Cannes

For the annual festival, see Cannes Film Festival.

Cannes
Location of
Country	France
Arrondissement	Grasse
Canton	Chief town of 2 cantons
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	06029 /

Cannes (IPA: [kan]) is a commune in France, located in the department of Alpes-Maritimes and the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, famous for the International Film Festival and the glitzy hotels, cars, beaches, and visitors.

Cannes is 36 km from Nice, 55 km from Monaco and 60 km from the Italian border. It has an area of 1970 hectares. Cannes has a length of 8.8 km and width of 4.5 km. Its altitude is between the sea level and 260 meters above sea level. The commune of Cannes is the third biggest city of the department by its population.

History

Name

First record, 10th century Canua The name might derive from "canna", a reed.

This was probably the site of a small Ligurian port, and later a Roman outpost on Le Suquet hill. Gallo-Roman and Roman tombs were discovered here. Le Suquet housed an 11th-century lookout tower, and overlooked swamps where the city now stands. Most of the ancient activity, especially for protection, was on the Lerin Islands just off the coast, and the history of Cannes is really the history of the islands

Middle Ages

The 10th century saw the village fall under the control of the Lérins, with the abbot of Lérins Abbey (Abbaye de Lérins) instated as its ruler. A castle was built for the abbot to reside in and to provide the village with fortification; the Château de la Castre is now the site of a museum bearing the same name. Moving on to the 14th century; Cannes, now gradually becoming a town, met with troublesome times when it was hit by the plague and then became subject to invasions by various pirates and bandits. The abbey however protected the townsfolk well and the area survived; however, it was struck again by another bout of plague in the 16th century.

Renaissance

By the 17th century, Cannes was home to some 600 residences and saw the building of the Notre-Dame parish church. Spanish troops tried to take control of the nearby Isle de Sainte-Marguerite, but the French eventually successfully defended their position. With the 18th century came various invasion attempts as well as a revolt from the townsfolk following the harsh winter of 1771, which forced the price of bread up.

Arrival of the rich and famous

In the 19th century, Cannes saw its most significant developments with the arrival of foreign and French aristocrats in the 1830s, who made the town their holiday home, building various properties around the area. The arrival of a prominent British politician - Lord Henry Peter Brougham - in 1834, while on the way to Italy, was the main catalyst in the town’s expansion. Development encouraged enterprise and the Cannes Railway Station opened in 1863 followed by the Tramway de Cannes transportation system in 1899. By the 1930s, the town had secured its status as a fashionable holiday destination and was further placed on the map by the first international film festival in 1946. Today, Cannes still retains a reputation as a chic and trendy city and attracts both the rich and famous as well as regular holidaymakers.

Climate

The climate in Cannes is typically Mediterranean and the city enjoys a good 12 hours of sunshine per day during the summer season (May to September), while in winter (December to February), the weather is very mild. Both seasons see a relatively low level of rainfall and the most significant period of rain is during October and November, when an average of 110 millimetres is the norm.

Winter

As the temperatures drop below 10ºC for only three months of the year (December to February), anytime is a good time to visit Cannes although the summer season is recommended, when temperatures are at their highest but are far from being uncomfortable and are ideal for either a beach or sightseeing holiday. The spring and autumn seasons are also warm enough, although more suited to those who prefer slightly cooler weather. Winters are great if you are fed up of the rain, snow and sub-zero temperatures in the UK or other cool European countries.

Cityscape

Beaches

The Croisette Gardens

The beach at Cannes

Île Saint-Honorat

There are miles of beaches along the Golfe de la Napoule or along "La Croisette" in the Rade de Cannes. The beaches are all sandy here, as in Antibes and Juan-les-Pins.

Park and gardens

A small "square" on the Le Suquet hill, just below the tower and ramparts, and places to sit amidst large oleander bushes and beneath lovely shade trees.

At the west end of "La Croisette", between the Palais des Festivals and the beach, is a shaded grassy park area with playground, including slides and things. You'll find a real carrousel there, or sometimes an even bigger one out on the esplanade in front of the "Palais".

At the east end of "La Croisette", just before the new Port Canto yacht harbor, is another park and playground. This one also has carnival-type rides for the bigger kids.

Beside the playground at the east end of "La Croisette" is the Jardin Alexandre III, a lovely big flower-garden park.

Lérins Islands

The "Lérins Islands" is a small archipelago just off the coast of Cannes and part of the commune of Cannes. The archipelago has the two main islands of Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat and the two micro-islands of Tradelière and St-Féréol.

