appreciate the ornate Belle Époque beauty of the Côte d'Azur than at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild(villa-ephrussi.com; adult/child €18/12), one of the great architectural treasures of the coast. As soon as you set foot inside the pink-and-white villa, sitting high atop the leafy – and incredibly wealthy – peninsula of Cap-Ferrat, which juts out into the Mediterranean with the bays of Villefranche-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer on either side, you’ll be swept back to a time when Louis XVI furniture and Fragonard paintings were the height of fashion.
Commissioned by socialite and art collector Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild and completed in 1912, the elaborate two-story residence is frozen in time with original furnishings and decorations, which a free audio guide provided at the entrance explains in detail. Don't rush the nine themed gardens that fan out from the villa, an enchanting landscape of sweeping stone staircases, rose-covered pergolas and even a theatrical fountain. The sea views framed by crumbling stone pillars and olive groves are sublime.
