The Pavilion was never meant to last. After the exhibition, it was dismantled in 1930 and disappeared for more than fifty years. Yet architects kept studying photographs and drawings of it, and it slowly became one of modernism’s lost masterpieces. In the 1950s, architect Oriol Bohigas began pushing for its reconstruction, but it wasn’t until 1983 that work finally began. The rebuilt Pavilion opened in 1986.

Recreating it was not as simple as following a set of instructions. The team had to work from old photographs, drawings and fragments of information, making decisions where the original evidence was missing. In a way, they were reconstructing a building that existed as much in architectural memory as it did on paper.

And despite its minimalist appearance, the Pavilion is anything but modest. Mies and Reich used Roman travertine, green marble and golden onyx from the Atlas Mountains. The famous Barcelona Chair was also designed specifically for the building, as part of the overall composition rather than as a separate piece of furniture. The Pavilion was conceived as a total work of art: the architecture, furniture, materials, water and even the movement of visitors were designed as part of one unified vision.

It is also worth remembering that this was not simply a “Mies building.” Lilly Reich was Mies’s close collaborator and the artistic director of the German section of the exhibition. She played an important role in shaping the Pavilion and its interiors, although her contribution was largely overlooked for decades. Today, the Foundation is helping bring her work back into the story.

The Pavilion is a surprisingly small building, but it has had an enormous influence. And perhaps that is what makes it so interesting in Barcelona: surrounded by a city famous for excess and ornament, it offers a completely different idea of one based on proportion, materials, space and simplicity.

If you’re visiting, don’t stop at the Pavilion. The Fundació Joan Miró is just a short walk away, and it makes a great companion to the visit: two very different approaches to art and architecture, both born from the same extraordinary city.

Photographed by Daphné Terrasson for Clqssique

Clqssique, August ‘26.

That said, it remains one of our favourite cities to visit. It somehow feels like an eternal discovery: every time we come back, there’s somewhere new to eat, shop, look at art, without the city ever losing what made us love it in the first place.

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Starting off this list with a specific shot that seems to appear in so many hotel movies, and that we of course LOVE!

(P.S. All movie titles link to a streaming website, so you can watch the movie if the mood catches you.)

A couple’s top shot, covered in bedsheets:

Closer, Mike Nichols, 2004

Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003

Mystery Train, Jim Jarmusch, 1989

Wild at Heart, David Lynch, 1990

Pretty Woman, Garry Marshall, 1990

Then there are, obviously, the wandering skyscraper views. After rewatching both films, we think that Scarlett Johansson looking out at the view from the Tokyo Hyatt in Lost in Translation might actually have been inspired by the scene in Paris, Texas. And what a good reinterpretation it would be, if our theory is correct.

Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003

Paris, Texas, Wim Wenders, 1984

And then come the obvious corridor scenes, sometimes for a bit of lonely wandering:

Death in Venice, Luchino Visconti, 1971

Barton Fink, Joel Coen, 1991

Other times, for some late-night intimate moments:

New Rose Hotel, Abel Ferrara, 1998

Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003

And, of course, the most famous corridor of them all: The Shining. It holds a completely different kind of sentiment: the most frightening, breath-holding kind.

The Shining, Stanley Kubrick, 1980

We love a bit of branding in hotels when it’s done well:

Hotel Chevalier, Wes Anderson, 2007

“A day or a lifetime” written as a statement at the Hotel Earle in Barton Fink is exactly how we feel about hotels, even though Barton Fink holds a very different sentiment about it. Definitely a very good rewatch:

Barton Fink, Joel Coen, 1991

But then, a room can get lonely sometimes.

Hotel Chevalier, Wes Anderson, 2007

Hotel Monterey, Chantal Akerman, 1972

L’Année dernière à Marienbad, Alain Resnais, 1961

Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003

Wild at Heart, David Lynch, 1990

Although sometimes, it’s for the best:

Pretty Woman, Garry Marshall, 1990

One of the perks of a good hotel is a good bathtub, especially if paired with a good pair of headphones:

Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003

Pretty Woman, Garry Marshall, 1990

And of course, a hotel doesn’t function without its busy lobby boys:

Mystery Train, Jim Jarmusch, 1989

Ready to Wear, Robert Altman, 1994

Some rooms stay with us for their decor alone:

The Elvis-themed one in Mystery Train:

Mystery Train, Jim Jarmusch, 1989

And then the perfectly white, almost blended-in one in New Rose Hotel:

New Rose Hotel, Abel Ferrara, 1998

And one last favourite: the famous Room 237. Scary, yes, but not bad-looking…

The Shining, Stanley Kubrick, 1980

Enjoy the rest of the summer! We hope this watchlist finds you still on holiday, or maybe even waiting for room service. Who knows?

