Cannes: It's more than just that film festival

15 May 2016 - 02:00 By Lisa Templeton

Forget about the movie stars. Lisa Templeton finds all kinds of magic for tourists on the French Riviera Cannes is currently bustling with Learjets, helicopters, yachts and super cars as the movie industry descends for the 69th annual Festival de Cannes - on until next Sunday.But while the likes of Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen have their designer luggage unpacked for them, remember that this coast has long drawn humble artists, writers, intellectuals and travellers too.Henri Matisse, that master of colour, summed up the appeal thus: "Do you remember the light through the shutters? It came from below, as if from theatre footlights. Everything was fake, absurd, amazing, delicious."And so it remains, for the Côte d'Azur, that cobalt strip of coast, is an extraordinary place where ordinary people too can chill out, eat well and explore art and history.story_article_left1Stand on the sea side of the Palais des Festivals, the conference centre at the heart of the film festival, and you'll see an island across the water. This is Île Sainte-Marguerite, where paths wind through pine forests to golden coves - and where one of the most mysterious prisoners in history once languished in a cliff-top cell in Fort Royal.Who was The Man in the Iron Mask? I wondered as I strode into the white-washed cell, where he spent 11 of his 40 years in isolation, with its vaulted ceiling and layers of iron bars blocking off the sky.Both Voltaire and Alexander Dumas (author of the Three Musketeers) speculated that he was the brother of Louis XIV, though his identity was never revealed.Whoever he was, my three-year-old child spookily refused to enter the cell, so we headed instead for sea, sunshine and camembert on a beach via the fascinating Maritime Museum with its little dioramas of salvaging Roman amphora from shipwrecks on the sea floor.For a boat lover, this entire coast is mesmerising but no place more so than the yacht basin in Cannes, where superyachts are offset by the most exquisite classic yachts, with beautiful, swooping wooden hulls.Here models shimmy about with F1 drivers but the real action is on the Promenade de la Croisette, a four-laned boulevard with an impressive row of palms down its centre.The Riviera's mini-Hollywood, it splits beaches with jaunty blue-and-white umbrellas from the elegant line of hotels, and it hums with red and yellow supercars in the continental brands.story_article_right2The cream of the hotels is the InterContinental Carlton with its distinctive domes (reputedly designed to resemble the breasts of a famous courtesan) and its pale marble lobby with sparkling chandeliers. A t the moment, it's packed with movie moguls congratulating themselves and conjuring up mega deals.Elizabeth Taylor brought all seven husbands here and Faye Dunaway ordered litres of goats' milk for a bath. I, on the other hand, took my toddler and we forked out more money on two hot chocolates and a cupcake than we would have on a three-course meal back home.The views from Cannes inspired many of Picasso's works after he settled here in 1955. If you are an art lover, do not miss the Musée Picasso at the Chateau Grimaldi, just to your east in Antibes.The reader on a budget, however, may want to buy a baguette and camembert, as we did, and sit on the fortified city walls with feet dangling and eyes facing out to sea, where once people watched for marauding pirates .East of here is Cap Ferrat, an exquisite peninsula once home to writer W Somerset Maugham and sung about by Noel Coward, with a charming child-friendly beach, the Plage de Passable. This peninsula was named second most expensive residence in the world, beaten only by neighbouring Monaco.But we headed west to St Tropez. We took a ferry from St Maxime, avoiding the heinous traffic and scudding over cerulean seas.We disembarked channelling the bouncing charm of Brigitte Bardot and strode past the superyachts to enjoy an aperitif at Senequier, a quay-side café with scarlet awning and prices to put you in the red.story_article_left3From here, follow the quay to the Musée de l'Annonciade, a collection of modern art in a 16th-century chapel with works by Matisse, Seurat, Derain, Cross and Signac.Once a draw for the Parisian Left Bank, today St Tropez buzzes with celebrities, for its nightclubs, beaches and secluded villas.And yet, like the rest of this glittering coast, it retains its magical French essence. Yes, this is a town so wealthy that the speed bumps are regularly height-adjusted for each year's supercars, but old men still play games of pétanque under plane trees in the Place des Lices.And the ochre alleys, just wide enough for donkeys to pass, may have eye-wateringly expensive boutiques but they also have patisseries and little grocers'.As I lie on the grass up at the hilltop Citadel, having admired the blue view, I pop a piece of fromage de chèvre in my mouth and think bon appétit to France.Share your travel experiences with us in 'Readers' World' and you could win R1,000Send your photos - at least 500KB - and a story of no more than 800 words. ALL winners receive R1,000. Only winning entrants will be contacted. E-mail travelmag@sundaytimes.co.za..

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