17 September 2026 |
Deauville is the most elegant escape from Paris.
It’s always a good sign when I travel when I immediately start to check out the town’s real estate listings. Such was the case when I landed in Deauville, France, the lavish beachside resort just a few hours away from Paris.
The town is lined with Norman half-timbered manor houses which gives the whole town a charming toy village vibe. The Tudor-style buildings house luxury labels like Hermes, Longchamp and Printemps. This is where Coco Chanel opened her first shop in 1913. Inspired by the resort’s sportier lifestyle— sailing, horse racing, walking les planches (the town’s elegant boardwalk) —Madame Chanel created elegant clothes for leisure. Her sailor-like blouses, loose cardigans, and jersey skirts were a departure from the Belle Epoque’s more buttoned up fashion.
Deauville, with its elegant beaches, grand hotels, and the famous Hippodrome de Deauville-La Touques, one of France’s premier thoroughbred horse racing venues, has always attracted artists, including Claude Monet, Edward Manet and Raoul Dufy. In fact, a retrospective of Dufy’s impressionistic scenes of the beach and the horse races was being held at the Les Franciscaines museum in town when I visited.
In 1975, the mayor of Deauville helped lure another creative set to town with the launch of The Deauville American Film Festival. The idea was to introduce French audiences to American cinema, from major Hollywood productions to independent films. What began as a showcase has today become an internationally recognized festival, drawing A-list actors like Michael Douglass and Nicole Kidman.
While Cannes and Venice drip in over-the-top glamour, Deauville is more like an intimate dinner party but with a side of serious culture. This is where filmmakers like Spike Jonze first showed “Being John Malkovich” and Christopher Nolan presented “Memento.” This year’s festival was held for nine days in early September and honored indie favorites like Ethan Hawke and Susan Sarandon as well as legends like Faye Dunaway— she was up for the icon award.
The particular charm of Deauville imbues the atmosphere of the festival. At the Hotel Barriere Le Normandy, a lovely Anglo-Norman hotel just steps from the beach, the lobby was filled with French thespians, directors and jurors sipping champagne. The British Hotel bar, a clubby spot lined with oil paintings of the famous horse races, was also packed with festival goers. The piano player performed hits from the American songbook, plus a few Elton John tunes. On the way to the hotel’s airy Belle Epoque dining room, I studied the photographs of past attendees that lined the walls— Keanu Reeves, Ben Kingsley and Steven Spielberg. Many of them have been guests here, enjoying the views of the sea (and the red clay tennis courts) from the cozy rooms, clad in toile de jouy wallpaper.
Other luminaries check into The Royal, The Normandy’s nearby sister property. On the opening day of the festival Ethan Hawke was spotted enjoying lunch at the hotel restaurant with his wife and teenage daughter. The next day, after the premier of his film “The Weight,” which premiered at the festival, the cast were splayed out on the lobby’s velvet chairs—perhaps recovering from the gala dinner at Casino Barriere Deauville.
Meanwhile, back at Le Normandy, after a restorative massage at the property’s new Guerlain spa, (there’s also a sauna, hammam, and an indoor pool), I went for a stroll on Les Planches. A crowd of locals and paparazzi had gathered near one of the Art Deco cabanas, which are famously marked with the names of Hollywood actors and filmmakers, a festival tradition. This afternoon Brendan Fraser was joining the ranks of George Clooney and director John Waters. But perhaps the most exciting moment was a few nights in, when Brooklyn Beckham and his actress wife Nicole Peltz (who stars with Faye Dunaway in the movie “Prima”) were spotted at the bar at The Royal.
But while the festival promised celebrity sightings and great cinema, it’s the low key charm of Deauville that I found most appealing. The beautiful timber and turreted houses, the wide beaches dotted with colorful umbrellas, and the horse farms that dot the countryside, Deauville feels like the perfect antidote to the French Riviera. I think I’ll keep checking the real estate listings.