Clqssique, August ‘26.

Skin

I’ve never really been a foundation person. I’m much more of a skin tint girl, partly because I’m lazy, partly because I just prefer seeing skin, even when it’s not perfect. I love products that multitask, which is why Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint is always in my rotation. I use shade ST8 Shela. It gives just nice healthy coverage, but most importantly has SPF 30, and genuinely feels like skincare.

If I’m looking a little more tired and need a bit of a pick-me-up, I’ll reach for the Dior Forever Skin Perfect Foundation Stick. I wear 2N in winter and 2.5N in summer so it never looks too perfect. I never apply it straight onto my skin, I usually mix a little on the back of my hand with a milky toner. In winter I love Rhode’s Glazing Milk, but in summer it’s a little too rich for my acne-prone skin, so I use something lighter like Celimax’s barrier toner.

I also use the Dior stick as concealer from time to time because, in true French-girl fashion, I don’t mind a little darkness under the eyes. It makes me look alive. Ask me again in a few years.

Another forever favourite is Glossier Stretch Concealer. It’s been around for years, but every makeup artist still seems to carry one. I’ve probably been using it for a decade.

I don’t particularly love foundation. I do, however, love blush.

Chanel Les Beiges Water-Fresh Blush is probably my most-used. Mine is the Warm pink, a rosy brown shade.

In a slightly nostalgic mood but also , there’s Benefit Benetint. Yes, the packaging is still wonderfully tacky, but the product remains brilliant. Tiny enough to fit anywhere, impossible to overdo, and equally pretty on cheeks and lips. Victoria Beckham’s Colour Wash in Flushed gives a similar watercolour effect if you’re after a more luxurious version.

Speaking of Victoria Beckham (clearly I’m a bit obsessed), her new Blush Stylus is probably the most practical blush I’ve carried in a while. The shade Fiore bright pink just-pinched flush and the pencily format is perfect for touch-ups throughout the day.

Finally, needless to say Rhode’s Pocket Blush in Tan Line is the perfect warm, melty sun-kissed flush. The shade sits somewhere between blush and bronzer, which is exactly where I like it in summer. One product, two jobs, my favourite kind of makeup.

Bronzer

I’m fairly loyal here. Hermès Plein Air H Trio in Sahara has been living in my makeup bag for years. If I want something a little fresher and glowier, not powdery finish, I recently tried (and love) Refy’s Water Bronzer, very sheer, like water. It seems to have disappeared from every shelf in the country, but in simliar fashion, I’ve heard very good things about SimiHaze Beauty’s Skin Suede Melting Bronze Balm.

I almost forgot what might actually be my favourite!!! Chanel Les Beiges Eau de Teint, I wear shade Medium plus. It’s expensive, but one of the few products I consistently repurchase. On a good skin day, this is all I’ll wear. I’d actually recommend going one shade deeper than you think, you can get away with it because it’s so sheer, and it gives the nicest healthy warmth.

As for tools, I’m still very much a less-is-more person. I only own two brushes: Victoria Beckham’s Buffer Brush No. 12 and Powder Brush No. 15, and I use them for almost everything. The wooden handles are beautiful and the brush quality is exceptional. Exactly the kind of object I like having around : pretty and useful.

Brows

I almost always carry a clear brow gel. I genuinely believe that after a certain age, brows that droop ever so slightly can make the whole face look more tired.

Victoria Beckham’s FeatherFix Brow Gel is my favourite, but L’Oréal’s Infallible Brow Lamination Mascara bought on Amazon does a surprisingly good job for a fraction of the price.

If I’m feeling particularly motivated, I’ll fill a few sparse areas with Victoria Beckham’s BabyBlade. It’s the only brow pencil I’ve found that doesn’t immediately make me look like I’ve… drawn on my eyebrows.

Eyes

I wear very little eye makeup, especially in summer. Mascara is usually enough.

My lashes are naturally very blonde, so I usually tint them before going on holiday. Sadly I didn’t have time this year, so I packed the most natural mascara I know: Trait d’Hermès in brown (shade is called Brun Bistre). I always prefer brown to black, especially in summer.

In winter, though, I become mildly obsessed with their red terracotta shade “Rouge-H”. It sounds strange, especially with blue eyes, but trust me, it somehow makes them look even bluer.

