48 Hours in the Gorges du Verdon: Europe's 'Grand Canyon'

During our recent stay in Cannes, my parents and I took a side trip to the Gorges du Verdon. This gorge-ous region is known as the 'Grand Canyon of Europe' thanks to its towering cliffs and meandering turquoise river. We spent two action-packed days hiking, white-water rafting, boating and enjoying the views. Read on to discover the best things to see and do in the Gorges du Verdon and my tips for making the most of your stay.

Where To Eat on the Beach in Cannes (2024)

Cannes, the beautiful city on the French Riviera, has some of the best restaurants in the South of France. Cannes offers something for all palates — yes, there are a lot of expensive, high-end venues, but check out my guide to visiting Cannes on a budget if you are looking for more cost-effective ways to make the most of the city. But one thing is certain: a trip to Cannes wouldn't be complete without at least one meal on the golden sand overlooking the sparkling Mediterranean Sea. Here are some of the beach eateries I enjoyed on my most recent trip last month (plus a couple of bonus recommendations from previous stays).

What's in My Bag: Four Days in Cannes (Personal Item Only)

After a summer that never really took off in London, I was glad to escape for a few days of sunshine at the end of August to stay at my parents' apartment in Cannes. By flying out on Friday evening and returning late on Tuesday night, I had full four days of sun, sea and steak-frites in the glamorous French Riviera city (check out my guide to spending a day in Cannes on a 50 euro budget). And, always striving to travel light, I packed everything into one under-seat bag. Here's what I packed for my four-day trip.

How To Spend a Day in Cannes for €50 (Updated 2024)

Planning a French vacation on a budget? Cannes probably isn't the first destination that springs to mind. The Euro cents soon add up in the glamorous French Riviera city known for its Film Festival premieres and parties, designer shops and glitzy beachfront hotels. But it is perfectly possible to experience some of the best of what Cannes has to offer — from beautiful beaches, history, culture and, of course, delicious food — without breaking the bank. 

In Europe's Highest Coastal Village, Côte d'Azur Views with a Lavender Twist

Countless villages — including Sainte-Agnès in Alpes-Maritimes — lay claim to the title of prettiest village in France. And Sainte-Agnès certainly is very pretty. But it also holds a more unique honour: le village du littoral le plus haut d'Europe. Indeed, on the day we visit Europe's highest coastal village, it's almost as though we are driving into the clouds.

Long Weekend in Cannes: Bex's Guide

I can't pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with the French Riviera but it was more than two decades ago. We visited many times on family holidays, and Cannes soon emerged as our favourite town. My parents now have an apartment there and I go once or twice a year. Spending a long weekend there last week reminded me that I still hadn't put together a guide for my favourite things to eat, drink and do in Cannes, so without further ado, here it is!

Cannes: Beaches, Bites To Eat and Biot

As I was only in Cannes for a long weekend on this trip, I wanted to spend as much time as possible on the beach. This included spending the whole of Sunday relaxing on Île Sainte-Marguerite. When we were on the mainland, however, we mainly went to Plage Zamenhof, one of the public beaches, which is tucked in the eastern corner of the Bay of Cannes. 

Cannes: Excursion to Île Sainte-Marguerite

When in Cannes for the summer, I spend as much time as possible on the beach. There are plenty of good public beaches in Cannes itself, my favourite for swimming and sunbathing being Plage Zamenhof, which is on the eastern end of the main stretch of the Croisette. Sometimes, though, it's nice to escape the town and head for one of the islands.

The Cannes Caffeine Chronicles: Itinéraire Café

I've been going to Cannes two or three times a year for more than a decade, but finding good — or even decent — coffee there has been hard, though I've had a decent noisette (macchiato) at a few places around town. Da Laura, an Italian restaurant on rue du Vingt-Quatre Août and a family favourite of ours, often performs well in the noisette stakes: this little beauty arrived at the end of lunch on my first day in town on Friday.

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Yesterday we took a trip to Antibes, which is only a 15-minute train ride from Cannes. We had a potter around the town centre and then headed to chef Christian Morisset's restaurant, Le Figuier de Saint-Esprit, a gorgeous restaurant in an unassuming building on the seafront on rue Saint-Esprit.

A Very Cannes Christmas

My family spends Christmas in Cannes most years, although for various reasons we were elsewhere for the last two years. It's nice to be back though.

In Cannes, Life's a Beach

I've travelled to some awesome places this year and enjoyed all of my adventures. Sometimes, though, I just want to go somewhere familiar with good food and a good beach. Cannes has both in spades and I jetted off there last week to spend a long weekend at my parents' flat with a couple of friends.

Lighthouse Leaps and Premium Pizza

The weather forecast suggested we should expect rain yesterday, but it was beautifully sunny, so we drove up the coast road to Antibes. There's a lovely, bustling produce market on Sunday mornings, and the town has some nice shops, including an excellent English-language bookstore. 

Mediterranean Meditations

After a day of rain in London, on Friday evening I headed to Gatwick for a late-night flight to Nice, where my parents were waiting to whisk me away to their flat in Cannes. I hadn't been to the Côte d'Azure since last year's soggy film festival and it was nice to be back. 

Rain Hasn't Quite Stopped Play

I wasn't expecting great during my trip to Cannes but I was lulled into a sense of false security by the gorgeousness of Thursday afternoon. Yesterday, though, I woke up to rain and wind, although it was still fairly warm. Film Festival-related activities for non-ticket-holders aren't much fun in the rain and as a result, I had a rather de-CaFF-einated day. Of course, it's still fun to go for a morning run along the Croisette while the town wakes up, with women in fancy dresses and men in black tie, nursing hangovers, slink back to their hotel rooms after screenings, desperately seeking darkness.

