Of France with Russian nobility
design in the late 1890s, each occupying around half an acre of land. The nearest to the island of the town, being the holiday home of the Player family (John Player cigarettes), the one on the other side is the holiday home of the Hoover family (vacuum cleaners). The two villas on either side were in immaculate condition, but the Villa Donettella was in a dilapidated state. Lydia could not get any family money from Russia, so she started to take in paying guests, to keep her head above water.
The three of us went a few 100 yards down the road to the island before the small town of Juan-les-pins. Our daughter Alison was mesmerized by the cafes with tables on the pavements, waiters and musicians.
We got to the private beach, with its eating house and bar, sun loungers with sun shades. My father, looking very brown, invited Alison, aged five, to get on a li-lo, Dad swam gently on his back pulling by the handle at the end of the li-lo. The li-lo stated to deflate, taking Alison down beneath the clear water. Dad reached out below him to stop Alison’s downwards progress, put her across his chest and swam on his back to the beach.
That evening, when we were returning to the villa, just as we were going there was music playing from the cafes; on the centre of the island was a white circle about two metres wide, with a large pine tree, lit up by floodlights. Surprisingly, there was a person dressed all in white, with a white face and made up black eyes. His hands and arms were miming, his back stiff and his leg were pedalling back and forwards on a unicycle, with two dwarfs going around him dressed in black on smaller unicycles. My daughter was so fascinated by the unicycles, she was flabbergasted when one of the smaller troupe went up over the bonnet, and roof of the car, as we went around the island back up to the Villa Donettella.