If I want a little more definition on the lid without venturing into eyeshadow territory, I’ll usually reach for Victoria Beckham’s Satin Kajal in Bronze (yes… again). I smudge it with my finger so it melts into the lash line rather than looking like eyeliner. Most days, though, I simply run a little bronzer, or my Westman Atelier contour stick in Biscuit, on the lid. It’s almost imperceptible, which is exactly the point.

I’ve never really liked myself in obvious makeup.

One last little trick I shamelessly stole from TikTok (yes, yes… this old lady is on TikTok): Chanel Rouge Coco Flash in Boy dabbed across the eyelids. It’s the perfect balmy taupe and somehow makes you look more awake without looking like you’re wearing eyeshadow.

Lips

Same philosophy here: I never want lips to look too “present”. I also have quite a big mouth, so restraint generally works in my favour. I just like a hydrating balm with the slightest hint of colour to make me look a little more alive.

My all-time favourite was Hermès Rouge Brillant in Beige Croisette. It has sadly been discontinued. Hermès, if you’re listening… please bring it back!

In the meantime, Victoria Beckham’s Posh Balm is permanently in my handbag. Cannelle is my everyday shade, while Cassis gives a slightly moodier, berry-stained lip without ever feeling heavy.

I’ve also stolen (permanently, I think) my friend Jeanne’s lip balms from Les Filles en Rouje. I usually mix BB and Chéri.

Fragrance

I don’t think I’ve ever been complimented more on a perfume than when I wear Diptyque Orphéon. It’s woody and powdery yet incredibly soft.

In summer, I also love Frédéric Malle’s Musc Ravageur Hair & Body Mist. It’s a lighter, airier interpretation of the original Eau de Parfum that I wear usually, with the same musky warmth but without feeling overwhelming in the heat. Divine.

Clqssique, August ‘26.

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Lee Shulman and Omar Victor Diop rework anonymous family photographs taken in North America during the 1950s and 1960s by inserting Diop into scenes from which Black people were historically absent. The project confronts the visual legacy of segregation and questions who is included in our collective memory.

Practical details

Address: Ancien Collège Mistral, 2 Rue Condorcet, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

• Harry Gruyaert, A Sense of Place

Over five decades, Harry Gruyaert photographed cities including New York, Tokyo, Mumbai and Paris. Rather than documenting specific places, he uses color, light and composition to capture the everyday lives of anonymous city dwellers.

Practical details

Address: Chapelle Saint-Martin du Méjan, Place Nina Berberova, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

• Clément Cogitore, Memory Palace

Built from 400 hours of amateur films shot during the postwar decades, Memory Palace combines archival footage with AI-generated images to explore how collective memory is constructed. The AI fills gaps in the archives, making it difficult to distinguish between documented history and reconstructed memory.

Practical details

Address: Espace Van Gogh, Pl. Félix Rey, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

our Clqssique Arles Guide and Map with our favorite spots in the city

• Nicolas Trembley, Craft

Curated by Nicolas Trembley, Craft explores the connections between Japanese craft, vernacular objects and contemporary art. Combining books from Trembley’s research library, French everyday objects and Wade Guyton’s drawings, the exhibition examines how material culture continues to shape artistic practice.

Practical details

Address: 14 Rue de Grille, 13200 Arles

Until: July 19

• Martine Barrat, Soul of the City

After a dance injury ended her career, Martine Barrat received her first camera from the leader of a Bronx gang she had been documenting. She went on to spend decades photographing Harlem, the South Bronx and Paris's Goutte d'Or, producing an intimate portrait of communities rarely represented from within.

Practical details

Address: Espace Van Gogh, Pl. Félix Rey, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

• Rebekka Deubner, La terre (se dit de la terre qui colle aux bottes)

Following the violent protests against the Sainte-Soline mega-basins in 2023, Rebekka Deubner returned almost every month for nearly three years to photograph the region. Rather than documenting the protests themselves, she focuses on the everyday work of farmers and activists, with water running through the project as both a natural resource and a political issue.

Practical details

Address: Croisière, 65 Bd Emile Combes, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

• Hard Copy

Curated by David Campany and Brian Paul Lamotte, Hard Copy transforms a small copy shop into an exhibition space celebrating the printed photograph. Featuring works by artists including Mark Borthwick, Collier Schorr, Christopher Anderson and Justine Kurland, the show explores collage, xeroxes, zines and other forms of photographic reproduction.

Practical details

Address: Encremarket, 14 bis rue du 4 Septembre, 13200 Arles

Until: July 16

• Fonds Bustamante, En Miroirs

En Miroirs brings together artists who have shaped or accompanied Jean-Marc Bustamante's career, tracing a network of artistic affinities across generations and mediums. Conceived as a portrait in exhibition form, it explores how friendships, influences and shared perspectives become part of an artist's work.

