le château de la napoule // a photo tour

After our incredible stay in Cannes at Le Majestic, my body physically rejected leaving — seriously. Somewhere along the way, probably at one of the beachfront restaurants, both the hubs and I contracted food poisoning. When I was finally back on my feet, I was aching for an adventure. In the end, a tour of the nearby Le Château de La Napoule perfectly fit the bill.

Backing up a bit, let me feel sorry for myself. Once the food poisoning hit, I spent the first official day of my 30s cooped up in a hotel room. And not even a nice hotel room! Let’s just say… it did not even sort of compare to the one we just left. I was taking care of our 8-week-old, while the hubs spent the day bouncing between meetings… on YACHTS. Listen, I don’t even know who had this one worse, and I’m being serious. Breastfeeding an infant when you can’t keep anything in your stomach is no picnic, it’s true. But I don’t think you could have paid me to step foot onto a boat, either. Woe was us, basically.

Fortunately, it passed quickly. Even more fortunately, Margot never got sick. By the next day, my little lazy baby and I were in dire need of fresh air. Our new hotel wasn’t technically in Cannes, so we had slightly limited options. Due to the conference, I wasn’t really dying to take a shuttle into town and elbow my way around the boondogglers. Instead, we were a 5 minute walk from the town of Mandelieu-La Napoule. I use the word “town” VERY loosely. There were a few restaurants, some cheesy beachfront shops, a marina… and a château. A 7-minute walk from our hotel.

[photo via]

Because France.

Before we walked out of the hotel, I reorganized our pram & nappy bag. I very decisively took out our sling. Naturally, leaving the sling behind was the biggest mistake of the day, and a good lesson for traveling around Europe with a little one. Cobblestones are not our friend. After I bought a ticket and set off to explore the grounds, I realized this was not going to work with a pram… at all.

Luckily, the woman in the ticket office has a baby of her own. She was extremely sympathetic, and more than happy to let us leave our pram with her while we walked around, exploring Margot’s first castle. Less luckily, this meant I toted la petite lazy baby around in my arms. As a result, all my photos are via one-handed cell phone, soooo, apologies in advance.

Originally built in the 14th century, an American couple owned most recently owned the château. Henry Clews, Jr and his wife, Marie, bought the property in 1918 and immediately began restorations.

[photo via instagram // @lazytravelers]

It all sounded like my dream life, until I started reading the history signage around the gardens. By the way, these are listed as a Notable Garden of France, a distinction awarded by the Comité des Parcs et Jardins, and holy CRAP I hope a French Leslie Knope exists.

Anyway! Henry and Marie were each born into aristocratic families in the States, but Henry escaped his family to live as an artist in Paris. He fell in love and married, but eventually returned to Rhode Island and met Marie. She was considered one of the most beautiful women of the time. Or something. She was a catch, but she was also married, with two children.

This was all annoying enough, but then I learned that in that life, Marie was named Elsie Whelen Goelet. Then, at their wedding, Henry renamed her. They moved to Antibes three years after they wed, eventually buying the château and pursuing an 18-year renovation project on the property that Marie called her “spiritual home.”

Basically, these two were the couple at the party that everyone actively tries to avoid getting stuck in a conversation with. They obviously would just want to talk about things like spiritual homes and art that “moves them” and the 14th-century seafront château they’re renovating. This quote from Henry is a pretty good indication of how fun he probably was:

“Solitude is what I need, high walls and aloofness, a hidden corner to be alone with my dreams, away from humanity.”

Where is my eyeroll emoji?

Unfortunately for Marie, Henry died in 1939. As Italian forces moved in during WWII, she struggled to maintain her life at the château. Her friendship with some Italian princess was all she could rely on to keep her safe. Alas, she still ended up serving as a maid in her own home, tending to the soldiers.

After the war ended, she regained the property, and went back to hosting grand parties and performing for her guests. Because, by the way, Marie was a failed opera singer. But I guess if you’re invited to a party at a seafront château, you’ll put up with a little bit of opera from a wacky American?

22 years after Henry’s death, Marie joined him, leaving the château to the La Napoule Art Foundation, a non-profit organization she started as a memorial to her late husband. The two are buried on the property in the Tower of La Mancha. Of COURSE Henry had some sort of weird Don Quixote fixation.

They requested that their tombs remain open. That way, their souls could escape and reunite in a secret room at the top of the tower and be together for eternity. Can you just imagine explaining all of this to your lawyer as you write your will?

Today, the gardens and the castle are open to the public, with a gallery of Henry’s sculptures, and a tea room that opens to the front terrace and overlooks the sea. I opted not to explore inside the castle, but really enjoyed our morning walking around the grounds, lazy baby in my arms, learning about two very quirky Americans who, once upon a time, moved to France.

 I probably wouldn’t suggest staying in Mandelieu-La Napoule, but I’m positive we wouldn’t haven’t found this place otherwise. So, um, thank you to the combination of food poisoning-induced cabin fever and our weird hotel room. Very appreciative that you joined forces and smoked us out and into this little village.

Tickets are €6, and hours change seasonally, but if you nab an invite to a party there, let me know. Lazy baby and I would LOVE to be your +1.5.

xo!

the romantic