In a natural setting whose beauty inspired the birth of Matisse as a painter

"Ce sont des fauves!" (They are wild beasts!), was how, in 1905, a journalist, struck by the canvases shown in room VII at the Salon d'Automne in Paris, described the artists who created them: Vlaminck, Derain, and above all Matisse with his "Woman with a Hat". He had just coined the name "Fauvism" of which Henri Matisse would become the leader and which would profoundly influence art in the 20^th century. Suddenly painters started to use blocks of colour, hardly blended at all on the palette or the canvas, so pure and bright that the subjects and dimensions took second place. Shortly before the Salon in 1905, Matisse went to Ajaccio on honeymoon. The artist confided in the collector Pierre Lévy that the first fires of Fauvism were started during that initial stay in Corsica: "I was blown away, over there everything is so bright: everything is colour, everything is light". The Iles Sanguinaires reflected in the water left a deep impression on the young painter, as did the green of the olive trees, the unmatched blue of the Mediterranean, and the pink of its porphyry rocks.

Art historians believe that Matisse the painter was born in Ajaccio. The bay, whose crystal waters bathe the cove in which the Best Western Premier Dolce Vita sits, is a true wonder of nature which offers unforgettable sensations: the purity of the light, the power of the scents, the vividness of the colours, and the beauty of the Mediterranean. The Ajaccians never grow weary of the walk along the path that leads to the Pointe de la Parata leading out to the archipelago of the Sanguinaires. No one knows if the name of this captivating site comes from the sombre red porphyry of which its 4 islets are made, from the fiery vegetation that covers them in autumn, from the burning sunsets over their craggy coasts, or from the "sanguinari" (which literally means "black-blooded men"), the coral fishermen returning from Africa who were kept in quarantine on the islands long enough to rid their blood of any possible infectious illnesses. The Best Western Premier Dolce Vita is just a few steps from the archipelago.

Its swimming pool, its small beach, and the majority of its rooms encompass this unrivalled sight which so resembles a fauvist painting. The restaurant opens out onto a terrace designed around the deck of a boat. The wild image of the Sanguinaires from this privileged viewpoint is truly captivating. As in a work by Matisse, whose clarity of subject, without areas of shade, and with no ulterior motive, creates an extremely relaxing vision of freshness and innocence, the Best Western Premier Dolce Vita is the type of place where one feels reborn. "One should look at everything in life through the eyes of a child" said Matisse. The life offered by this elegant and aptly named hotel in this unique setting is an extremely gentle one. There is no need for pretentiousness or false sophistication when nature is so evidently beautiful and harmonious. There is nothing to add to the views from the balconies looking over the bay, or the garden full of palm, bay and olive trees; nor to the flavours of the seafood cuisine, in which the fish was caught the very same day and the fruit picked the very same morning. Make no mistake about it: the Best Western Premier Dolce Vita doesn't use the exceptional quality of its location as an excuse for even the slightest lapse in the standards of comfort of a 4 star hotel, expected by the international clientele, and on which its reputation on the island is built. The well-being of each guest is of the utmost priority, beginning with the discreet attentiveness of the staff, which has struck a rare balance between "class" and "relaxation".

Far from being the ferocious rebel implied by the expression "fauve" (‘wild beast'), Matisse was searching all his life for a sort of paradise, "an art of balance, purity, tranquillity, free from troubling subject matter", he added. This quest guided him until his final days, spent painting with collage and exploring the Mediterranean on stationary travels in his workshop where, restricted by immobility, he worked his brushes fixed to the end of canes. It also took him along the Route des Sanguinaires to Ajaccio, which the Best Western Premier Dolce Vita magnificently depicts today.

Best Western Premier Hotel Dolce Vita

Route des Sanguinaires, Ajaccio, France - 20000

Phone: 33 49 55 24 242 Fax: 33 49 55 20 715