`The climate, scenery and light evoke the Hesperides garden, a land of plenty in a beautiful golden age. Perched on a promontory between the shimmering mediterranean sea and the foothills of the Alps, safe in the protective shelter of its ramparts, this medieval village is one of the most beautiful in existence".
The tourist brochures are full of such flowery prose in relation to the French village St Paul de Vence, the setting for the villa in which the Tanaiste Mary Harney, Finance Minister Charlie Mc Creevy and friends holidayed this month.
Just north of the playground of Nice, the Provencal village is a salubrious area full of upmarket shops and restaurants that has been a favourite of celebrities and artists for years. Those who aren't lucky enough to have a friend who owns a villa can expect to pay handsomely for the privilege of staying there.
"It is a very exclusive area," said Iain Cusack of French property dealers Proprietes Roussillon in Birmingham. "Because it is close to Nice, Antibes and Cannes it is popular and you can pay quite a lot for a good villa for just one week."
Similar-sized villas in the Vence region alongside the Cote d'Azur are available for rent from about £1,500, but for more luxurious homes holiday makers can expect to pay up to £3,000. Ulick McEvaddy's villa where the Harney party stayed is not as luxurious as some were suggesting this week, but with four bedrooms and a swimming pool, Cusack estimates the rent would be sizeable.
According to Jim Mitchell of Fine Gael, who stayed in the villa last year as a guest of his friends the McEvaddys, the villa "is not a mansion".
"It is like a nice suburban house in Dublin," he said. He is totally opposed to the controversy that has occurred over Harney staying in the villa. "It is ridiculous that politicians are not expected to have friends," he said.
He added that the Harneys and the McEvaddys have holidayed together for years.
Notwithstanding the Dublin suburban house comparison offered by Mr Mitchell, the split-level house in St Paul de Vence has four bedrooms, one en suite, and one that opens out onto the swimming pool. Set on about an acre, the gardens are full of flowers and lush plants while a wall and a high hedge ensures privacy. The kitchen doubles as a dining room but is rarely used for that purpose as most eating is done on the partially covered patio with barbeque just outside the room. The house is close to the village which is set on top of a nearby hill. The area has spectacular views over the Riviera.
The problem with the controversy, Mr Mitchell said, is that "an innocent thing like this is being made to look like the same type of thing that is being revealed at all the tribunals . . . people don't seem to be able to differentiate between them".
But, he said, the group of politicans, their partners and journalist Renagh Holohan of this newspaper, were just going on holidays in the house of a friend.