A walk down memory lane, down that coast of gamblers and spies where Sean Connery once lived.
As the world mourns the original James Bond, the French Riviera mourns a friend. Sean Connery was no stranger to Monaco and Nice. Before Never say Never Again brought an ageing Bond to the Riviera – Connery’s last performance as the suave spy – the Scottish actor lived on these shores, in an Art Deco Villa that recently went on the market for 30 million euros.
So here’s how to do the French Riviera, Sean Connery style.
Dance a tango at the Monte-Carlo Casino
The gilded ceilings of the Monte-Carlo Casino have had their fair share of fame but perhaps never as much as when Mr. Bond himself danced the Tango with bond girl Domino Vitali. And if Tango is not quite your thing, or spectators are lacking, the casino has a thousand other ways to entertain you.
Chase villains around Villefranche-Sur-Mer
The fishermen’s village of Villefranche-Sur-Mer hides behind Nice, on the other side of Mont Boron. And here too once strolled Bond. In Never Say Never Again (1983), the village is the stage of a motorcycle chase scene between 007 and Fatima Blush, a member of SPECTRE.
Villa Le Roc Fleuri
Is a house overlooking the Bay of Angels is the closest life gets to heaven? After his marriage to French-Moroccan painter Michelle Roquebrune, Sean Connery bought the Villa Le Roc Fleuri, which overlooks La Baie des Angels – the bay of angels, as locals have nicknamed the bay of Nice. Built in the 1920s, the mansion belonged to the Connery family throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It is also rumoured to have been the set of some of the scenes in Never Say Never Again.
When the house went up for sale last summer, it was a piece of history that was on the market – for 30 million euros. “There’s definitely some Bondness to it. Even some Gatsby. There’s nothing like it and very few properties anywhere with this style, this size, with as large a plateau garden as this or the flows, said Fredrik Lilloe, CEO of Knight Frank Cap Ferrat, the real estate agency in charge of the sale.
READ MORE >> PHOTOS. Sean Connery’s luxury seafront villa goes on sale for €30 million