France has one of the world’s oldest populations and many of its citizens have held world records for surpassing the centennial mark. In fact Jeanne Louise Calmet was documented as having the longest confirmed human lifespan in history, living a prodigious 122 years.
In today’s Internet age of transience where hotels come and go and exchange owners faster then we can keep up, it’s nice to know that France holds on to its historic monuments as well as its citizens. In fact this monument is in reality a hotel which has outlived most of its neighbors and been witness to two world wars as well as having taken part in the First World War as a hospital. Eh oui, La Grande Dame of the Riviera, Hotel Le Negresco is preparing to celebrate its one-hundred-year birthday with celebrations planned through July 2013.
The hotel is a testament to “Frenchness,” culture, and a way of life. To step into the lobby is to step back in time to an era of opulence and luxury. With art in its heart, 400 years of French culture are visible on all 6 floors, and the hotel is quite literally a living museum. Treasures from Louis XIII’s reign rub shoulders with Niki de Saint-Phalle’s iconic jazz beauties statues.
No visit to Nice on the French Riviera is complete without paying a visit to the Grand Dame Hotel Le Negresco, presiding majestically over the Bay of Angels. And speaking of Grande Dames, the hotel’s owner, Jeanne Augier, is almost as old the hotel herself and immensely passionate about preserving its history for future generations as well as its “Frenchness.” In fact, she turned down Bill Gates and the Sultan of Brunei, when they tried to buy it, saying “You’re not rich enough, and the memories are not for sale.”
What is for sale and for anyone who can afford it, is a night or two of sheer bliss as well the luxury of living history and imagining your rubbing shoulders with Queen Elizabeth, Ava Gardner, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, or more recently, Robert de Niro, all of whom have bedded down here at some point during the last hundred years.
Each of the hotel’s 96 rooms and 21 suites is inspired by one of the most remarkable periods in French art – art deco, baroque, or modern… choose your time, era, and bring along a few euros, even though it is not as expensive as you may think, and be part of a year-long birthday celebration.