Spotted on the rue d'Antibes

I did a little window shopping on the rue d'Antibes and, seizing a rare moment of sunshine, sat on the Croisette with a baguette and an éclair and soaked up the buzz. Near the Martinez, there is a little stage where last year I saw Jessie J sing a few numbers (not being particularly down with the kids, I didn't know who she was). 

This year, on Thursday, it was LMFAO's turn, although I wasn't convinced it was really them (it was a tiny stage and they seemed to perform their most famous number, Sexy and I Know It, several times but apparently it was. Now I wish I had taken some photos. Ah well. I didn't recognise the band who was playing yesterday--they sounded French. How very dare they.

Eventually, the sun came out and we went down to the rocks near the beach to watch the Croisette come to life for the evening and to listen to more random French dance music. It looks like Pete Doherty, Asia Argento and Bérénice Bejo, among others, will be there tonight. The one thing the weather can't spoil is eating delicious, rotisserie chicken with homemade mash and baguette on the (covered part of) the terrace in my parents' flat.

My kingdom for a ticket!

This morning, the weather was even more erratic, not that that stopped the hoards from queuing outside the Palais des Festivals with their brollies, hoping some kind benefactor might take pity on them and give them a ticket to a screening. The London Film Festival is certainly much more of a democracy, and if you can't even guarantee nice weather in Cannes in May, one almost wonders what use it serves. As I complained to the apartment block's guardienne this morning, j'en ai eu assez du mauvais temps. She, of course, replied, C'est le Festival. C'est normal. Indeed.

Cannes Film Festival 2012

I can't believe it has been a year since I was paprazzing Brangelina on the red carpet of last year's Cannes Film Festival (CaFF), but but I'm back again for another few days of vicarious movie-related enjoyment.

My flight to Nice this morning was filled with plenty of movie types. The guy sitting next to me on the plane had a pretty cool job: designing movie posters. Mainly horror, but with a big documentary at this year's festival. He gets to spend four days partying, boozing and schmoozing clients. Nice!

Queuing up for the best red carpet views

My early flight meant that by 2 pm, I was lying on the beach soaking up the sunshine, and by the time my parents got here, a few hours later, I had also been for a swim, read a book, snapped some photos on the Croisette and done a reccy of the Palais des Festivals. This year is the 65th CaFF and the star of all the posters is Marilyn Monroe, presumably because she died 50 years ago this year. If only a woman director had ever won the Palme d'Or, then she could be the poster girl...

As it is Ascension Day, the épiceries were closed here so we went to dinner at our Croisette favourite, Vesuvio. The pizza was pretty good tonight and despite how busy the place was, it only took three attempts to get the waiter to bring a carafe d'eau.

Le Palais des Festivals

Afterwards, we wandered down the Croisette to get an ice cream. We were too late for the red carpet (it was a French film premiering tonight anyway, albeit one with Marion Cotillard, De Rouille Et d'Os) but we did take a look at the ciné-plage, which was one of my favourite things about last year's festival. This year, there is a Bond theme to the movies shown on the beach, and as we missed the start of Dr No tonight, we will probably hold out for Diamonds Are Forever on Sunday (Jaws, next Thursday, would also be fun but I'll be gone by then).

Christmas Eve, Cannes-Style

With apologies to all those who woke up to a cold, grey or rainy Christmas Eve, the weather here was gorgeous again today. Papa and I went for a sunrise run and then we all went down to the market to buy food supplies. I was in charge of the bûche (Yule log) but finding one that wasn't excessively creamy and covered with accoutrements proved a little tricky so we settled for Paul's bûchettes.

We had lunch on the beach at Bijou Plage, but not before a quick dip in the sea — very brief in my case and only achieved by sprinting in at full speed and then falling over, submerging myself shoulder-deep. After lunch, a strong breeze materialised, forcing us to move on, but not before I managed a few leaps.

I then went to the cinema (of which more to follow later) and had a wander back home via the shops. Cannes at Christmas really isn't all that bad...

Catch Me If You Cannes

We left Cannes on Wednesday evening, having missed Lars von Trier's inappropriately headline-grabbing press conference. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we just hung out, sunbathed and did a little shopping without getting too tangled up in the folle foule de la Festival. 

The crowd outside the Jean-Paul Belmondo tribute

Rearranging Deckchairs on Das Boot

After another 24 hours in Cannes, I still haven't managed to spot any celebrities - not that I recognised, anyway. At the launch party for a new lifestyle shop near our flat, there was some old dude who kept smiling at me and putting his VIP pass in a prominent place but I ignored him. Outside the Martinez, meanwhile, I saw a rapper arriving -- possibly called "Bubba." That, sadly, is about it.

The Cinéma de la Plage, however, was very successful. Hundreds of deck chairs were arranged on the beach and Stella Artois-branded fleece blankets were handed out to the film-goers. It was pretty surreal watching Das Boot in German with French subtitles on a beach in Cannes with various loud parties taking place in the background. We only stayed an hour or so but it was good fun.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is debuting today so we'll be on the lookout for Penelope and Johnny. I just wish I could go to see one of the films in the festival.

Edit: It transpires that the elusive Guy Browning is also in town to promote his new movie.

Stars on the Croisette

Since my parents bought their flat in Cannes, almost exactly five years ago, I've never made there during the Cannes Film Festival. This year, though, I arrived the day after the festival kicked off. I was expecting the town to be absolutely thronging but it is quieter than a normal day in the middle of summer -- in the daytime, anyway.