Film Stars, Jet Set & Modernity
Cannes and the Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival was founded in 1946 — as a counter-event to the politically influenced Venice Film Festival. The Palme d'Or became the most coveted film prize in the world. Cannes attracted Hollywood to the Côte d'Azur: Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier III here (1955), they married in 1956 and made Monaco synonymous with royal glamour.
Brigitte Bardot & Saint-Tropez
In 1956, Roger Vadim filmed "And God Created Woman" (Et Dieu... créa la femme) with Brigitte Bardot in Saint-Tropez. The film turned the sleepy fishing village overnight into a jet set paradise. Bardot still lives in Saint-Tropez (near La Madrague) and is committed to animal welfare.
The Côte d'Azur of Artists
The coast was a magnet for artists in the 20th century:
- Henri Matisse — Lived in Nice for 37 years (1917–1954). "There is such light here!" he said upon his arrival.
- Marc Chagall — Lived from 1966 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, where he died in 1985.
- Pablo Picasso — Worked in the Château Grimaldi in Antibes (1946), lived his last years in Mougins (1961–1973).
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir — Spent his last twelve years in Cagnes-sur-Mer (1907–1919). His house and studio are now the Musée Renoir.
- Fernand Léger — Lived in Biot, where the Musée Fernand Léger stands today.
The Côte d'Azur Today
Today, the Côte d'Azur struggles with the downsides of its success: skyrocketing real estate prices, overtourism in summer, traffic chaos, and the tension between glamour and authenticity. But the light is still the same that Matisse painted. The Provençal cuisine is still a feast. And the beauty of the coast — from the cliffs of the Corniche to the bays of Cap d'Antibes to the mountain villages of the hinterland — is timeless.