Practical details

Address: 27 Rue de Chartrouse, 13200 Arles

Until: October 30

• Lisa Oppenheim, Monsieur Steichen

Lisa Oppenheim revisits the work of Edward Steichen through photography, textiles and AI. One of the exhibition's highlights is the digital reconstruction of Monsieur Steichen, an iris variety created in 1910 that has since disappeared.

Practical details

Address: La Mécanique Générale, 33 Av. Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

• La Nature d’Edward Steichen

This exhibition explores Edward Steichen's lifelong relationship with nature, beyond his better-known work as a photographer. It includes his decade-long study of a single tree and reveals his passion for cultivating and hybridizing flowers, particularly delphiniums.

Practical details

Address: La Mécanique Générale, 33 Av. Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

• Anne-Lise Broyer, Méditerranée, est-ce là que l’on habitait?

Travelling from Carthage to Beirut, Pompeii and Marseille, Anne-Lise Broyer photographs the Mediterranean as a landscape shaped by history, mythology and conflict. Her monochrome images bring together archaeological sites, coastlines and contemporary ruins to reflect on memory and belonging.

Practical details

Address: Abbaye de Montmajour, Rte de Fontvieille, 13280 Arles

Until: October 4

• Camille Henrot, In the Veins

Camille Henrot explores what it means to raise children during the climate crisis, starting from a simple observation: many animals children learn about today are already endangered. The film connects parenting, wildlife rehabilitation and environmental care as forms of long-term responsibility.

Practical details

Address: Luma Arles, 33 Av. Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles

Until: January 10

• Gerhard Richter, Overpainted Photographs

Since the late 1980s, Gerhard Richter has painted directly onto family snapshots, landscapes and holiday photographs, creating works that exist between painting and photography. Many of the painted surfaces are made using leftover paint from his abstract canvases, leaving chance to shape the final image.

Practical details

Address: Luma Arles, 33 Av. Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles

Until: January 10

• Sammy Baloji, Paysage Prisme : une traversée Katangaise

Starting from his family's former hotel in Katanga, Sammy Baloji retraces the history of the region through family archives, contemporary photographs and colonial documents. The exhibition offers an alternative perspective on Congo's past by bringing together personal stories and historical narratives.

Practical details

Address: Église des Trinitaires, 32 Rue de la République, 13200 Arles

Until: August 30

• Paul Kodjo, Photoromance

This is the first major solo exhibition in France dedicated to Ivorian photographer Paul Kodjo, one of the pioneers of the African photo-novel. Produced in Abidjan during the 1970s, his staged love stories also document the country's cultural and economic transformation after independence.

Practical details

Address: Croisière, 65 Bd Emile Combes, 13200 Arles

Until: October 4

Clqssique, July ‘26.

Then for the more refined. Oscalito makes the silk tank and cotton long-sleeve we reach for constantly, the rare basic that reads chic and behaves practically (we have genuinely never worn one without a compliment). They run a little sheer, which we love, but if you want more coverage the trick is to layer one over another, colors mixed.

Stills in the basic…. controversial but delivers. It pains us to say it, but Brandy Melville is still hard to beat. Cheaper alternative, nicely cut, more basic but still good cotton. The one-size model means it won’t work for everyone, and the brand isn’t without controversy, but for the bodies it fits, the basics stay among our favorites.

And then there’s also Paloma Wool of course. Less of a basic, more of a statement. We tend to pick up one piece every season. Love this sheer one also in brown here, or this top with its very chic neckline is great for summer evenings. This one is their perfect jersey basic, often on the waitlist, but never disappoints. Says the person who owns 3.

A few more sophisticated options

This draped top from TOTEME, is also rotating as a favorite.

A more night alternative is the St Agni tank with thin straps. St Agni overall is a great summer-essentials resource. Their ballerina top is also a strong basic in our summer closet.

And this fun Courreges, made the perfect shoulders. More dressy, less basic for sure, but till monochrome though.. can’t escape ourselves.

That’s all for our classic Tops and Tanks, for now. We’ll be back soon with more from our Clqssique wardrobe, starting with summer shoes…!

Clqssique, July ‘26.

Before becoming a museum, the building went through a striking sequence of transformations. Deconsecrated in 1808 during the Napoleonic era, it was stripped of its furnishings and successively turned into the headquarters of the Imperial French Lottery, then a courthouse, a tobacco factory, and later a military warehouse. Traces of these uses are still visible, most notably the iron structures inserted during its industrial phase, which cut across the historic volume.

