Cannes

Location

Cannes is located in the Alpes-Maritimes region.

Presentation

Cannes is the "star" of the French Riviera, famous for the International Film Festival and the glitzy hotels, cars, beaches and visitors attracted here.

Film producers (yes, sure!) and starlets for the festival in May. Tourists year-round and crowds of tourists in the summer. Exotic people and real people, and plenty of poodles (it is , after all). The yachts and cruise ships float in the blue water, and you can't always tell which is which by the size.

The city of Cannes is centered around the old port, with the central part quite compact. The famous "Croisette" is the boulevard and the beach that extends around the bay to the east of the port, in the protected "Rade de Cannes". At the west side of the port, the Boulevard Jean Hibert runs along the coast to the west, with fine sandy beaches. The Rue d'Antibes is the main street running east-west through the center of the city. The Boulevard Carnot runs north out of the city to the A8 autoroute, and inland towards Grasse.

The closest thing to an "old town" is "Le Suquet" overlooking the west end of the port. The 12th-century Tour de Mt. Chevalier, ramparts and 12th-16th-century church Notre-Dame-de-l'Espérance give a touch of medieval flavor to the city. The Le Suquet area has narrow streets climbing up and around the hill, with a fine view from the top. Standing on the ancient rampart wall in front of the church, you can see east across the city, the port and the bay to the Cap de la Croisette, and to the west across the Gulf of La Napoule to the Massif de l'Esterel mountains.

Economy

Cannes, a city which ranks second in for conventions after Paris, is surely one of the great destinations worldwide for business tourism.

Located just a few kilometres from the Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport, Cannes is also accessible from the Airport of Cannes Mandelieu, the second busiest in for private aircraft.

Thus, the Festival Hall hosts nearly 150 events each year - conventions, festivals, and international markets - for an estimated 2 milliards French francs in economic fallout.

And for holiday tourism, Cannes, the world's most famous city thanks to its International Film Festival, has never lost its power of attraction on its French and foreign clientele, attracted by its star status. Such intense tourist activity is beneficial to the hotel, restaurant business and luxury boutiques, offering the most prestigious luxury showcase in, between the sea and sun.

Cannes is also home base to large private yachts in the Mediterranean, so the city has is widely recognised as a major nautical activity centre.

The city is also known for its high-technology industry dominated by the Alcatel Space Division (ex-Aérospatiale Group's) operational satellite centre. The area around Cannes has developed into a high-tech cluster. The technopolis of Sophia-Antipolis lies up in the hills beyond Cannes.

The capital growth of this city is quite dynamic with an increase of 14.9% between 2006-2007. One advantage is the highly stable rental market that can turn your property into a great investment.

Festivals

The Cannes Film Festival, held annually in May, is a major event for the world film industry. There is an annual television festival, airing in the last week in September, also the Mipim is a major commercial real estate exhibition, taking place in March. Other major festivals are Mapic, Lions, Mipcom, TFWA.

Many festivals take place during the summer. The Musical Nights of Le Suquet take place in July in a magnificent spot under the stars, like the Nocturnes of the Villa Domergue, on the hills of the Californie area.

For new musical trends, there’s also La Pantiero, on the Riviera Terrace of the Palais des Festivals in August.

The Russian Art Festival also offers diverse ballets and orchestras.

About 200,000 people attend each year the Festival of Pyrotechnic Art, which is the biggest in Europe with its own award ceremony.

Transportation

Good bus service is provided for the suburbs and for many of the outlying towns and villages. The main rail line goes east to , Menton, and the rest of Europe, with local-line stops at Antibes and Biot. To the west, the line goes to Marseille, Lyon and Paris, with local stops at Fréjus.