If someone had told me a year ago, that I’d be travelling to France and staying in Cannes for almost a week, I’d have never believed it in a million years. However, thanks to my amazing friends, Laura and Paul, that dream became a reality and in July 2017, I visited France for the first time in nineteen years!
As someone who adores Old Hollywood – I’m sure that’s not new information, Cannes is a filled with history from the Golden Age of Cinema. Films like To Catch A Thief (1955) and Stars like Brigitte Bardot are instantly linked to the beautiful French Rivera with the Cannes Film Festival still being one of the hottest events in the world of Movies. Therefore, getting to visit such an incredible place was simply beyond amazement and you guessed it, I became the ultimate Tourist, which is great if you’re a Blogger like myself, or you appreciate Amateur Photography.
For the six full days we were there, we stayed in Cannes and used it for our home base for when we weren’t travelling around seeing other amazing locations. If you know anything about the French Rivera, you’ll be aware that there’s a so many places to visit and let’s just say we definitely made the most of our short but sweet Holiday! I shall be writing a mini series of posts on the places we visited during our time in France, with each one focusing on a specific destination. So of course, it’s only natural that I start the first chapter with the beauty that is Cannes!
We stayed in a lovely apartment in a huge hotel that was only a fairly short walk away from the main attraction – La Croisette. This street is home to many designer stores, beautiful bakeries and of course, just a hugely famous place called the InterContinental Carlton Hotel, which you may have heard of. As you can probably guess, it’s most definitely aimed at the rich and famous, but don’t be deterred if you can’t buy anything – window shopping is always free and pretty fun!
There are so many unique and incredible sights to see at the main tourist attraction in Cannes, La Croisette. Not only is there an absolutely stunning beach, well actually, there’s multiple – the Carlton does have it’s own private beach where a 19 year old Brigitte Bardot caused a huge sensation in 1953. However, the public one which I experienced, is very appealing also. Furthermore, just a few yards away from the beach is where the iconic Cannes Film Festival is held each year at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrés, an admittedly fairly mundane building for such a grand event. Sadly, the Festival is held earlier in the Summer, so I didn’t see any Celebrities. However, the building features many hand prints and signatures of huge stars, all on the floor around the building – so, major silver lining!
If you continue walking right to the end of La Croisette, you get to admire arguably one of the most incredible murals I’ve personally been fortunate enough to witness. Unfortunately the name of this hugely talented Artist is unknown, as is the name of this very famous work, so Hollywood Film Legends shall have to do. Being that Cannes is known for it’s world famous Film Festival, it’s only fitting that the town is full of amazing murals, scattered around in the most random of places! The Hollywood Film Legends piece resides opposite a handful of Bus Stops, yes, you really did just read that! This beautiful work truly leaves you in a state of awe and amazement, so many of my favourites feature; Marilyn, Jessica Rabbit, Cyd Charrise, Fred Astaire, Lauren Bacall and Humprhey Bogart – you name it and they’re on it!
Although this mural is without doubt, one of my favourite artworks I’ve ever seen, the one I was most looking forward to witnessing and have truly loved for many years, is of course The Marilyn Mural. Featured on the Cannes Riveria Hotel, I think it’s fair to say this is a hugely iconic feature in the French Riviera and the photos simply do not do it justice. As someone who is hugely fussy with Marilyn Artworks, I can hand on my heart confirm that this one simply has no flaws – it is beyond perfect and one hundred percent does Marilyn justice.
Having Cannes as our home for six days was simply a dream come true and I can’t wait to share with you all the incredible places we got to visit during our stay in the idyllic French Riviera!
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