Personalities

The 'Old Golf Course' and Grand-Duke Michael of Russia (1861-1929):
The Uncle of Tsar Nicolas II, and brother of Alexander III, he was forced into exile after marrying Countess Sophie de Torby, the poet Pushkin's granddaughter, who was beneath his station. He instigated construction of the first golf course on the French Riviera at La Napoule, the 'Old Course', in 1891, after a stay at St Andrews , Scotland , where he was charmed by a sport he found both simple and elegant.

It was the starting point for the development of the town's tourist vocation, as well as the meeting point for all the crowned heads and European aristocracy of the Belle Époque who came here to play golf, as well as for a stroll, lunch or five-o'clock tea. An anecdote recounts that the Grand-duke and the Countess de Torby, his wife, were accompanied every day by two servants who, at teatime, were responsible not only for preparing the comforting brew, but also for milking the cow entrusted with providing the milk for this rustic ceremonial.

In 1893, the Club had acquired such renown that the PLM Railway Company responded positively to the wish expressed by Grand-Duke Michael for trains to stop in the little station of La Napoule, something the inhabitants had been requesting in vain for over thirty years.

On March 17, 1892, a gastronomic tribute to celebrate his 'zeal, energy and perseverance will be given at the Golf Club by the prestigious chef, who will become the owner of the famous hotel chain, César Ritz (1850-1918)

Here is the Gargantuan Belle-Époque menu for the banquet:

Potage Vénitienne,
Truite saumonée sauce Hollandaise,
Pommes à l’Anglaise,
Selle de pré-salé Portugaise,
Salmis de faisan à l’ancienne,
Chaud-froid de perdreaux à la gelée,
Asperges sauce Riche,
Chapons de Bresse rôtis,
Salade de laitues,
Croûtes à la Chevalier,
Nougatine glacée,
Desserts, café et pousse-café.

Wine : Sherry, Château Saint-Julien and Champagne Monopole.

Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) and Mont San Peyre :
A sentinel keeping watch on the sea and plains of the Siagne and Argentière valleys, this volcanic cone 131 metres high overlooking the village of La Napoule is made of a sandstone based smothered in the lava of the Estérel, an immense volcano from the Palaeozoic Era. The hill has become a départemental forest park with lovely wooded paths for a stroll among the pine, carob, Judas, cork oak and mimosa trees. San Peyre rewards the most stalwart who reach its summit, a truly peerless panorama.

This was a favourite haunt for Maupassant, who came to our region many times to 'recharge his batteries' as he liked to say. He described it:

"The view from there is admirable. To the right, there is the Estérel Massif with its pointed, strangely serrated peaks, then the boundless sea stretching to the distant shoreline of Italy with its many capes and, across from Cannes, the Isles of Lérins, green and flat, which seem to float and the farthest of which faces the open sea with a tall, ancient stronghold and its castellated towers, built directly on the water."

During his wanderings on the Mont , he met the hermit who lived there at the time in a small chapel on the summit. Maupassant said that their frequent encounters had made them 'friends'. This friendship gave rise to the short story, 'L'Ermite' , published in Gil Blas on 26 January 1886.

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