Monte Carlo - 2
Lunch at Maybourne Riviera’s Piscine, was a heavenly experience, under a cloud of white umbrellas. See above. Tables , like the sky, are blue, the color of the water in the adjacent pool. The loungers around are terracotta. Pizzas seem to be de rigueur under the midday sun but this non-Mad Dog and English (wo)Man was determined. She went for Tuna tartare and avocado with cayenne, followed by a side of Grilled eggplant and marvellously yummy Dutch-potato fries, with a glass of fortunately-chilled Dme Ott Rosé,
La Piscine’s so perfect, it's difficult to imagine lunching anywhere else. But there is a noteworthy alternative. About 12 minutes by the hotel's free shuttle brings you down to its private beach club, where food is all the responsibility of lovely Cannes-based La Môme Groupe, whose four owners get all their restaurants, beach- land or roof-set, just right (the Lecorché twins, who started the empire, now co-own with two Hassan brothers).
Back at the ranch, or rather at the sculpture that is Maybourne Riviera, it was time to do more inspection of suite 1002, designed by Rigby & Rigby. Apart from blue upper parts of some walls. Otherwise, it's white with marvellously effective upper-lit periphery for the indented 1.5 metre wide circles in the ceilings of both the L-shaped living room and the bedroom. Walk-in closet, with bronze leather Dyson box matching standing hair curlers. By the straight-sided white tub is a proximity wave box: go within about two metres of it and you hear waves crashing on rocks. Toto washlet, and two big square sinks. The living room has a sizeable wood tric-trac board, and an orange Polaroid camera, with instructions.
Yes, since a pop-up café was put on this 300 metre-high mountain top in the 1860s – a temporary structure that has magically evolved to become the glass and stainless 14-floor Maybourne Rivier, this has been a venue of fun. Next visit, Girlahead is determined to follow the lead of hotel GM Francisco Garcia, right, and sky-dive back to reality…
