The Cannes Film Festival. Created in 1946 to give competition to the Italian "Mostra" in Venice. It became one the major events in the Movie Industry with the most famous actors and directors coming from all over the world. Since 1982 this annual event has taken place in the new "Palais des Festival" specially designed and built for this event.
The largest Island off Cannes is "Ile Sainte-Marguerite", dominated by a fortress which was also a prison. One of the most celebrated prisoners was the "Man with the Iron Mask" whose identity remains a mystery forever.
The smallest Island off Cannes is Saint-Honorat, easily recognized by its ancient Monastery founded by the end of the 4th century, with a fortified section built by the monks as a protection against the Barbarian attacks.
Antibes, an old village only 30 minutes from Cannes, has the nicest harbour of the Côte d'Azur. Founded by the Greeks, it had many different authorities, dating back to the 14th century when the city belonged to the Grimaldi Family (now in Monaco). Now you will find a Picasso exhibition in the Grimaldi Castle. Picasso lived and worked in Antibbes in 1946. In the same exhibition you will find paintings of Nicolas de Stael, Léger, Magnelli, Hartung and Max Ernst.
Before the building of the lighthouse, people cared for a large fire every night on top of the Antibes cape, in order to prevent the ships from going onto the rocks. Several centuries after, an "intellectual fire" took place with the most famous American writers living there, (Hemingway, Dos Pasos, Scott Fitzgerald, etc...). It's still a very popular place with a lot of big private houses and top-level hotels such as the Eden Rock.
Saint-Paul de Vence is a very nice city in the hills above Cannes. Today its main attraction is as the place where one finds all the artists and art galleries of the area. But it wasn't always like that in the past : St Paul was an independent republic in the 13th century, fortified in order to fight against outside powers and invaders.
Valauris is one of the world famous places to buy dishes and pottery. It began in the 11th century through trading with Corsica and Italy. There you can not only find pottery makers, but also several art galleries concerning Picasso, Cocteau and Miró, who lived here.
Grasse - perfume. What more is there to say?
Beside its large harbor, its restaurants and its golf fields, the small village of La Napoule has a particular asset; its castle. Built during the 14th century, it eventually was completely destroyed. The wealthy American artist, Henry Clews, decided to rebuild it in his own way. It was in 1918 and his dream is now a reality.