BEYOND THE CINEMATIC GLITZ
The annual, 11-day film festival is not the only thing Cannes has to offer
In the past 10 days the seaside city of Cannes has been in the news with noisy fanfare and dazzling colour, led by pictures of bare-shouldered stars sauntering down the red carpet on a daily basis. It happens every year in May, as the world’s largest cineevent, the Cannes Film Festival, attracts thousands of journalists, photographers and industry professionals to the Mediterranean resort town made out to become a self-contained universe of glamour. Throughout its 71st edition, which ended yesterday, Cannes once again commanded the attention of the world.
But the annual, 11-day film festival is not the only thing Cannes has to offer. And Cannes itself — especially its red carpet — is not the only reason the southern coast of France deserves a splash in travel magazines. The heavy coverage devoted to Cannes should not overshadow the fact that it is just one tiny spot on the French Riviera, or Cote d’Azur, a sunny stretch of coastline dotted with charming towns, ancient forts, sea-fronting villas, picturesque promenades and a reputation — for better or worse — as “a playground of the rich and famous”.
Well it is, or it was, back in the mid-19th century when wellheeled tourists from the northern part of Europe fled winter in search of balmy coasts and eternal sunshine. They came and built elegant villas on the cliff facing the Mediterranean — many of them still standing in faded splendour — and inspired an image of wealth,
sophistication and seduction to the term French Riviera. Cannes, among others, is a prime beneficiary of this, complimented in the past decades by the high-profile film festival.
But today, travelling around Cote d’Azur doesn’t mean a splurge (I mean, you can always splurge, where else to do it if not here?). It’s perfectly possible to spend a week or so along the southern coast of France without hurting your wallets or savings, and yet to witness the slice of European riches and flamboyance from the ring side. The railway that first brought well-off vacationers to the area 150 years ago remains a relatively cheap and efficient way to get around — this is one of the most scenic rail routes in Europe — while a network of intercity buses is inexpensive and convenient. For sure, you’ll see a lot of Lamborghini rumbling around Nice, Cannes and Monte Carlo — often with suntanned models with lush lips and tight tops in the passenger seat — and then you spend 60 baht (€1.50) on bus No 100 on a relaxing ride back to your hotel.
While Cannes should be one of the stops, Cote d’Azur has many other gems, from Antibes, Juan Les Pins, Saint Tropez, Eze, Menton, Monaco, and of course, Nice, the capital of the province. On the same coast, the French Riviera connects with the Italian Riviera at Ventimiglia, where you can hop on another bus or train to a pasta lunch and a scoop of gelato across the border.
MENTON-SANREMO
A trip to the French Riviera usually begins at Nice Cote d’Azur Airport (unless you’re coming down from Paris by train, in which case the high-speed TGV stops at Cannes and Nice). From the airport, the express buses can take you to several destinations along the coast. Most people prefer to stay in Nice, the biggest city on Cote d’Azur, and use it as a base from which they make a day trip to other smaller towns. But my recent experience at Menton was a pleasant one, and I would recommend you to spend a few stress-free days there.
Like other French Riviera towns, Menton sits lovingly on a dent of the coast. As the bus approaches the last bend of the cliff-hugging ocean road — the view en route is hard to beat – you’ll see the town’s multi-coloured facade, those postcard-ready ochre-and-yellow buildings from the past centuries, perched on the low hill facing Menton harbour. It’s a picture of calm, an unimposing beauty, a discreet charm of the usually opulent Riviera.
This is a quiet town where you come to wind down, to find a nice café for breakfast and to amble without aim in the alleys of the old town. Then you find another nice café for lunch and coffee, and walk some more or soak up the sun on the beach. Dinner, again, at one of the restaurants in the old quarters, perhaps with a carafe of rose wine, before a night walk along the wide promenade by
>> the harbour.
There are a few must-see sights, and it doesn’t require much effort to look for them. The first is the mid-17th century Basilique Saint Michel Archange, said to be “a jewel of baroque art” according to the Menton tourism office. The walk up to the church is along a winding ramp cut through little houses with orange-tiled roof, and once you get there you’ll realise that the basilica is perched on a hill looking out at the Mediterranean. If you’ve seen Grace of Monaco (not a very good film, by the way), you might remember a scene with Nicole Kidman, playing Princess Grace, walking around a bustling town market — it was shot at the square outside this church, where hushed Menton standing in for lively Monaco.
The second landmark is even easier to spot: the Jean Cocteau Museum, in the centre of town, gleams with a row of stark-white, skeleton-like arched entrance — offering a postmodern landscape where the avant-garde complements the antique. Jean Cocteau — poet, playwright, filmmaker, colourful, unpredictable, provocative — visited Menton in the 1950s and took a liking to the place, and he ended up becoming the town’s honorary citizen (he also painted the town’s wedding hall, which is still in use). Then not far from the museum is Menton’s historic site, the Bastion, or the stone fort that guards the town port. With a rampart jutting into the ocean, this is where visitors take a late-afternoon stroll to look at lovers snuggling of fishing enthusiasts throwing their lines.
