Cannes

The glitzy, gaudy center of glamour on the French Riviera

Popular with celebrities and their hangers-on, Cannes is at its most frenzied in May during the International Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on the promenade de la Croisette. On the seafront boulevards flashbulbs pop as the starlets emerge, pose, and set new trends. International regattas, galas, concours d’élégance, even a Mimosa Festival in February—something is always happening at Cannes, except in November, which is traditionally a dead month.

Setting out for Nice in 1834, Lord Brougham, a lord chancellor of England, was turned away because of an outbreak of cholera. He landed at Cannes instead and liked it so much he decided to build a villa there. Returning every winter until his death in 1868, he proselytized for the French port city in London, drawing a long line of British travelers.

A port of call for cruise liners, the seafront of Cannes is lined with hotels, apartment houses, and chic boutiques. Many of the bigger hotels, some dating from the 19th century, claim part of the beaches for the private use of their guests, though there are public areas.

© 2009, Wiley Publishing, Inc.