Page 162 - harryDEC12_clean.iba

Yes - there were also better moments, few but memorable. They were our regular visits to the Hotel Colombo d'OR in the nearby medieval village Saint Paul de Vence. Even before meeting Martha, I had often stood at the place, when attending the Monaco Yacht Show for promoting NETUNE. It was a place of many important meetings.
There in the iconic hotel, linked for 100 years with the fate of the Roux family, who in the 1920’s and 30’s established intimate friendships with artists later to become the most famous of the period: Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Miro, Leger. They all spent longish periods in the hostel with only a few rooms - that is all it was then - and paid for food and board with pictures, sketches, and sculptures that later were of incalculable value, and then as today decorated the walls of the restaurant. Works worth millions hoarded by the present family members - nothing for sale. In that hotel there was a tranquil, unique, epoch-making atmosphere, the breath of a great past blew through the rooms and was the attraction for an international clientele, first of all it were actors of the period like Yves Montand and Simone Signoret, Jean Paul Belmondo, Brigit Bardot, Calder and many more, later it was the international jet set: “a must if you’re visiting the Cote d’Azur”.
There are places in the world, which radiate a certain magic - a magic, that is shared by protagonists from different strides of life - and the Colombe d'Or was one of them, a place where everyone was treated equal, as the place was bigger than any individual irrespective of rank and position. In the hotel’s bar I met famous people like Roger Moore and Joan Collins. Communication was no problem in this utterly relaxing atmosphere. One evening I was sitting at the window sill of the bar and leaned back to take a photo of Moore and Collins, and then it was Roger Moore who grabbed me quick as a flash by the jacket and saved me from a deep fall into the garden - he was, after all, James Bond. Later in life our time lines crossed on several occasions - Joan Collins I met in London and Roger Moore - well I carried his shopping bags to his car, when age had taken it's toll and he had difficulties to walk - that was on a Parking Lot in Beaulieu s/Mer.
And so I met many celebrities in a short span of time - some were enchanting and different from their public image, others not. Just like with ordinary people. It was a talent that set them apart. But "talent" has many meanings, as it could also mean the gift to cheat on other people, but this is not what I mean.
I stick to the definition of a "special ability that allows someone to do something well" and if that is accompanied by the right personality and charisma, then you have a celebrity. And those were to be found regularly at this special place, that was by no means compatible to a five star Hotel in Paris or London - it was mainly an artist's place;
161