Instead of using Nice as a base for your coastal exploration, I found Menton an appealing candidate for that purpose. You can hop on a bus and visit Monaco, have (an expensive) coffee outside the Monte Carlo Casino — the real “playground of the rich”, or the people who convince themselves they’re rich — or take a short bus ride up the promontory to admire the Prince’s Palace, then hop on the same bus back to Menton in the afternoon.
I went the other direction by the way, toward Italy: After a day in Menton, I took a train across the Franco-Italian border (you won’t notice the border, just the Italian signs instead of French) to Ventimiglia, and from there I took a local bus to Sanremo, a popular destination on the Italian Riviera (or you can take another train). The journey took less than an hour in total and cost around €10 to €12.
Once in Sanremo, it’s easy to spend a couple of hours wandering La Pigna, or the old town of cobblestone alleys that zigzag uphill through centuries-old houses, laundry lines, hidden cafes, curious children and catty old men loitering under stone archways. It’s a tourist spot, yes, but it’s also a living, breathing neighbourhood where people go about their daily lives. The climb through La Pigna to the Church of Santuario Madonna Della Cost is a little steep, but it’s also the best way to soak up the true rough-around-the-edge Italian spirit in full. You can’t claim to have visited Cote d’Azur without spending a few days in Nice. Now the mention of Nice sadly reminds many of the ghastly truck attack of July 2016 — a terrible incident that has scarred this lovely city so full of life, and also one that compelled Nice inhabitants to unite and prove that their home has quickly
bounced back from the tragedy to welcome all visitors.
Naturally the first thing — perhaps the only obligation — to every Nice visitor is to walk down Promenade des Anglais, the iconic seafront walkway that’s probably the most photographed seashore in all of France. From spring to summer, you walk and watch lithe, tanned bodies lying on Nice’s signature pebble beach, wondering how long these sunbathers whose poses are tempting for observant painters could spend their sweet time there, nearly unmoved in the Riviera sun It’s tempting, too, to join them, otherwise (like me) ambling down the promenade watching them is sufficiently enjoyable.
Promenade des Anglais is right next to Vieux Nice, or the old town, an expansive quarters of old houses, little squares, flower markets, fish markets, cafes, brasseries, boulangeries, patisseries, boucheries, chocolateries, and all kinds of shops catered to locals as well as tourists. The triangular town plan has remained the same since the 17th century, and the narrow alleys lined with coloured houses — typical in this part of Europe — present countless photo-ops. On the other side of the old town, you come out at Place Massena, a vast Italian-style square covered with gorgeous black-and-white tiles built in the 1840s. It is a landmark that connects to the modern part of Nice, especially down the shopping street of Avenue Jean Medecin, which leads you to the train station.
For museum buffs, Nice has a few notable ones: Musee National Marc Chagall is a must for fans of the modernist painter; the Museum of Contemporary Art, on Place Garibaldi, has pieces by Yves Klein, Cesar Baldaccini, Roy Lichenstein, Niki de Saint Phalle, and other mid-century modernists. What I particularly enjoyed during my trip was Musee Matisse, set in a handsome 17th-century villa 15 minutes by bus from the centre of town. This 55-year-old museum has an impressive collection of the works by Henri Matisse, over 60 paintings and many other objects and books, as well as the artist’s massive, late-career paper cutout pieces that blend whimsy with avant-gardism. Matisse loved Nice; he came down here in the 1910s and was struck by the beauty of the town, the angles of the light, the sunshine. The town loved him back, and there’s nowhere else in France to admire his work in the full knowledge of this special feeling.
Well, after Nice, it’s time back to where we began in this article: Cannes. Every May, Cannes is overrun by film professionals who come to the film festival, and if you choose to visit during that 10 days in mid-May, the town can feel too crowded, noisy, crazy, even oppressive, but it’s also a time to immerse in the spirit that has come to characterise this place — and perhaps to spot movie stars buying ice cream on the streets.
Nice has Promenade des Anglais, and Cannes has Boulevard de la Croisette, the bustling beachfront thoroughfare looking out at the glittering Mediterranean. That’s where the crowd heads to. But just a little way from that, Cannes also has a charming old quarter that is often overlooked: Near the City Hall and the bus terminal is Le Suquet — the old town — a lovely narrow street that climbs up a hill. At the top is a peaceful garden overlooking the sea, and the 15th century Church of Notre-Dame de l’Esperance. Even during the peak of the film festival, this hilltop spot feels like a world away from the craziness down there.
If you base your trip from Nice, Cannes is perfect for a day trip. If you plan carefully, you can even take another a bus from Cannes to Grasse, the perfume town, less than an hour away; or you can sample some of the smaller towns along the way back to Nice, such as Antibes (said to have some of the best beaches) and Juan Les Pins. That way, you’ll see the highlights of the azure coast, basked in the eternal sunshine and joyful spirit. Cannes may be in the news a lot, but the rest of French Riviera deserves a standing ovation as well.