Although better know for its film festival, Cannes also has a rich history in other visual arts, including painting, sculpture and photography.
With plenty of museums and galleries to visit this small town has a rich history in classical art, with its Roman heritage, as well as contemporary painting from artists such as Picasso and Yves Klein.
However, the area is possibly best known for its perfume trade. It was Catherine de Medici, back in the 16th century, who first cultivated the idea of fragranced leather gloves (so the gentry could mask the smell of their surroundings). As a tanning town, Grasse already produced the leather gloves, and the flower farms grew alongside to develop perfumerie into a mature industry of its own. Flowers thrive in the mild climate, with the main crops being rose, jasmine, mimosa and lavender.
The world famous Chanel No.5 was first produced in Grasse in the 1920's and now, the town not only processes its own local flowers, but acts as an international manufacturing centre for raw materials produced globally.
Some manufacturers in the area are open to the public for tours and sales and there is a museum dedicated to the art of perfumerie - the Musée International de la Parfumerie. The Salon des Parfums on the outskirts of Grasse carries over 80 perfumes and other scented household goods. Festivals are dedicated to the rose (mid May) and to jasmine (early August), comprising of parades and floats, and market stalls selling all things related.
