Author John Baxter is back – this time discussing literature from the French Riviera. We tackle a lot, with a bigger focus on F Scott Fitzgerald and Marina Picasso (and her tell-all book).
Book a walking tour with John and find his books here.
Support The Earful Tower on Patreon and get the second half of this conversation.
Find more from this French Riviera miniseries here.
Things we mentioned (to help you with spelling and searching…)
First ten mins
- John tasted bouillabaisse in Sète
- John’s friend was in the town of Cabris
- The Villa Noailles in Hyères for the work of architect Robert Mallet-Stevens
- French Riviera and its Artists: Book by John Baxter
- Menton as the notorious place to die (tales of Yates, Beardsley, de Maupassant)
10mins to 20mins
- Cole Porter and his wife, their friends Gerald and Sara Murphy
- Hotel du Cap and the Fitzgeralds
- Le Train Bleu with gamblers and prostitutes (now a restaurant, saved by Georges André Malraux)
- Le Balzar restaurant in Paris
- Cafe de Flore, Le Coupole, Les Deux Magots restaurants in Paris
- Hotel Belles Rives where F Scott Fitzgerald stayed (in Juan-les-Pins, Antibes) – and he also stayed in the nearby town of Saint-Raphaël
- Tender is the Night: Dedicated “To Gerald and Sara—Many Fêtes”
20 mins onwards
- Sophia Antipolis where Super-Cannes is set (a book by J. G. Ballard)
- Zelda Fitzgerald’s book: Save Me the Waltz
- Marina Picasso and and her tell-all book “Picasso, My Grandfather”
- La California – Picasso’s summer shack/chateau/palace (featuring Matisse and Balthus too)
- Picasso’s Portait of Olga in an Armchair
- Colombe D’Or in Saint Paul de Vence
- Carlton Hotel in Cannes
- Hotel Belles Rives