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Cannes
Overview: Today it is hard to imagine that the quintessential glamorous French Riviera resort of Cannes was for centuries a simple, sleepy fishing village whose only visitors were monks and wealthy pilgrims who came to visit the monastery on the nearby Island of St Honorat. All this changed in 1834 when Lord Henry Brougham, former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, arrived and established the city as a popular up-market holiday resort for the British upper classes. Soon the French and later the Russian aristocracy also flocked to Cannes to while away their summers. Each May the world's press flocks to Cannes for its annual Film Festival, which draws the world's celebrities and super-stars along with the paparazzi and expectant fans hoping to glimpse the rich and famous at the Palais des Festivals. Cannes may be synonymous with the annual Film Festival, however hundreds of less exceptional international conferences take place here each year, making rooms hard to find and restaurants hard to book for much of the year.
Cannes is busy all year round, frequented by hosts of business travellers off-season and besieged by tourists in the summer, when the long sandy beaches, glitzy nightclubs, chic shops and the famous promenade are abuzz with beautiful people flaunting the latest designer wear. Despite the city's pretensions and massive over-development, Cannes is still an international city of charm and good cheer.