In the 1980s, architects Lorenzo Papi and Bruno Sacchi approached its restoration with a clear decision: to reveal rather than erase this accumulation of time. Medieval masonry, Baroque interventions and nineteenth-century additions were preserved and left readable, turning the building into a kind of spatial cross-section of its own history.

It’s not a conventional museum. Staircases, bridges and suspended walkways move through the former church, opening shifting perspectives across its multiple levels. There is no fixed route; visitors create their own parcours, constantly moving between viewpoints, where architecture and artworks overlap. It doesn’t feel linear. It feels like moving through layers of space and time.

The museum was created to house the donation of 183 works by Marino Marini, given to the city shortly before his death. Sculptures, paintings, drawings and lithographs are distributed across four levels, in dialogue with the building’s structure rather than detached from it.

A final surprise lies within the complex: the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, a Renaissance masterpiece by Leon Battista Alberti. Conceived as an ideal reconstruction of Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem, it remains one of Florence’s most refined architectural works, quietly embedded within the larger museum space.

Few places in Florence compress so many lives into a single structure. A church turned lottery office, factory, depot and finally museum, San Pancrazio shows how architecture can absorb time without losing its identity.

And don’t forget to have a look at our Florence Guide if you’re in town for Pitti Uomo.

Clqssique, June ‘26.

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Within easy reach of Villa E-1027, featured in last week's newsletter, Villa Kérylos was commissioned by archaeologist and patron Théodore Reinach and designed by architect Emmanuel Pontremoli. Built between 1902 and 1908 on a rocky promontory overlooking the Mediterranean at Beaulieu-sur-Mer, the residence was conceived as a reconstruction of an elite Greek house of antiquity. More than a century later, it remains one of the most distinctive historic residences on the Côte d'Azur.

Perched between sea and stone, the villa takes its name from the “kérylos,” a mythical sea bird associated in ancient legend with calm waters and happiness. Every detail of the house was conceived as part of a total work of art: mosaics inspired by Delos, marble columns, painted ceilings, bronze fixtures and furniture created to blend seamlessly with the rest of the house.

Unlike many historic interiors that feel frozen in time, Villa Kérylos still feels inhabited, with the intimacy of a private home.

Théodore Reinach was one of the great French intellectual figures of the Belle Époque: archaeologist, historian, politician and passionate Hellenist. Fascinated by ancient Greece, he wanted to experience antiquity through architecture capable of reconstructing an entire way of life. Villa Kérylos became the embodiment of that vision a house where scholarship, art and daily life merged together.

The architect, Emmanuel Pontremoli, approached the project with remarkable precision. He studied ancient Greek domestic architecture in detail while discreetly integrating the comforts of the early twentieth century. Hidden heating systems, electricity and modern plumbing were seamlessly incorporated behind the classical forms, allowing the villa to function as both an archaeological interpretation and a contemporary residence.

Reinach insisted every decorative element should remain faithful to the spirit of ancient Greece, down to the inscriptions, textiles and ceremonial objects. Guests arriving at the villa were said to feel as though they had stepped into another civilization entirely, suspended outside modern time. Yet beneath this idealized antiquity lay all the technical sophistication of the Belle Époque Riviera.

The terraces overlooking the sea add a mind-blowing layer to the whole frame. From there, the coastline unfolds between Monaco and Nice, framed by cypress trees and pale stone, while the villa itself appears almost carved directly from the Mediterranean landscape.

Villa Kérylos occupies a unique place within the architectural history of the Riviera. While the Côte d’Azur became synonymous during the twentieth century with modernist villas and experimental architecture, Kérylos belongs to an earlier and more literary vision of the Mediterranean, one shaped by archaeology, travel and the dream of reviving antiquity through art.

Now administered by the Institut de France, the villa is open to visitors. You can plan a visit through the official website of Villa Kérylos, although walk-ins are also possible.

Find our South of France cultural guide and map here to complete your Riviera trip :)

Clqssique, June ‘26.

1. The French, William Klein, 1981

No better way to start this list than with The French, a two-hour documentary slowly following, with an intimate eye, the 1981 Roland Garros edition. The visuals are out of this world, and you can watch it for free on YouTube (link above).

1. A Single Man, Tom Ford, 2009

Tennis players as fantasy, I mean, who wouldn’t? After all the sweat and back and forth, here’s a little meditation on a tennis play.

1. Match Point, Woody Allen, 2005

One of our favorite opening scenes in cinema: the one that asks a question, the one that sets the tension perfectly, with a tennis ball.

