2016-2018 News

  


 

2018

'My new book is on the story of the American architect Barry Dierks, his partner Eric Sawyer,
and the stunning houses they built on the French Riviera in the 1920s and 1930s -
for those interesting clients who could afford them'.
Maureen Emerson

To my friends in the UK and Europe:
'Riviera Dreaming – Love and War on the Côte d’Azur'
is now available on Amazon

Please email for further details at this link

Book launch & signing at Valbonne 14th April 2018

Maureen Emerson

  • It's not just the UK that's having a cold snap - the garden in Provence looks unusually wintery today with a snow weighing down the lovely yellow Mimosa!

Snow in Provence

Snow in Provence

Snow in Provence

Snow in Provence

  • 'Riviera Dreaming - Love and War on the Côte d'Azur' by Maureen Emerson. Publication date has been confirmed for the 30th March 2018. Book shops and Amazon are taking advance orders. Book launch events and signing dates will be announced when available. Visit www.rivieradreaming.co.uk

  • Would you like to explore Fortescue country for yourself? We can now offer the use of a small apartment on the Riviera. Close to the boutiques, restaurants and beaches in the Port of Nice, the comfortable and well fitted apartment sleeps 4 people and is located on the 5th floor of a secure building with lift. Parking is available on site for 1 vehicle. Brief details are below but to see the full details visit www.panoramicnice.co.uk

Le Panoramic
Chic apartment in Nice Mont Boron with a small balcony
Secure residence with a private car park for use by guests
A comfortable double bedroom plus a Queen-sized sofa bed
Spacious living area with a magnificent view of the city skyline
Modern open-plan kitchen with coffee machine and breakfast bar
The apartment has air conditioning for the warm summer season
WIFI and Satellite TV channels including Canal + & BBC Entertainment
Sunny balcony overlooking the Mediterranean with a small dining table
A short stroll from the fabulous restaurants and boutiques in the Port
Close to the Old Town and the beaches along the Promenade des Anglais
Less than 25 minutes from the Nice Côte d’Azur International Airport
The Panoramic is strictly no smoking

The Balcony

View from the balcony

The Port of Nice


2017

  • Maureen Emerson's new book has had another change of name! The final name, chosen by the publisher, is 'Riviera Dreaming - Love and War on the Côte d'Azur', which does perhaps have a better ring to it. Work on editing is now under way and in conjunction with the publishers Maureen is selecting the images for inclusion. The book is due out in Spring 2018. For more information visit www.rivieradreaming.co.uk

  • Autumn is starting to creep into the south now with pleasantly warm days, the temperature is still in the 20's, but cooler evenings. The fires of the summer are all out and there are some wonderful evening sunsets to enjoy from the terrace.

Sunset looking towards the Esterels - C. Riley

Sunset looking towards the Esterels - C. Riley

  • Coming soon - Spanish fan of the web site Mariela Pez Miana recently discovered some letters, unseen by the webmaster, held by a library in Newport RI, USA. These letters, in Winifred's strong handwriting, document her attempts to publish Perfume from Provence in the USA. There are about 7 letters in all, some of which await scanning but I am pleased to report that the library has agreed to supply copies and allow them to be displayed here on the site. Once sorted and in the correct order they will be available thanks to Mariella.

  • Slightly cooler in Fortescue country this week, about 29c/30c with fires still alight but some distance away. Two interesting photos of the region below. Fortunately not a fire this time but a spectacular sunrise - Provencal style.

Sunset over Tourettes du Chateau

Sunset over Tourettes du Chateau - Didier Gilli

Provencal sunrise over the house

Not a fire this time - spectacular Provencal sunrise over the house - Didier Gilli

  • 'Riviera' Have you come across this TV series recently screened on SKY TV? Lavishly styled in some beautiful locations the main property used for the series is in Grasse, not too far from the location of Winifred Fortescue's original home. What would she have made of this? To learn more and see some photos of the villa take a look at the article written by the webmasters daughter for a large property company. By the way, you can rent the villa if you have a deep pocket! Click here to read the article.

  • The fires in the south are now under control but the intense heat continues with the highest alert in force. Now the smoke has cleared there are some lovely evening sunsets from the garden towards the Esterel Mountains.

Sunset towards the Esterel Mountains

Sunset towards the Esterel Mountains - Didier Gilli

  • Sunny Bank Hospital Cannes. Did you by any chance listen to this 30 mins. programme on Radio 4 Extra recently? If you have not heard it before it is very interesting. Chris Morris explains how he found the torn, muddied remains of a diary in a Sussex ditch, which, when the pieces were reassembled, revealed the daily account of a young British woman who was trapped in Vichy, France, in 1944. But who was she and why was she there? Chris Morris, from the BBC, found scraps of a diary in a Sussex lane and traced the owner to Sunny Bank Hospital, Cannes. It also mentions Barry Dierks and Helen Vagliano, much researched by author Maureen Emerson. The programme was first broadcast back in 2000 and is available on line through the Radio 4 Extra website for about the next 21 days only. Click here to listen now! I have made a copy of the recording but doubt it will be possible to add it to the site due to copyright.

