Welcome To Cannes France!

You might have heard the name before, but now it’s time to pound the pavement in one of the most gorgeous areas of the world! Cannes is located on The French Riviera, and this sleepy resort town on the Mediterranean wakes up for two weeks a year to host the world’s most glamorous film festival. 

The rest of the year, the resort town is flooded with tourists and locals alike, who bask in the beauty around them:

Time To Gaze Upon A “Hitch Hike!”

Not sure what he’s looking at, but for those who don’t know, I have a series called “Hitch Hiking” – where I take a long hike and then watch an Alfred Hitchcock film!

For this edition of “Hitch Hiking”, I want to take you on a walking tour of Cannes that lasted most of a day and added up to more than ten miles, topped off with a Hitchcock film that was based here!

I added up all the times I’ve been to Cannes for both work and pleasure, and I came up with this number: 25! Yes, I’ve been to Cannes 25 times, and got into a habit of getting out early in the day to get some exercise – here’s what I did on my “ten mile hike” along the French Riviera:

As you can see, the Cannes Croisette has plenty of iconic blue chairs to sit and watch the world go by…but I decided to “hike” Cannes instead – beginning at the north end of town and the “Palm Beach Casino”, which is the town’s hot spot at night, and all along the Croisette you may come across a party at any time of day…

I love how a French Riviera “beach party” will pop up anywhere at anytime! I continued to walk the Croisette and at one point I wanted to say “hey, the water’s behind you!”

The town has a great walkway known as “The Croisette”, which hugs the Mediterranean and passes some of the city’s iconic hotels – and perhaps that guy enjoyed the architecture of the iconic Carlton Hotel more than the water!

The famous Carlton Dock is usually packed to the rafters, but early in the morning it’s a serene way to walk over the Mediterranean…

Up ahead, just more than two miles from the Palm Beach, sits the Palais du Festival, where the film festival is held each year…and on the other side is the Cannes harbor, filled with boats of all shapes and sizes, and some Yachts as well:

From the harbor, you can see the “old town”, which gives you a chance to climb the narrow streets to the top and see the town from above it all:

My hike has taken me just over four miles at this point, standing high above Cannes on the southern end of town – and when I head down to the water, I continues south, away from the town center:

The town of La Napoule is 4 miles south of Cannes, and I walked halfway there in order to keep staring out to sea – those hills in the distance are just south of La Napoule:

You can literally walk around this hills straight ahead, and if you go for 50 more miles, you will end up at St. Tropez! Instead, I did a U-turn after two more miles and headed back to Cannes – hungry and thirsty, so I stopped at one of the kiosks that line the path:

I enjoyed a ham sandwich on a baguette and headed back to “The Croisette”, where people were still gathered to take the legendary hike up the red carpet steps:

I was just in Cannes again, and we got a great souvenir shot from the red carpet!

That’s Alex on the right with her brother Derek next to her, then his wife Cherie and me on the left…we also got a shot across from the Palais:

I love walking this city – incredible architecture and views, and always good for my health as well….even if I took a break once in a while…

Well, I DID hike more than ten miles, so I figured it was OK to put my feet up and relax a bit a view that I could stare at for hours on end, before deciding it was time to end my “hike” and watch an Alfred Hitchcock thriller that was based in Cannes!

“To Catch a Thief” is the 1955 thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film stars Cary Grant as a retired cat burglar who has to save his reformed reputation by catching an imposter preying on the wealthy tourists of the French Riviera. Grace Kelly stars opposite him as his romantic interest – and yes, it was her final film with Hitchcock.

Here is the trailer:

Here is what inspired us to watch it: the incredibly beautiful French Riviera, which is shown in a great driving scene with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly…never mind that every dialogue scene was clearly shot in a studio on green screen, the exterior shots offer up a Riviera that I hiked!

This is just one of my “Hitch Hiking” trips – if you wonder where i went for one, here’s a hint:

Yes, I hiked the Grand Canyon, one of the wonders of the world…you can read all about it here:

My series, inspired by my wife, began with this view overlooking Malibu and the Pacific Ocean:

For those who haven’t been following along, here is a link to 8 of these hikes, as well as the classic Hitchcock thrillers the you can enjoy afterwards:

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Farewell from Cannes!

Categories: Art, Cult Movies, Exotic Travel, Film Fight Club, Film Noir, Great Films, Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir

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