Villa and Gardens of Ephrussi de Rothschild, St Jean Cap Ferrat, France

A view from the gardens of the Villa Rothschild

The little free time we had on the weekends while we were in school was spent exploring the surrounding areas.  One day we walked to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothchild perched atop the peninsula of St Jean Cap Ferrat.  The house and gardens were built by Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild over a period of seven years.  The interior of the home shows off her collections of porcelain, paintings, furniture and more.  The gardens are magnificent, diverse with its different themes, and are beautifully maintained.  It's definitely worth being there in springtime to see it at its best with the flowers all in bloom.

The entrance to the Villa.  Ephrussi de Rothchild loved pink.

Well maintained gardens.

One view from the garden.

Manicured lawns and perfectly sculpted bushes.

Sculptures were everywhere.

View looking at the back of the Villa

Every twenty minutes classical music filled the air.  Where else can you enjoy a stroll through a diverse array of themed gardens with music playing.

More amazing were the fountains that danced in rhythm to the music.

Spectacular gardens and water features.

We enjoyed lunch at the restaurant which was part of the Villa.  We had a window seat and continued to enjoy the views while we had lunch...with a nice chilled crisp white wine.

Tom had a light but tasty salad.

My lunch with three types of salmon and blini was fantastic.

Detail inside the Villa

Everywhere we looked we saw amazing attention to detail.  These were decorating the walls of a room.

Meanwhile, our month at Villefranch-sur-Mer attending the Institute de Français was coming to an end.

Our class.

Our last school dinner at a local restaurant Julian entertained us with his bass guitar and song.

Just one of the many stair cases we climbed regularly while in Villefranche-sur-Mer.  The day we visited the Rothschild Villa we walked 7 miles, took 15,336 steps and climbed 50 flights of stairs.