Coco Chanel’s France : luxury travel in the footsteps of her legacy

A Life of Style, Simplicity and Revolution

Born into modest beginnings, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel revolutionized not just fashion, but a way of living. She replaced corsets with freedom, decoration with clarity and rules with intention.

“Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury,” she once said, a belief that continues to shape how France defines refinement. Her designs offered elegance without artifice, structure without restriction, beauty without burden.

Her legacy is not only visible in fashion houses, but in the way we move through the world, with authenticity, restraint and grace.

In 1913, long before her Parisian acclaim, Chanel opened a boutique in Deauville, a refined seaside resort in Normandy. This is where her vision of freedom in fashion truly began.

Here, she introduced a new idea : clothing that moved with the body. She reimagined jersey, a fabric once relegated to undergarments, into soft, structured garments that suited the pace of the ocean and the freedom of modern women. Deauville wasn’t just a setting ; it was a turning point.

Today, Deauville remains infused with that same spirit, elegance, salt air and quiet rebellion.

Just a year later, Chanel opened a seasonal boutique in the Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo, in the heart of Monaco. She was one of the first to see the Riviera not just as a place to escape, but as a place to express freedom through style.

Her designs suited the mood of coastal luxury : flowing, modern, elegant and effortless. Monte-Carlo became a playground for a new kind of woman, independent, bold, graceful. You can still sense her influence today in the balance of glamour and ease that defines Monaco.

La Pausa and the Art of Traveling Well

In 1928, Chanel built La Pausa, her private villa perched above Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, not far from Menton. Designed with architect Robert Streitz, the house reflected her personal style, understated, warm and rooted in natural materials : English oak, terracotta, wrought iron, olive trees, lavender.

It wasn’t a palace. It was a sanctuary, a space for retreat and reflection, where she hosted friends like Cocteau, Dalí and Stravinsky. In 2015, the villa was acquired and restored by CHANEL, continuing her tradition of quiet creativity.

Today, La Pausa remains a symbol of refined Riviera living, one of the purest expressions of Chanel’s vision of French elegance.

To travel, for Chanel, was never simply to move, it was to observe. To feel. To inhabit a space fully, without needing to conquer it. Whether in Paris or Provence, she carried herself with presence, not pretense.

Her lifestyle offers a kind of roadmap : move deliberately, dress lightly, let beauty be personal. Her story reminds us that the deepest luxury lies not in what we show, but in how we live, through detail, intention and grace.

Olea Voyages : Following Chanel’s Footsteps in France

At Olea Voyages, Chanel’s legacy lives in the way we design luxury travel in France, with meaning, elegance and quiet power. Whether we take you to the boutiques of Paris, the glamour of Monaco, or the soft light of the Riviera, your journey is shaped with care.

Because the most lasting luxury isn’t always visible.
But it is always felt.