The Perfect Escape

With its far-reaching views and abundant olive groves, Nick and Lise Davies’ CÔte d’Azur home is the ideal spot to get away from it all

- Maggie Colvin

The aroma of lavender, panoramic views over the bay of Cannes, and fresh air are among the attributes that most impress visitors to Nick and Lise Davies’ mountaintop home. ‘Here, we enjoy the best of all worlds,’ says Nick. ‘We’re in a remote spot but close to a medieval village, 20 minutes’ drive from a beach and under half an hour from the ski slopes. Best of all, we live surrounded by silence, apart from nightingales and the frogs’ dawn chorus.’

Nick and Lise moved to the south of France for a better quality of life for their now grown-up children, Tristian, Tamara, Max and Coco. Previously, the couple divided their time between the UK and a beach house in the Caribbean. When Nick got tired of endless long commutes, the pair decided to relocate to France. ‘Finding the right place to measure up to our beach house was tricky,’ says Lise. ‘I looked at over 100 properties, and it took six years before finding this one.