New-York tribune., 1910-06-19
TIE Quest for a Villa
Cheap Ones Scarce on the Riviera, but Per.
severance and q Motor Car Discover One

villa. II was called Beau Sofeil r-
were some touches of color around Psa,,
Soleil. A great. golden sun was blazo-ns
on it's front gable. Turquoise b1ua far.ro1
tiles framed its grsss-green vfndovr sb,,.-
teTs In striking manner. TIE baIits4-as,.x
terrace was picked ont with brilliant +sr-,
Gotta. The artist shuddered. but the, -.
site was magnihcent-she sea in fun No.
and on the nearby shores a fringe OF v-,,1
swept palms, with,a background Of a1roops
orange and olive trees. giant aIoas -
spreading fig trees of shore there vvas :
vivid panorama-fshing boats. tartaras
battleships. torpedo boats and destrov.-,
playing at mimic warfare and runnin, ..
and out from behind Cap SiciG. hetvs.,
TouIon and La Ciotat, as IL the fa4a :.
nations depended upon their activities
A sign on the baIustrade announces +z..
the key OF the villa was with a eon-o-
grower Of the neighborhood. The old T.1
low showed the place amiabIy enough b,,.
not enthusiastically. ne preferred N ~.
about the narcissf and carnations hA -
for the Paris markets The properrv -.
longed to an advocate who lived al Grass
There were four rooms, scantiIy furnishes
and small kitchen The rooms openi7.
wide on the terrace would serve for =
studio, The practical person. who hss
been in America recently enough TO thinl,
of tathtubs with longing. asked II thara
was a sale de bains-
1T is there. Ia bas." said the old ma,
pointing to the boathouse
Negotiations took no time at all: the ala
man was ready for anything. or no-hing
The price fixed on was five hundred francs
a year. without linen or silver-whieh ma.
cessities We're ultimately bought at a eos-
of a hundred francs For four or sfr
francs a month, the old man didn't seer,
to know or care what figure, his wifa
would do the household washing. But tier.
must be a bonne for the little affairs or
the house. and his wife's niece. CeIestfns.
would be a suitable person Her price waz
vaguely mentioned as twelve or fifteen
francs a month
Beau SoleI became the habitation Of ths
quartet. and there they have lived eight
joyous months. It has been comparatvely
inexpensive in the total. though for soma
things the cost is atrocious. Coal, brough.
out from Hyeres. cost a hundred francs a
ton; olive tree roots. at a sou kilo. wers
about as expensive and were less efficient
heat producers and useless for cooking.
vegeta bles and fruits were good and cheap;
a dozen little donkeys went by in a day
laden with prirneurs, or early vegetables,
for the eHyeres markets, and their owners
stopped gladly at Beau Solei. Bread as
Paris did not exist az Carqui-
eranne; :. .croissants and brooches could bs
had at HYeres, but six kilometres was too
far TO go for breakfast rolls, SO the party
compromised with toast made from slices
cut from pain AK, which an ambulant
baker left ON the doorstep once a day and
for sonce a month. or whenever
he felt like it., presenting a notched stick
as a bill
Milk cost eight sous the Etre, and was
sold as cows milk but COWS being scarce
there and goats plenty. the quartet sus-
pected they got the product Of the latter
animal
Wine was cheap and good, and the party
depended on that, for there was no drink
able water nearer than a mile Water from
4 nefghboring spring they used for kitchen
purposes. and drank it occasionally. boiled.
but as it nearly ruined the radiator and
cylinders of the automobile which wers
washed in it. the practical person Was
But what did water matter when n1Iy sal-,
ons of wine could be bought for Sl0+ AND
what did anything matter TO persons WhO
were living in a villa by the sea at eoss
Of less than life in a fve-franc-a-day- pen
sion?