Deauville was a party.
The light, the sea, the horses and the memory in the form of illustrations and photographs is what remains of the uninhibited past of this sophisticated Norman town on the banks of the English Channel.
The aristocrats, businessmen, artists and entertainers who paraded along the Les Planches promenade became the models for the photographers and fashion designers who created their clothing collections inspired by the sports with the most roots in the city: racing horse riding, polo, regattas, tennis and golf.
For Gabrielle Chanel, who has just turned 50 years after her death (January 10, 1971), the horizontal stripes worn by the fishermen who worked in the area changed her life.
Coco, in return, gifted Deauville with the opening, in the summer of 1913, of one of the most iconic fashion stores outside of Paris and a color: Chanel beige.
It is the tone that the sand of its beach adopts when the tide goes out, a moment that was used in the French town to celebrate the first horse races when the racetracks had not yet been built.
La Touques (1)
and
Clairefontaine (2)
.
The Duke of Morny, passing through the neighboring town of Trouville, came up with the idea in the mid-nineteenth century to tame the dry marshes and dunes that were around a small farming and cattle town located on Mount Canisy, and thus build Deauville.
A spa and sports city, provided with a port, train station and airfield, in which the European and American social cream, housed in hotels and villas with a creative and eclectic architecture, enjoyed themselves in the cafes, betting on the racecourse, in the beach, on the terrace of a bar, in the
brasseries
and in the casino.
9.30 Sea baths
The first visitors went to Deauville to benefit from the healing properties of its sea baths.
Then came the reputation with which he went down in history.
The noble and business elites, dandies, divas and bohemians crossed paths in the so-called
Pompeian Baths
(3)
.
An
art deco
ensemble
designed by Charles Adda and opened in 1924 that combines the classic architecture of antiquity with the modern.
The monochrome of this concrete structure is tempered by the use of mosaics.
The bath complex includes a porticoed gallery, saunas, a massage room, swimming pools, an American bar, a hairdresser and shops.
11.00 The walk of the stars
Les Planches (4)
runs between these facilities and the beach
.
A 643-meter-long promenade covered in exotic wood from Madagascar, where the American artist Josephine Baker has paraded accompanied by
Chiquita
, a baby cheetah, and the Japanese painter Tsuguharu Foujita wearing a swimsuit made with playing cards. as well as smoking women dressed in striped sweaters and men with nose rings and red lips.
The promenade is flanked by booths each named after the iconic French actors and Hollywood stars who have passed through the American Film Festival every September since 1975. Les Planches is the best point from which contemplate the light, the sea and the horses training on the beach.
Deauville umbrellas have been nailed to that beige Chanel sand since 1875. The original stripes were replaced years after the First World War by solid colors, and a wooden stand opens and folds these perennial models of the city, which are rented between April and September (indeauville.fr).
enlarge photo Exterior of the Strassburger villa, in Deauville.
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11.30 Scalloped railings
The Norman-style premises, such as that of the
Hotel Le Normandy
(5) -
squared bricks, concrete in which the timber frames are painted and the roofs arranged in hipped positions - was mixed from the 1920s with
art. deco
and
art nouveau,
turning Deauville into a museum of architecture displaying Anglo-Norman chalets surrounded by scalloped wooden railings.
There are many there, but the one that everyone visits is the
Strassburger village (6)
, on the avenue of the same name.
Mansion built by Baron Henri de Rothschild in 1907, although its current name is that of its last owner, Ralph Beaver Strassburger.
On the farm that he previously occupied was the farm that belonged to the family of the writer Gustave Flaubert.
Hence the neighboring street is called Rue Bovary.
13.00 Lunch at the races
Depending on the interest of each traveler and the date of the visit, at lunchtime there are two options;
or at the
Bar du Soleil
(+33 2 31 88 04 74)
(7)
, opened in 1929 in front of the beach and recently remodeled, or at one of the gastronomic establishments at the La Touques racecourse (45 Avenue Hocquart de Turtot) and enjoy food while horse races are held.
enlarge photo After the success of her hat shop in Paris, in 1913 Coco Chanel opened her first fashion store in Deauville.
Today closed, an illustration by the legendary Karl Lagerfeld recalls the place.
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17.00 In memory of Coco
The designer Gabrielle Chanel opted for androgyny and timelessness against the prevailing style of the
belle epoque
.
At her Deauville store, her first
fashion
boutique
, she sold striped sportswear and sweaters, like those worn by local fishermen, revolutionizing women's relationship with their own body and lifestyle.
He did it before the city became a
chic resort
frequented by dandies and divas from all over the world.
A commemorative plaque, which includes an inscription decorated with an illustration of Coco Chanel by designer Karl Lagerfeld, the
maison's
creative director
for 36 years, commemorates the milestone of the opening of this venue located between the
Casino (8)
and the hotel Le Normandy.
The latter, together with
Le Royal
(9)
, were the first two hotel complexes built in Deauville in 1912. During the Second World War they were converted into hospitals.
20.00 Chips, dinner and glamor
The majestic
Casino
, built in 1912 in the Louis XV style and home to the American Film Festival, was (more than is) a classic of Deauville nights.
But you can evoke the glamor of yesteryear and end the day gambling, enjoying a show or dining in some of its restaurants.
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