1. Youth, Paolo Sorrentino, 2015

Paolo Sorrentino’s homage to Diego Maradona in Youth, with an obvious fictionalized version of Maradona: older, overweight, exhausted, and carrying the visible consequences of a life of excess. Throughout the film, he appears almost tragic, a faded giant. This sequence functions almost like a resurrection. Before juggling the ball, the character is often framed as an object of curiosity or pity.

1. JLG/JLG - Self-portrait in December, Jean-Luc Godard, 1994

Jean-Luc Godard builds JLG/JLG around fragmentation: thoughts, images, memories, sounds, and self-portraits that never fully stabilize into a story. This tennis scene is included almost to refuse emotional closure, interrupting the flow. It also includes Jean-Luc Godard himself as a player.

1. Challengers, Luca Guadagnino, 2024

The ultimate tennis movie, the one that managed to make the aesthetic compelling, and above all, the tension in fictional matches absolutely gripping. It keeps you hanging the entire film. The match starts at the beginning, but the film builds the context. So the match ends with the end of the movie.

1. Blow Up, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966

Our favorite tennis scene in all of cinema. The poetry it carries… we don’t need to say more.

1. Annie Hall, Woody Allen, 1977

The famous tennis match that starts Annie Hall’s iconic love story.

Then come the films that introduce themselves with tennis in some way:

1. India Song, Marguerite Duras, 1975

India Song opens on a long shot of tennis courts, with two voices, one male, one female, introducing the story and setting the tone.

1. Sabrina, Billy Wilder, 1954

Then comes Billy Wilder’s Sabrina, also opening on tennis courts, both indoor and outdoor, as a sign of wealth.

1. Pierrot le Fou, Jean-Luc Godard, 1965

A bonus with this scene from Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou, inside what may be one of our favorite places on earth: the Parc du Luxembourg in Paris.

Hope you enjoy our selection of tennis in movies :)
Happy weekend and Roland Garros if you’re following the matches!

Clqssique, May ‘26.

• Peter Doig “Reflections of the Century”, Villa La Roche

Villa La Roche was originally designed by Le Corbusier not only as a house, but also as a space to display art, which makes this exhibition feel especially fitting. The show brings together around fifteen Peter Doig’s paintings, almost all very recent works that had never been shown before. Probably one of our favorite Peter Doig exhibitions to date.

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Working alongside Jean Badovici, a Romanian architect and critic she had met in Paris, Gray developed the project while navigating a relationship that was both personal and intellectual. The name E-1027 is a code: E for Eileen, 10 for J, 2 for B, and 7 for G, woven from their initials. Although Badovici’s name has long been attached to the house, and early accounts often credited the project to both, the design itself is now largely understood to be Gray’s work, from the architecture to the interiors, with his role remaining secondary. What endures is a villa closely linked to both figures, but shaped above all by her vision.

Before E-1027, Eileen Gray was already celebrated in Paris for her lacquer work, rugs and furniture, though she had no formal architectural training. Initially associated with Art Deco circles, she gradually moved toward the radical ideas of the modern movement while refusing its colder dogmas. Gray believed architecture should emerge from the rhythms of everyday life rather than from rigid theoretical systems.

Positioned dramatically above the Côte d’Azur, the villa was conceived as a total work of art in which architecture, furniture and daily life became inseparable. From the beginning, Gray imagined the house not as a machine for living, but as an intimate and flexible environment shaped entirely around human movement and comfort. This ethos extended to subtle inscriptions on walls and objects, offering brief poetic or functional cues that guided how the space was to be used. These words acted as instructions woven directly into the architecture itself.

The white façade, ribbon windows and pilotis align the villa with the vocabulary of European modernism, yet the interiors feel soft and personal. Built-in storage disappears into walls, mirrors pivot unexpectedly, furniture folds and transforms, and nearly every room opens directly toward the sea. Gray approached the house almost as a piece of furniture at architectural scale.

Many of the villa’s most iconic furniture pieces were created specifically for the house itself: the adjustable E-1027 table, the Bibendum chair and the Transat chair all originated here. Rather than treating furniture as decoration added afterward, Gray designed every object as part of the architecture’s overall logic.

One of the stories most closely associated with the villa concerns Le Corbusier, who became fascinated by the house after visiting Badovici there in the late 1930s. During several stays, he painted a series of large murals directly onto Gray’s white walls without her permission. Gray reportedly considered the intervention an act of vandalism, believing the paintings disrupted the careful balance of the interiors.

