“What flattered me was the insects that were wrong, it’s great”: she painted her love for Biot on a village wall

Alone, as a couple, as a family, we stop at Place de l'Airette for a selfie in front of the XXL fresco adorning the wall with Riviera colors and Biot jars. It's hard to imagine that just a few weeks ago this view didn't exist and the wall was all beige.

This was without counting on the passage of Ingrid Von Reitzenstein. Brushes in hand, she redesigned the corner until it immediately became an essential break.

“People were photographing before it was even finished. But what flattered me was the insects that made mistakes, it's great! The dragonflies that insist on going to the sea and the hornets on the flowers. “

Soon a gargoyle will monitor this living work which should evolve according to the impulses of its creator.

Thunderbolt

Coming from across the Rhine “petit” with her parents, the painter who follows the inspirations of her heart spent her childhood in Nice. “Around 6 years old, on weekends, my neighbor took us to her sister's house in Biot. It was an expedition, we were going to the countryside! She lived exactly here, Place de l'Airette, then on clay. There had Peynet playing boules with his friends and a lot of parties between neighbors”remembers this epicurean of Mexican, Hungarian and German origins. “I was far from imagining that one day I would paint these stones, but I was already saying: I will live here later.”

After a life in Paris and other latitudes, she settled down in the village: “I find the first boy I kissed very young in this same square, so we don’t fight against fate and feelings.”

Their love story won't last forever, but love at first sight for Biot lasts a lifetime. “It's been my home for twenty-five years. I attend all the parties and celebrations.”

Having fallen in love with the blue of the sky and the sea, with the story emerging at each step, Ingrid declares her love for her adopted land by sketching it. And she's a repeat offender.

A few cobblestones away, in front of the Viewpoint, it was she who immortalized Mouloud, the most famous gray cat in the town, observing visitors for eternity.