Boat excursions to the islands leave from Cannes (15 minutes to Saint-Honorat and 30 minutes to Sainte-Marguerite). Excursions also leave from Antibes, Golfe-Juan, La Napoule and Nice. The islands are pedestrian-only; no motor vehicles are allowed.

• Île Sainte-Marguerite is the larger, and nearer, island. The island is covered by a forest of Allepo pine and eucalyptus, with wide paths criss-crossing the length and breadth. The port area, where the ferry lands, has cafés and restaurants, and it's a short walk to the Fort Royal where you can see the now-bare little cell where the Man in the Iron Mask was incarcerated.

• Île Saint-Honorat is the smaller, further, island, an additional 15 minutes by boat from the ferry landing of Sainte-Marguerite. Although small, the walks are still nice, and there's the Cisterian abbey to visit, which includes a gift shop of locally produced products.

Between the islands is a shallow, protected passage, the "Plateau du Mileu", a popular anchor point for the pleasure boats of the region. During the summer you can just about walk across from island to island over the closely packed nautical adventurers.

During the summer, a sound-and-light show presents the history of the islands, and the after-dark boat trip is part of the show.

Culture

Museums and galleries

File:Cannes Marina.jpg

The marina at Cannes

Rocks on the beach in Cannes

InterContinental Carlton Cannes

File:La Croisette, Cannes.jpg

Boulevard de la Croisette

File:Cannes Film Festiva, France.jpg

Cannes Film Festival

File:The marina at Cannes.jpg

The marina at Cannes

For visitors with cultural inclinations, Cannes has an impressive selection of museums and art galleries covering a wide variety of themes and historical periods. The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Provence, for example, is home to a collection of artefacts that range from prehistoric to present times, and the museum is housed in a classic 18th century mansion, set amid beautiful French gardens. Meanwhile, at the Musée de la Castre, an exotic collection including objects from the Pacific Atolls, Peruvian relics and Mayan pottery is available for viewing in an impressive château, which was previously known as the Castle of Cannes. Other famous venues include the Musée de la Marine, Musée de la Mer, Musée de la Photographie and Musée International de la Parfumerie.

Theatre and music

Despite its associations with cultural and film-based events, Cannes is not renowned for its traditional theatre venues. There are a number of small venues, however, which stage regular productions and play host to short sketches during the annual International Actors’ Performance Festival. Popular theatres include the Espace Miramar and the Alexandre III.

Nightlife

Cannes has night venues of every description and the city is a veritable hotbed of activity after the sun’s gone down. Casinos are a highly popular aspect of the city’s evening entertainment scene and are full seven days a week with addicts, hopefuls and those doing a little controlled dabbling in the gambling scene. The most famous casinos in the city include Casino Croisette at the Palais des Festivals; Palm Beach Casino at Pointe de la Croisette; and Casino des Princes on boulevard de la Croisette. If a more traditional night out is your thing then you’ll find plenty of good bars across the city with boulevard de la Croisette being a good place to head if you want to be guaranteed of finding a busy venue. Nightclubs appealing to all tastes can be found in the city centre and the gay season is especially happening and popular. Most bars stay open until early morning, while nightclubs can still be busy well into dawn

Shopping

Cannes is great for "upper-crust" shopping. You should be in Nice for serious or business shopping, while Cannes is a shopper's paradise for chic and expensive items. Although you might want to buy your yacht in Antibes, the Rolls-Royce dealer is in Cannes, and there's an endless collection of top-of-the-line jewelry shops, haute-couture clothing shops and art galleries.

• Rue d'Antibes

This long street runs the length of Cannes, from the eastern edge to Rue Félix Faure at the port. Shops of all types are along here, including clothing boutiques and many places with fine gift items. Cannes' movie theaters are along the Rue d'Antibes as well.

• Boulevard de la Croisette

Along this famous boulevard and its many side streets are the art galleries, jewelry stores and the most exclusive clothing shops such as Chanel, Cartier, Valentino, Christian Dior and others. If you're not on a budget, your hotel will probably be here as well.

• Zone Piétonne

The Rue Meynadier runs parallel to the port, one block in from Rue Félix Faure. Roughly six blocks long, this street has markets and shops with things like produce, meat, groceries, clothes and gifts. There's a Pier One Imports shop with household items.

