New Year, Same Pride: A Queer Celebration in Nice

 

The LGBTQIA+ Côte d’Azur Center is kicking off 2026 with an open, joyful gathering that brings the community together in the heart of Nice.

On Sunday, January 18, 2026, at 3:00 p.m., the Center will host its New Year’s Greetings at its space on rue Cathy Richeux (formerly 123 rue de Roquebillière). Open to everyone and free of charge, the afternoon is designed as a warm, inclusive moment to celebrate the year ahead.

Guests can expect a relaxed and festive atmosphere featuring a queer galette, welcoming speeches, music, and an exhibition—an invitation to connect, reflect, and share in collective optimism for the months to come. As always, the Center emphasizes openness, diversity, and community, making the event accessible to longtime supporters and newcomers alike.

The visual for the event was created with the support of Patrick Moya, whose contribution adds a vibrant artistic touch to the celebration.

Whether you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community, an ally, or simply curious to discover the Center and its work, this New Year’s gathering offers a perfect opportunity to start 2026 together—locally, proudly, and in good company.

Rosé and Riviera Secrets: The White Lotus Invades France

 

France is officially inheriting The White Lotus crown—and this time, the decadence comes with rosé, Riviera sunburns, perhaps some scandal and Parisian side-eyes.

Season 4 of Mike White’s cultural phenomenon is heading to France, with the epicenter of the drama set at the jaw-dropping Château de La Messardière in Saint-Tropez. If the show thrives on obscene luxury masking emotional rot, this location is almost too perfect.

The former 19th-century palace—now a five-star hotel perched above the bay—boasts 86 rooms and suites, panoramic sea views, manicured gardens, and the kind of old-money opulence that practically begs for passive-aggressive breakfast scenes.

Originally built as a wedding gift by wealthy cognac merchant Gabriel Dupuy d’Angeac for his daughter Louise, La Messardière radiates inherited privilege and quiet menace—exactly the vibe White Lotus weaponizes best. Think sun-drenched terraces, whispered betrayals by the pool, and a slow unraveling set against one of the most photographed coastlines on earth.

Filming is expected to run from April through October 2026, making this the longest and most ambitious shoot in the series so far. That timeline conveniently overlaps with peak Riviera season, and yes—rumors are already swirling about scenes tied to the Cannes Film Festival, where yachts, egos, and bad decisions collide in spectacular fashion. If Season 2 turned Sicily into a tourism fever dream, Cannes may be next.

There’s also been persistent chatter about Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat appearing on screen. While no official confirmation has landed, earlier rumors triggered anxiety among locals, who worry the peninsula simply isn’t built to absorb the production traffic, security convoys, and onlookers that follow a juggernaut like The White Lotus. Translation: stunning, exclusive, and logistically fragile—again, very on-brand.

And Saint-Tropez may not be the only stop. Insiders hint that Paris could factor into the season as well, potentially broadening the show’s scope from resort-bound dysfunction to elite European power games. After Hawaii, Sicily, and Thailand, this feels like Mike White deliberately turning the lens toward old-world wealth, generational privilege, and continental hypocrisy—a fresh playground for the show’s signature blend of satire, sex, and slow-burn disaster.

If past seasons are any indication, expect a cast stacked with prestige names, breakout chaos agents, and at least one character the internet will collectively despise within weeks. Add Riviera excess, festival madness, and Parisian hauteur to the mix, and Season 4 is shaping up to be less vacation fantasy and more beautifully staged social autopsy.

The White Lotus has always been about what happens when extreme luxury removes consequences—France just happens to be the perfect place to watch that illusion crack.

Menton Celebrates Jean Cocteau and His Friends: Portraits and Self-Portraits

 

Menton’s enduring relationship with Jean Cocteau takes center stage once again with a major new exhibition at the Musée Jean Cocteau – Le Bastion, on view until 8 June 2026. Set within the historic seaside fort that Cocteau himself once transformed into a museum, Jean Cocteau and His Friends: Portraits and Self-Portraits offers a deeply personal lens into the life and imagination of one of France’s most singular artistic voices.

The exhibition brings together over 150 works, largely drawn from the prestigious Séverin Wunderman collection, complemented by important international loans. Together, they trace Cocteau’s creative orbit across drawing, painting, and mixed media, revealing an artist for whom boundaries between disciplines — and between people — were perpetually fluid.

Rather than following a linear timeline, the exhibition unfolds through a series of thematic chapters that reflect Cocteau’s inner life and the relationships that shaped his work. It opens with an exploration of self-portraiture, where Cocteau repeatedly returns to his own image as a site of reflection, vulnerability, and reinvention. These works oscillate between intimacy and theatricality, mirroring the emotional extremes that marked both his personal life and artistic output.

Another key section, Monstres sacrés, is devoted to the cultural giants who populated Cocteau’s world. Portraits of figures such as Sarah Bernhardt and Pablo Picasso reveal not only admiration, but a myth-making impulse — Cocteau elevates his contemporaries into symbolic figures, capturing their essence rather than their likeness.

The exhibition also highlights the pivotal role of music, theatre, and dance in Cocteau’s creative network. Works dedicated to collaborators like Erik Satie and Francis Poulenc illustrate how these artistic friendships pushed him toward radical experimentation, while a final section devoted to dancers and writers underscores the collaborative spirit that animated his work across decades.

What emerges is a portrait of Cocteau defined as much by connection and exchange as by individual genius. For Cocteau, portraiture was never a matter of faithful representation, but of emotional truth — a way of translating shared intensity, admiration, and creative tension into line and form.

Presented in the Bastion, a site inseparable from Cocteau’s own legacy in Menton, the exhibition reinforces the town’s role as a guardian of his memory. Through thoughtful curation and rare works, it offers visitors a compelling opportunity to engage with Cocteau not as a distant cultural icon, but as a living presence shaped by friendship, dialogue, and artistic risk.

For seasoned admirers and newcomers alike, this exhibition provides an intimate encounter with the creative forces that defined one of the 20th century’s most influential and elusive figures.

Celebrity Jeweler Chris Aire Reports €1 Million Jewelry Theft at Villefranche-sur-Mer Rental

 

Celebrity jeweler Chris Aire has reported the theft of jewelry valued at approximately €1 million from a luxury rental property in Villefranche-sur-Mer, on France’s Côte d’Azur. French authorities have confirmed that an investigation is underway.

 

According to information provided to police, the jewelry was discovered missing from inside the rented residence and according to the complaint, €6,000 in cash was also taken. The reported loss involves multiple high-value pieces rather than a single item. At the time of reporting, there were no public indications of forced entry, and investigators have not released details regarding the property’s security measures.

Aire, known for designing and supplying custom jewelry to high-profile clients in the music and entertainment industries, was staying in the area during the period in question. It has not been publicly confirmed whether the jewelry was being stored for personal, commercial, or client-related purposes.

Local authorities are treating the case as a major theft and are examining standard lines of inquiry, including access to the property, staff or service personnel activity, and any available surveillance footage. As is typical in ongoing investigations, police have declined to comment further.

Villefranche-sur-Mer is a popular destination for luxury rentals and high-net-worth visitors, particularly during the spring and summer seasons. While petty theft is uncommon, the area has previously seen investigations involving high-value property due to the concentration of wealth and luxury goods.

No arrests have been announced, and the value of the stolen items has not yet been independently verified by authorities. The investigation remains ongoing.