Home Sweet Home
Le coin de l’Apero.
The 5th generation of the family to call Cap d’Antibes home, Christelles’ family have owned the same house on the Cap for over 100 years. She lives nearby in an apartment with her husband Francois but spends a huge amount of her spare time in the family house where her her mother now lives. It was Christelles’ great great grandparents who settled here many moons ago . The family bought the house with some land and grew roses and flowers like most of the other inhabitants at the time. Apparently her great grandfather was involved in creating the little port which we now all know as Olivette.
I have been meaning to interview her for ages and finally I got around to meeting her one sunny summers morning in the lovely garden of the family villa. You can see instantly that this is a real family house. There is a massive dining table in the rustic garden which must seat at least 20 people and then there are two wooden cabins at either end, presumably for the family to stay in when it gets too late to go home. Her mum currently lives in one of them while she is modernising the family villa. One of these cabins used to be her grand fathers work shop. Apparently he kept anything and everything he found and never threw anything away. While we were chatting Christelle told me a story of the big tree which stands in the middle of the garden.
About 30 years ago her great grandfather found a tiny piece of wood on the floor just outside the gate. Obviously he picked it up and put it in his shed. At some point he noticed that the piece of wood had sprouted a shoot so he planted it in the garden thinking nothing more of it. Like Jacks giant beanstalk that tiny piece of wood quickly grew into quite a substantial tree. The family cut it every single year but it just seems to keep on growing bigger and bigger. I started by asking Christelle about what it was like growing up here.
Did you grow up in this house?
We never lived in this house no. I was actually born in a small town near near Marseille. My mothers side of the family are from Cap d’Antibes and my fathers side are from near Marseille which is why I was born there.
When I was about three we moved back to Antibes for two or three years but after that we moved a lot. At one point we even lived on a boat in the Baie des Anges.
My mother lives here now but originally it belonged to my great great grand parents. I am not sure of their origin or why they came to Cap d’Antibes all I know is that they lived here and cultivated flowers.
At that time the land wasn’t valuable at all, there was nothing here except rocks. You couldn’t grow fruit or vegetables so people grew flowers, it was solely working land.
At the beginning of the century flowers didn’t have much value so it wasn’t a place for making money either.
So as I said I didn’t grow up here but I spent a lot of my time here as a child and still do. My family are very close and this house has always been the place where we always come together.
When we were young my brother and I spent every summer and most holidays here in Cap d’Antibes with my grandparents.
What’s your fondest memory of being in Cap d’Antibes?
Wow I have so many but I don’t know what my fondest would be.
I remember walking down to l’Olivette with my grandparents to catch fish which we did most days. There wasn’t a road between the house and the port like there is now. Instead we walked down a dirt road under the shade of the pine trees. There were lots of squirrels, birds and of course no cars at all, it was lovely, a different time.
My brother and I used to pick up the fallen pine cones on our way down to the port. Then we would pick out the nuts with a pin and eat them.
We also swam everyday mostly at Olivette or sometimes at Port Mallet often collecting sea urchins. When I was young there were hundreds of them in the water here. There were also lots and lots of fish and wildlife and very few people.
What’s your connection to l’Abri de l’Olivette?
My great grandfather was involved in the creation of the l’Abri de l’Olivette and participated in it’s construction. You can still see the remains of the stone pontoon in the water there. There are just two little pieces of them left.
Before that there was nothing just a few boats tied to bouys in the water.
I know you and Francois have the Kanabistro in the port but has your family always owned a pointu?
Actually no Kanabistro is the first Pointu we have owned. My grand father had a little boat but in plastic which he brought up to the house in winter and left in the port in the summer.
At that time people were primarily here for the horticulture, it wasn’t a place where people had boats. There were maybe a hand full of boats for fishing. Boats weren’t something you had for pleasure like today.
You never saw anyone swimming either really.
When did you come to live in Antibes full time?
After living in many different places I finally came to live back in Antibes in the mid 90’s with my young daughter. We had an apartment in the old town.
I moved to Cap d’Antibes last year with my husband Francois. We rent the ground floor of a villa. Before that we had an apartment in Old Antibes, near the market .
Do you think you will live in Cap d’Antibes forever?
I don’t know. At the moment we live in the ground floor of a small villa in Cap d’Antibes but Francois and I love to be close to nature. We would love more land where we can grow our own food and have dogs and animals. Where we live at the moment we can’t do that. We have cats but because we are in a small apartment we can’t have a dog. We would both really love a dog.
Of course here is a paradise that’s for sure and we spend a lot of time in this house with my mother but we wouldn’t be able to live the kind of life we would like in Cap d’Antibes.
Do you think you would ever give up this house?
No we would never ever sell this house. We all love this house. For me it has so many memories of my childhood and of my family. We are still making memories here.
My brother and I would be the 5th generation of our family to have this house. My children will be the 6th generation. That’s amazing isn’t it. I know we don’t actually live here but it is our second home. I am here pretty much every single day.
Where is your favourite place in Cap d’Antibes?
In this house it’s this cabin. We have two in the garden. My mum lives in one while she renovates the main house and we have this one. Francois myself and the kids use it as a place to relax and to stay in after late night family get togethers. My son uses it the most now though so my daughter now has her eye on the other one.
On the Cap itself it has to be the l’Abri de l’Olivette. If Cap d’Antibes ever changed to the extent that Olivette didn’t exist anymore then that would be my time to leave. It’s my absolute favourite place here.
What’s the story behind the bar?
Francois and I bought this bar a few years ago. The decoration has been added bit by bit over the years. Francois is actually quite well known for his homemade Rum punch which is why we bought it. Every year we have a big party here in the garden as Francois and my sons birthdays are really close. The parties are quite famous with lots of dancing and of course lots of Rum punch served from this bar.
Christelle owns Perlimpimpin – Kosmic Moon a jewellery and clothing shop on 27 rue de Fersen.
The jewellery is hand made by Christelle herself.
Next time you’re in the old town why not pop in. You can stop for a coffee at La Torref du Fersen afterwards too.
See her FB page for opening hours. Closed Sunday and Mondays.
Facebook: Perlimpimpin Kosmic Moon
Follow her on Instagram: Kosmic Moon
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