  • 'Riviera Dreaming'. Maureen Emerson's new book has been accepted by a respected publisher and publication in hardback is anticipated in 2018. The original title of the book, 'Living and Loving on the Riviera' has now been changed and the new title is 'Riviera Dreaming - An American Architect on the Cote d'Azur'. The book is the story of the American architect Barry Dierks and the Englishman Eric Sawyer, his partner in business and in life, and particularly of some of the fascinating people who commissioned the stunning houses and gardens Barry designed on the French Riviera, with Eric as garden designer, during the 1920s and 1930s. Barry graduated in architecture from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh in 1921, followed by studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Eric had graduated as an engineer from the Royal School of Mines, London. They met in Paris and during their nightly visits to the Ritz Bar, in the post-war euphoria of Paris and where ‘English was the spoken language’ one of those they encountered was Somerset Maugham, a contact which led to Barry’s first commission, the complete remodelling of La Mauresque, Maugham’s villa on Cap Ferrat in 1926. For more information you can now visit www.rivieradreaming.co.uk

  • Update - the fires along the Riviera are still raging with fire fighters and the military from France and Italy together with Canadair water bombing aircraft working around the clock to control them. Our family in the hills behind Nice have been told to keep emergency bags by their door ready for evacuation at short notice. What a dreadful year for Provence!

Canadair dropping water

Canadair dropping water -  Gérard Joyon

  • Very hot and dry weather in the south last week caused a serious fire in the hills close to the Nice observatory. The area was evacuated as a precaution and our families home was at high risk. Canadair fire planes dropped water on the fire from about 4pm until it was finally brought under control at about 11.30pm. Fortunately the house was OK apart from smoke damage!

A Canadair arrives over the fire

A Canadair arrives over the fire

3 Canadairs dropping water on the house and surroundings

3 Canadair's dropping water on the house and surroundings

  • Spanish fan of the web site Mariela Pez Miana has recently discovered a fascinating article that Winifred Fortescue wrote for the Aberdeen Press & Journal in 1930. Entitled 'How I Planned My Cottage Garden' it gives a good deal of information about how she created her beautiful garden at the Domaine. Click here to view.

  • The beautiful garden originally created by Winifred Fortescue near Grasse, now the home of artist Valerie de Courcel, is open on certain dates in 2017. For full details, and how to book, visit the web site at www.valeriedecourcel.fr

The Domaine house & garden created by Winifred Fortescue

  • The wonderful metre gauge railway, the Chemin de Fer de Provence, will be running steam trains once again on Sunday's between May and September 2017. Part of the line, now closed, originally ran through Lady Fortescue's garden and olive groves at her home near Grasse. The lines runs all year round and operates between Nice and the spa town of Digne le Bains in the Alps. The complete journey takes approximately 3 hours in each direction but there are spectacular views as the line twists and turns through the mountain scenery. Many of the intermediate stops are well worth a visit and make for a much shorter journey. Visit www.trainprovence.com for full details and timetables.

The former CDP Station at Grasse - long since demolished
  • An update on Maureen Emerson's eagerly awaited new book. Negotiations with a large publisher are ongoing and it looks very much as if the book will appear with a new title, as is often the case in the world of publishing! The current favourite to replace 'Living & Loving on the Riviera' is 'Riviera Dreaming: The Story of an American Architect on the Côte d’Azur'. It does have a nice ring to it but then so did the original! More information when known.

  • January is a quiet month in the south with cool days and chilly nights of late. Towards the end of the month the hint of Spring can be detected in the air, flowers start to open and the Mimosa is almost in full bloom - another week or so to go! It's also the month when the carnival season gets underway, Villefranche -sur -Mer, Nice and Menton are already under preparation for this years events.

Nice in January sunshine seen from the chateau hill

Nice in January sunshine seen from the chateau hill

Flowers back in full bloom in January

Flowers back in full bloom in January

Mimosa in the garden almost fully out!

Mimosa in the garden almost fully out!

Oranges in the drive look nice but are a little sharp still!

Oranges in the drive look nice but are a little sharp still!

Festival and Carnival time is just a few days away

Festival and Carnival time is just a few days away!


2016

  • The end of the year is rapidly approaching and the webmaster has been busy tidying up many bits and pieces. The year ends with the good news that our friend, the author Maureen Emerson, has had her new book 'Living and Loving on the Riviera' accepted by a well known publisher and we should see it in print in the not too distant future.

  • The France Show returns from 27th - 29th January 2017 - don't miss it! Enjoy the best of France under one roof at Olympia, London.

  • Michael Nelson has had a new book published in October 2016, 'The French Riviera - a history'. It ranges from the Terra Amata in Nice, occupied from 380,000 years ago and one of the oldest inhabited pre­historic sites in the world, through wars and revolutions, to the establishment of the Silicon Valley of France in Sophia-Antipolis in 1974.

