The filmmaker tells us his traveling ins and outs.
The editions of Condé Nast Traveler in China, India, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain , with the support of the editors who work on the international edition from New York, have come together to launch a global message of traveling optimism: #UnderOneSky. This inspiring initiative brings together interviews with personalities such as Susie Cave, Patricia Anastassiadis, Jules Perowne or Francis Ford Coppola, protagonist of this conversation.
The name of Francis Ford Coppola resonates in the mind of any film fan . Although the work of this screenwriter, producer and director is, to say the least, extensive, major and minor cinephiles know the first time they The Godfather was his great masterpiece , a title that became part of the history of cinema.
Now, at Condé Nast Traveler, we set the stills aside for a few moments to talking about traveling, staying, coming and going . Francis Ford Coppola tells us his favorite destinations, the songs and books that make him remember and the places he would stay forever.
Condé Nast Traveler: What is your favorite secret boutique hotel in the world?
Francis Ford Coppola: I don't know the reason for this answer and since there are many very different areas in the world and cultures, it is difficult to choose one. But my answer is La Lancha in Guatemala . I'm not entirely sure why. I guess because I have personally felt the happiest there. I love the culture, the Guatemalan people, their food and their art . The hotel is located on a really beautiful lake . It is quite simple, with birds and interesting species of monkeys. I believe that I like that simplicity, the innocence of people . It's also a place where my own personal thoughts aren't as influenced by the culture or the show.
Q: Your favorite classic hotel in the world?
A: I was always quite impressed the hotel Alvear in Buenos Aires , and used it as a prototype of what I loved about a classic hotel. The Copacabana Palace in Rio It also seemed to mark a level, especially in the old days before it was renovated. Others in Paris back in the old days, Like the Plaza Athenee and the Ritz , undoubtedly marked a level difficult to overcome and in London, where the great film producer Alexander Korda lived, Claridge. In Rome, I always loved The Excelsior, right on Via Veneto.
Q: If you could feast on one of your favorite restaurants in the world right now, where would it be?
A: Hmm, just one? Life is not like that, lists like the ten best movies or the two best restaurants do not exist in reality, but in the minds of journalists. I'd say I can think of two , but that, again like hotels, is probably where I was the happiest, personally. Or just like when the great Baron Rothschild de Mouton-Rothchild was asked what he thought of the Mouton of 1929, he replied: “I don't remember the wine, I remember the woman”. My answer could be the Girarrosto Fiorentino 3, Via Sicilia . A small restaurant near Via Veneto. It was there that I tried spaghetti spring , (perfectly done spaghetti with fresh ripe tomatoes and an incomparable ham) antipasti and what i need to say is the best steak in the world . All this together with the people I love most in the world: my wife and children and my parents. There are others who come close but I guess that's my answer.
Q: The book you read that inspired you to travel or at least dream of a place?
A: Sailing to see, written by Irving Johnson , but I think actor Sterling Hayden was on board when he was very young. This was one of my brother August's favorite books, and everything my older brother liked, I liked too. Filled him (and me) with dreams of going to Tahiti that he never had South Pacific Dreams, Gauguin and the great unknown.
Q: The movie you saw whose location blew your mind?
A: Okay, Lawrence of Arabia was quite persuasive . The stories of the exotic Hajjaj at that time, stories about the wonderful King Faisal II , seemed the exact definition of what a king should be.
Q: A place you fell in love with?
A: The mountains and beauty of Napa Valley, the great Inglenook Estate undone , tragically broken into pieces. Something that I felt would not have been possible if the United States had a Secretary of Culture, who would protect the treasures of this great nation. Mount San Juan above the Napa Valley, where the Wappo Indians lived in abundance five thousand years ago and now is where I am sitting, writing this with breathtaking views of beautiful nature at its best, and nothing man-made to disturb my views.
Q: What airline, ranch or train has set your pace and why?
A: I was very excited to travel in the restoration of the Orient Express with my granddaughter Gia . The team, the wonderful cars with restaurants, music and elegance. Another train ride I took thanks to the kindness of my dear friend George Lucas was On the Royal Train, across Canada . If I divided my experience by going From Toronto to Vancouver I could do it in three acts. In the first, we described it as incredibly beautiful, with words that I could not express. The second surpassed the first trip, traveling, dining and playing board games, although it is impossible to match its beauty. Then we went to the Banff , and this third last one was another level of pleasure, spectacle and beauty, which ended in Vancouver. It was a truly memorable experience that we were privileged to experience as I have heard that the Royal Train has been retired.
No wonder Coppola's love for this beautiful valley.
Q: What is the song that always reminds you of the holidays?
A: The song Normandy, written by Mary Rodgers (Richard's daughter), from the amazing show Once Upon a Mattress.
Q: Your favorite place in the world?
A: Nothing can compare in my heart and mind to Rutherford, Napa Valley, my home.
Q: The place you are most obsessed with visiting?
A: Every year, When one of my grandchildren turns nine, I take them alone with me on a trip of their choice together. . Gia came with me on the QE 2, through what was then the new Chunnel and on the Orient Express to Venice , and we met with the family in Istanbul. my other granddaughter Romy, she came with me to the south of France for a royal wedding, then to Bologna. (a wonderful city), and then to Venice for a week. Last year, Cosima at nine of her accompanied me to Paris, Bernalda, to spend a night in our Palazzo Margherita , always a spectacular experience and then to Cairo and Alexandria, in Egypt . That was an amazing adventure, Egyptians are incredibly wonderful and kind people. The next one will be when Pascale is nine years old, on her way to sleep in an ice hotel somewhere in the Sami people, the land of the reindeer and the midnight sun, hoping to see a northern lights together.
Q: The views that take your breath away?
A: The ones I have away from home: there are many, one from all over Napa Valley , but the one that never fails to impress me is the one I have Hundreds of natural acres undisturbed by man-made things.
Q: Three items that are always in your vacation wardrobe:
A: 1. My vietnam cotton pajamas . 2. My lightweight bathrobe by Charvet that my daughter Sofia gave me. 3. my kindle.
Q: What is your trusted luggage brand?
A: Ghurka Luggage, made in the USA . Beauty and simple and now part of me.
From the suites to the cuisine, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is an experience worth living.
Q: Is there a person, property or place you know that is doing amazing things to make the world a better place?
A: Melinda and Bill Gates, dedicated to health and education . I had the memorable experience of sitting next to Melinda one night at dinner, and my respect for Bill tripled seeing that he had chosen such an amazing woman; also Michael Bloomberg although I never met him. I felt and saw with my own eyes his priorities for so many years that he was mayor of New York, and he impressed me that his focus was to improve people's lives wherever he could; Barack and Michelle Obama; so eloquent and influential president and first lady, still young and capable of giving life to the few most beautiful lines about our country: "... and crown your goodness, with brotherhood, from ocean to radiant ocean."
Q: Your favorite place for a vacation at home?
A: My house is a two thousand acre property, so there are hundreds of beautiful places that serve for it . maybe one of them is a small private pitch where my children and grandchildren love to play , swim and find small turtles and lizards.
His next trip he says will be to the land of the reindeer. Next stop? The ice age!