Before becoming a place that captivates visitors from around the world, La Colombe d'Or, at the entrance to the village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, was a Provençal guinguette founded in the 1920s by François Roux and his wife, “Titine”, under the name “À Robinson”. It later became a three-room inn. Yet the most celebrated hotel-restaurant in the Nice hinterland still cultivates an air of mystery: no one in the family knows the exact origin of its name.
Art lovers, the couple began assembling an impressive collection of 20th-century art. While César’s giant thumb at the entrance has become iconic, it is above all the restaurant that overflows with treasures: a collage by Nicolas de Staël, a Cubist bouquet by Picasso, a Braque, a Dubuffet, a Hans Hartung, a Sonia Delaunay, a Matisse… enough said!
The list of artists and celebrities who have stayed here or made it their regular haunt is preserved in seven hidden guest books, featuring notes by Charlie Chaplin and Grace Kelly, alongside drawings by Picabia and Miró. “Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro mingle with everyone else; we make no distinction,” says the owner, Danièle Roux. The secret behind this understated luxury? “It’s a family story.”
A beautiful stone terrace, a century-old fig tree and a green swimming pool dating from the 1960s — stylish before its time and the first of its kind in the region — are surrounded by cypress trees, a Calder mobile, a bas-relief by Fernand Léger and a lava sculpture by Sean Scully. From the wedding of Simone Signoret and Yves Montand to Jacquemus’ latest fashion show at the neighbouring Maeght Foundation, the atmosphere has remained just as peaceful and the setting has hardly changed.
Guests still enjoy the famous hors d’oeuvres, simple and flavourful dishes (rack of lamb, beef fillet, sea bream…), ten private apartments and fifteen rooms decorated with beautiful fabrics, antique furniture and spacious bathrooms. “It’s unlike anywhere else,” says the owner. “If words had to be found, I always say that the walls should do the talking.”
La Colombe d’Or
Place de Gaulle, 06570 Saint-Paul de Vence
+33 4 93 32 80 02
la-colombe-dor.com