Now part of the Cap Moderne site, Villa E-1027 has undergone an extensive restoration campaign and is open to visitors by guided tour. You can reserve a visit through the official website of Cap Moderne.

Find our South of France cultural guide and map here to complete your Riviera trip :)

Clqssique, May ‘26.

Starting with:

• Villa E-1027: the radical little house facing the sea

Perched above the sea in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, E-1027 remains one of the most radical houses of the 20th century.

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Designed by Eileen Gray between 1926 and 1929 for herself and Jean Badovici (can you guess the code behind the name E-1027? E for Eileen, 10 for J as the 10th letter of the alphabet, 2 for B, 7 for G, Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici, signed and intertwined into the house itself.)), the villa still feels astonishingly contemporary: tubular steel furniture, built-in storage, movable screens, and a fluid relationship between interior and landscape.

The story of the villa is inseparable from Le Corbusier, who became fascinated by the house and later painted several murals directly onto its walls… naked, by his own account, without Gray’s permission, something she reportedly considered an act of vandalism. The tension between the two still hovers over the villa today.

Clqssique tip : Mirazur in nearby Menton is Mauro Colagreco's three-star, recently named World's Best Restaurant, a serious lunch destination if you're doing E-1027 in the morning.

Practical details

Address: E-1027 Sent. Massolin, 06190 Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

Opening hours: Guided tours only, book here

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Palazzo Scarpa (1973-78)

Palazzo Scarpa (which is also known as the former headquarters of the Banca Popolare di Verona) is one of the last and most important works by Carlo Scarpa. Door handles, metal frames, stone joints, lighting fixtures, and furniture were all custom designed. Scarpa loved juxtaposing: rough and polished stone, brass and concrete, glass and water, shadow and reflected light. Which are all elements that unfold room after room at the Palazzo Scarpa. Architects/designers/creatives still speak reverently about the staircase, particularly the rear staircase wrapped in its striking red glass volume.

Practical details

Address: Piazza Nogara, 37121 Verona

Opening hours: Monday—Friday, please contact us to obtain the contact details for scheduling a visit.

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So here’s my small list, in the usual Clqssique fashion. Things I’d give, and things I’d love to receive myself.

Under 50$

A book you’ve recently loved. The most intimate gesture there is. Giving a book is saying: “this is what’s been living in my head, I want you to enter it too”.
Right now this second, I’m circling two titles. Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy’s memoir about her mother, sublime and brutal at once. An almost too-obvious choice for Mother’s Day, which is precisely what makes it beautiful. And Departure(s) by Julian Barnes, his last book, written at 80, hovering between memoir and fiction. On memory, love, endings.
Or a classic she already loves also works here, in the most gorgeous limited edition. La Pléiade always delivers.

CommeSi socks. I already said it in the New York edition and I’ll say it again. Qualitative, smart, colorful. A mother never buys herself proper socks. Which is exactly why you should do it for her. One pair here, and a set here.

A monogrammed LL Bean Tote. A massive success with my own mother (and an obvious win if you don’t live in the US, it carries a different kind of charm abroad). I love the tiny version for everyday, and the oversized one for the more practical grocery runs. Her initials embroidered on the front turn a $40 canvas bag into something she’ll use for the next twenty years.

Flamingo Estate Heritage olive oil , a delicate must for the kitchen. Also obsessed with their honey.

Under 100$

A bouquet of flowers will never go out of style. But please, not the corner-shop bouquet drowning in tired cellophane. In New York, I go to the NY Flower Market on West 28th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue (the public hour starts around 7:30 am, and you’ll want to be done by 10), the most cost-effective way to put together something genuinely beautiful, picking from each vendor one by one.
In Paris, it’s Castor, no hesitation. You’ll go above the price tier, but god how gorgeous. What comes out of there has an elegance you don’t see anywhere else. Loose, a bit wild, never stiff. For inspiration also.

A theatre ticket. In New York, I hear Every Brilliant Thing with Daniel Radcliffe is wonderful, a one-man show about a son tracking the small joys of life through his mother’s depression. Pointed for Mother’s Day, but in the most luminous way. (Radcliffe runs through May 24; Mariska Hargitay takes over from May 26 through June 28.)
In Paris, Satyagraha by Philip Glass enters the Opéra repertoire for the very first time, at the Palais Garnier, 10 April – 3 May 2026. A genuinely major event. I’ll be quietly jealous of anyone who manages to snatch tickets!

Skincare that is as effective as it is beautiful, Monastery remains a forever favorite. The Discovery Kit is a perfect introduction if you’re new to the brand (and a safe bet for your mother, too). For something more elevated, the Essential Kit.

