My next piece was meant to be about a strange modern phenomenon: our new preference for peace over dazzle. A curious reversal. You only need to scroll through your feeds. Humour, emptiness, so much emptiness, and a few stray wonders. And everywhere, advice. Breathe. Slow down. Meditate. Heal. Life as permanent convalescence.
So happiness is no longer an intoxication, but an adjustment? Just inhale and exhale for eight seconds, press your tongue to your palate, touch your left ear, and find your calm? It seems the nervous system has replaced the soul, and cardiac coherence has replaced passion.
But can we find peace without wonder? Without a practiced eye that knows how to recognize what is worthwhile in the everyday? A serious question that demanded a serious setting —> Destination Nice, then, and the Hôtel du Couvent.
The Story Behind the Place…
In the heart of Old Nice, a former convent founded in 1604 begins its second life. After decades of abandonment and eleven years of restoration, Valéry Grégo has transformed this historic enclave into a hotel, aiming to preserve the spirit of the place rather than reinvent its history.
Today, the hotel features 88 rooms and suites nestled within the historic buildings. Beneath the vaults and behind weathered façades, the decor favors natural materials, antique furniture, and a deliberately quiet elegance. Guests wander between the cloister, the library, terraced gardens, and various dining spots, including the Couvent restaurant with its Mediterranean cuisine inspired by harvests from the kitchen garden.
The bakery has returned to its original home: once upon a time, the nuns crossed the courtyard carrying freshly baked bread, letting its scent drift through the cloister. An herbalist keeps the house's botanical wisdom alive, while baths inspired by Roman thermae, movement classes, and the outdoor pool invite you to linger.
FOOTNOTES
Read Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus
Epicurus teaches that happiness rests on very little… To suffer no longer, to fear no longer, and to know how to savor what is.
Watch Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven, 2021
In 17th-century Italy, Virginie Efira plays a nun torn between faith and desire. A question: can one take a vow of sobriety without giving up the pleasures of life?
