Easter Brunch at Belles Rives

Off the legendary road to Cap d’Antibes, the Hotel Belles Rives is situated above the sun-kissed, blue water of the Mediterranean.A prestigious waterfront setting that has attracted the rich and famous for 90+ years starting with Francis Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, and more recently celebrities like Andrea Bocelli, George Clooney, Cindy Crawford, Jude Law, and David Guetta. The Belles Rives has also become our traditional Easter brunch spot to meet up with friends, for an afternoon of fun and food in the sun- after attending Easter service, of course.

The historic hotel, restaurant, and beach resort are nestled in a cove at the beginning of the Cap, a place where the architectural elegance of the 1930s is preserved, and a new generation is discovering the “Fitzgerald’s” pleasures of life and lunch at the Belles Rives.The terrace is one of the most glamorous in the French Riviera, with breath-taking views of the Esterel and the Lerins Islands accompanied by the bright blooms of the prestigious bougainvillea. The featured restaurant at the Belles Rives, La Passagère, has a Michelin star and the food is served inside or out on the terrace.

Our preferred seating is below the terrace, in a more casual setting and closer to the water, where the kids can play near the beach and we can feel the coolness of the water as we sip our champagne.While the beach restaurant doesn’t have the Michelin prestige of La Passagère, they share a kitchen and offer summer flavored dishes with a Provencal influence, such as fresh grilled fish, a Mediterranean-themed salad selection, and skewers with shrimp or the fresh catch.On Easter, the Beach Bar & Restaurant typically has a special menu or buffet with unique items for this day of celebration and reflection. Pastry Chef Steve Moracchini was awarded the 2016 Pastry Chef of the Year from Gault & Millau, so it is a requirement to leave room for dessert.

If the sun hasn’t set on your all-day brunch experience, you can recline in a sun chair on the Belles Rives’s private sandy beach, which is served by a bar on the water that will keep the chilled rose and champagne flowing. For those who want to experience adventure on the water, the Belles Rives has a jetty with a private boat dock and offers various boating activities from parasailing to water skiing to banana boat rides.

There is no doubt that the Belles Rives can provide you with a glamorous day on the Mediterranean filled with champagne and extravagance in the sun.It is even a family-friendly place where the adults can carry on a conversation while the kids frolic and bury themselves on the beach.You can almost envision the life of the Fitzgerald’s here (minus the kids), as they discovered the pleasures of life on the sea with their wild parties, loud music, and dancing. The Belles Rives was the place to be back then in the ’30s and is our place to spend Easter with our friends in the Cote d’Azur.

Tip: The only parking available at the Belles Rives is valet, so don’t forget some cash to tip the guys at the end of the day. Or better yet, book a night at the hotel in one of their 43 rooms or suites.

PS- Neither of those are my car.