Michael shows the surprisingly cosmopolitan nature of the area in the early middle ages by his description of the finishing school run by Frankish kings in the 7th century where Siagrius, the ruler of the region, had studied and where the son of king Edwin of Northumbria in England was also sent.

Colour maps and plates illustrate the book and it is full of fascinating anecdotes. Examples are the loan of a guillotine by Nice to Grasse in the French Revolution and the occasion when Jean Moulin, the leader of the French Resistance in World War II, invited the Germans to the opening of an art gallery in Nice which he was using as a front.

Available now at amazon.co.uk or visit http://www.michaelnelsonbooks.com

  • With heavy heart I report that one of the most frequent visitors to this website, Roger Jones from Texas, USA has passed away. Roger was a lovely man and often in touch with words of encouragement and enthusiasm. There are many entries from him in the guest book. Roger once said he only ever read a book once but when he found Perfume from Provence and Winifred's other books he kept coming back again and again. He will be missed very much both as a long distance friend and contributor. Condolences to Roger's family and may he rest in peace.

High summer with two very busy bees at work on the yellow Buddleia

High summer with two very busy bees at work on the yellow Buddleia

Devastating news from Nice overnight following the 14th July celebrations on the Promenade des Anglais. Our deepest sympathy to all those caught up in this terrible event. We have stood in that exact spot as a family many times and can only imagine what the relatives of the victims must be going through. For those of you that know the web master I can report that our family had not gone to the event last night and are all safe.

  • The website has recently been offered three of the original E. H. Shepard pencil drawings from Winifred's first book, Perfume from Provence. They are in excellent condition but they are also understandably expensive, in the region of £3000.00UK or $3900.00US. It would be wonderful to secure these sketches which could be displayed and perhaps eventually left to the Shepard archive. The prints are currently in the USA. The webmaster is looking into ways of trying to fund the purchase - more information when available.

  • The webmaster recently underwent a spell in hospital so apologies to anyone who has been in touch and not had an immediate reply! Now home again, he hopes to be back up to full speed soon.

  • The beautiful garden originally created by Winifred Fortescue near Grasse, now the home of artist Valerie de Courcel, is open on certain dates. For full details, and how to book, visit the web site at www.valeriedecourcel.fr

Lady Fortescue's original garden near Grasse

The garden steps

  • The wonderful metre gauge railway, the Chemin de Fer de Provence, will be running steam trains once again on Sunday's between May and September 2016. Part of the line, now closed, originally ran through Lady Fortescue's garden and olive groves at her home near Grasse. The lines runs all year round and operates between Nice and the spa town of Digne le Bains in the Alps. The complete journey takes approximately 3 hours in each direction but there are spectacular views as the line twists and turns through the mountain scenery. Many of the intermediate stops are well worth a visit and make for a much shorter journey. Visit www.trainprovence.com for full details and timetables.

Chemin de Fer de Provence

 'Train des Pignes'

  • Living and Loving on the Riviera - Maureen Emerson. Maureen has completed the writing of her new book and has very kindly made the first chapter available for us to read on line. Visit the website at www.livingandlovingontheriviera.co.uk to be enthralled now! Don't forget to watch the video of Maureen talking about her book here on the site too. Click here.

  • Maureen Emerson's new book, 'Living and Loving on the Riviera' is now finished, from a writers perspective, and is now out with a number of publishers for their consideration. We really hope Maureen receives a speedy acceptance after all the effort she has put into it.

Port of Nice Springtime

Port of Nice Springtime

Villefranche-sur-Mer, see below!

Villefranche-sur-Mer, see below!

  • Carnival Season! The carnival season is getting under way in Fortescue country. Nice carnival starts on the 13th February and on the 15th is the Combat Naval Fleuri at Villefranche-sur-Mer. These carnivals keep with their tradition and are much the same as they would have been in Winifred's time in the south.

Carnival season 2016

  • For any motoring enthusiasts, you might like to know that the Historic Monte-Carlo Rally, featuring a wonderful collection of classic vehicles, is taking place in Fortescue country between the 27th January and 3rd February. It ends on the 3rd of February, as always, in Monte Carlo. For full details click here!

Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique 27th Jan to 3rd Feb 2016

Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique 27th Jan to 3rd Feb 2016

Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique 27th Jan to 3rd Feb 2016

Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique 27th Jan to 3rd Feb 2016

  • The France Show returns from 29-31 January 2016 - don't miss it! Enjoy the best of France under one roof at Olympia, London.

  • The weather in the south has been very mild and the Mimosa is starting to flower already!

Mimosa in early January!

Mimosa in Nice early January!

Looking towards Nice Airport in the January sunshine

Looking towards Nice Airport in the January sunshine

Oranges in January outside Nice theatre

Oranges in January outside Nice theatre

January sunset over the airport towards Cannes

January sunset over the airport towards Cannes

 

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