A Santa Maria Novella Melograno in Scented Terracotta ($95). Hand-shaped in Florence into a tiny terracotta pomegranate, soaked for a week in Santa Maria Novella's Melograno cologne, then fired again to seal the scent inside. It sits on a little ceramic plate, looks like a found object from an Italian still life, and quietly perfumes a room for nine to twelve months. The kind of gift a mother places on her bedside table on day one and never moves again.

A serious cookbook. The River Cafe 30 (~$54) for the mother who actually cooks; Dalí. Les dîners de Gala by Taschen (~$60) for the mother who entertains, or anything from the Alice Waters / Patience Gray canon for the one who reads cookbooks like novels. Flamingo Estate cookbook is also one we cherish.

Under 300€

In Paris, a massage at Maison Suisen (€120). A small, well-kept Japanese-style address that delivers the kind of one-hour reset most mothers haven’t allowed themselves in months. The Parisian equivalent of disappearing.

Or a massage at Spencers Spa, in New York ($199). We hadn’t been when I first mentioned it in the Christmas memo, but now I can confirm: it lives up to its reputation. Generous, unfussy, the kind of place you walk out of feeling like you’ve actually been somewhere.

A yoga class with infrared sauna at SKY TING. A two-in-one that has become my favorite gift for the women in my life who insist they “don’t need anything.” SKY TING in NoHo has built out a full sauna and contrast suite next to its studio, sweat after savasana, the closest thing to a true reset Manhattan offers. Remedy Place is the more clinical, more serious cousin, for the mother who is into longevity and has opinions on red light therapy.

A mother-daughter afternoon at Sant Roch, in Paris. The 1st arrondissement’s new contrast therapy temple, the largest sauna in France, paired with cold plunges between 5 and 10°C, in a space designed like a contemporary sanctuary. Choose between the rituel libre (75 minutes, your own pace) or the rituel guidé (60 minutes accompanied, 15 minutes free). The whole thing in swimsuits, no phones. Exactly the kind of thing a mother would never book for herself, and exactly the kind of thing she’ll thank you for.

The classic of classics: a Charvet scarf. The kind of gift that lives fifty years in a drawer, pulled out whenever it gets a bit cold or whenever immediate elegance is required. No mother has ever regretted a Charvet scarf.

A cute alternative: the Rubirosa shirt (€310). Preference for the green, or the cream in the pyjama version. It’s become my weekend uniform, and most of my friends’. The gift you give while quietly ordering one for yourself in the same checkout (I confess, I do it every time).

The truly special

Another truly special gift, our very first object The Clqssique Vanitea (€120/$144), created in collaboration with the Conservatoire des Hémisphères, the Parisian house of teas, infusions, petals and barks from around the world (96 rue du Bac & 9 rue de Passy).

The Vanitea takes its name and its form from the small leather vanity cases that once accompanied women on their travels. Ours is a soft red vegan leather box, designed to hold four teas we curated together with the Conservatoire:

• Palais d’Hiver, a delicate Earl Grey of Assam black tea and bergamot. “The perfect first cup of the day. Bitterness belongs only to the fruit, never the spirit.”

• Rive Gauche, a Sencha green tea with rose petals, orange blossom and wild berries. A cup that transcends the seasons.

• Souvenir Proustien, a tender winter infusion of roasted almonds and apples. To be enjoyed, ideally, with a few pages of Du côté de chez Swann.

• Clqssique, our exclusive blend: a delicate infusion in reds and pinks, hibiscus and rose buds lifted by a hint of collagen. A classic with just enough irreverence to make it a Clqssique.

The tag can be engraved with her initials. And once the teas have been enjoyed, the Vanitea lives on, reused as a small vanity case for her essentials, her talismans, the little things she keeps close. A gift to enjoy now, and to keep for years.

For the practical and the beautiful. A set of cocktail glasses from Sophie Lou Jacobsen, I have a soft spot for the Cosmo set, exactly the kind of small. Exactly the kind of small, useful luxury a mother actually uses. In the same spirit, we love gifting the Bistrot cutlery set by Sabre Paris, the French house founded in 1992 that turned tableware into something cheerful, riveted, beautifully handcrafted near Paris.

And if you want to go a bit more wild

An Alphacell letter from Charlotte Chesnais. For mothers who maybe don’t need another bracelet, but will love an initial as an everyday reminder.

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Kindest always, and thinking of all forms of motherhood today: those who are, those who hope to be, those who remember, and those who hold that presence in their lives in different ways.

Coco