Local cuisine

With its coastal location, cuisine in Cannes is naturally based quite significantly around seafood and delectable dishes worth trying include escalope de mérou au citron, which is escalope of sea bass in lime; salmon tournedos with truffles; cod and vegetables in garlic sauce; and skate with capers. Meat dishes on some of the best menus in town include estouffade de sanglier (wild boar) and fillet de beef rossini cooked with foie gras. However, this is but a small selection of a huge number of quality French dishes that are available across the city in both upmarket and small traditional venues. Meal prices vary massively depending on where you go, but mid-price establishments are comparable to UK restaurants; the sky’s the limit however and you can easily pay a hundred euros for a gourmet meal here.

Festivals

There are a number of annual summer festivals that are unique to the city, with highlights including:

• Carnival on the Riviera

is an annual affair that sees a parade through the city’s streets and various festivities to mark the 21-day period prior to Shrove Tuesday. Spectacular torchlight processions and masked balls are among the highlights of the event (February/March).

• The International Festival of Games

is an event that sees visitors converge and indulge their interests in bridge, belote, backgammon, chess, draughts and tarot-reading (February).

• Cannes Film Festival

is the highlight of the city’s event calendar and is a two-week long event that sees the city descended upon by major Hollywood actors and directors as well as a large number of independent film makers. Movies are screened throughout the period (May).

• Festival de la Plaisance

is an event for boating enthusiasts. Held in the Vieux Port, it sees all manner of recreational showboats showcased by various manufacturers (September).

• The International Actors’ Performance Festival

sees various small venues around the city hosting comedic sketches and performances by fringe artists.

Transport

Air transport

The nearest international airport to Cannes is Nice Côte d'Azur Airport located seven kilometres west of Nice. Shuttle buses to this airport run every half-hour from 8 AM to 8 PM, with a travelling time of 30 minutes. Taxis are available at the airport.

The city is also served by the small Cannes - Mandelieu Airport, which caters mainly to general and private aviation.

Rail transport

Trains operate daily between Cannes and Paris, Barcelona, Milan and Genoa. The TGV provides both inter-regional and regional trains with the high-speed train connecting Cannes to Paris, taking about five hours. Alternatively, there are ferries connecting Nice and Corsica and ferry services to Mediterranean destinations operate from Antibes, which is 30 minutes away by train.

Economy

The Town Hall of Cannes

A typical street in Cannes

Cannes is a luxury city of French Riviera. One of its main sources of income are tourism. Cannes has many luxury hotels and shops of their beaches of pleasant climate and its Cannes Film Festival attracts tourists from around the world every year

Industry

Near Cannes - Mandelieu Airport is the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center, which is organized around the establishment of Cannes de Thales Alenia Space (in the past: SNIAS-aerospatiale, then Alcatel Space in 1998, then Alcatel Alenia Space in 2005) which was the first manufacturer of satellites in Europe. All the Météosat satellites are produced in Cannes. It is the most important industry of the Alpes-Maritimes. More than 2500 people; 2000 employees and more than 500 people who receive benefits, are involved in this industry.

Annual Cannes Congresses

Cannes is home to many international events such as

• Midem

Midem is the world's largest music industry trade fair, which has been held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France since 1966.

• MIPIM

MIPIM is a market for international property trade. It takes place annually in Cannes, France in March. In 2004, MIPIM attracted 15,157 participants from 67 countries.

• MIPTV

MIPTV Media Market is an event which takes place annually in Cannes, using the facilities and infrastructure which the town has developed over the years to host other important events such as the Cannes Film Festival amongst other events.

• Cannes Lions

The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival (IAF) is generally regarded as the most prestigious international advertising festival.

• Mipcom

The Mipcom is a media content related event which is held in the town of Cannes once every year, normally in October.

• Mapic

The Mapic is one of the leading Real Estate oriented trade shows which relates directly to Commercial Real Estate. It takes place in Cannes, at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès each November.

• ILTM

Luxury Travel Market, it is an event for the tourism of luxury held in December

Sister cities

Cannes is the sister city of important cities such as Florence, Moscow, Madrid, Quebec City and others.

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, United Kingdom Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan Acapulco, Mexico Beverly Hills, USA Khemisset, Morocco Madrid, Spain

Gstaad, Saanen, Switzerland Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Tel Aviv, Israel Florence, Italy Moscow, Russia Papeete, French Polynesia

External links

• Cannes official website
• Official website of the Cannes Film Festival
• Official website of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
• Official website of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès
• Official website of the International Luxury Travel Market