The French Riviera: Tales of Royals, Rascals and Rothschilds

A glittering, glamorous look at the history of the French Riviera and its height in the years of the Belle Epoque - where not everything was always quite as it seemed. 

Originally popular as a warm weather destination for convalescing British aristocrats, the rocky, dramatically beautiful eastern coastline of southern France, the Riviera and its resorts of Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo,  have been populated with the rich and the royal.  

It was also a good place if one just wanted to hide out.  In many ways, it was a place where anyone could be anyone they wanted to be - as long as they looked the part.  Queen Victoria discovered Nice and its neighboring region beginning in 1882 and made it her winter home for many years. 

Wealthy aristocratic families such as the great Rothschild banking family found it too and in this episode we spend time with two unique Rothschild ladies. 

For many movie fans, the Riviera will always remain as it appeared in Hitchcock's 1955 film To Catch a Thief and indeed this episode includes the story of one particular real-life jewel thief with a surprising identity who preyed upon the wealthy in the Belle Epoque.

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