Discover famous and infamous Cannes celebrity inhabitants
Jules Verne, adventure novelist and the ‘father of science fiction’, found writing inspiration surrounded by the pine trees and villas of Cap d’Antibes, that splendid headland with its crystal clear coves, pine trees and sweeping view of the Bay of the Angels across to the snow-capped Alps.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Queen Victoria of England in the transformation of the French Riviera from sleepy rural backwater into a glittering playground for royals and celebrities.
Graham Greene, one of the greatest voices of literature of the 20th century, lived in a humble one-bedroom apartment in Antibes for 24 years.
Aldous Huxley lived on the French Riviera for seven years, during which time he wrote the dystopian novel Brave New World that would entrench him as one of the greatest 20th century writers and intellectuals. He would also be part of an alleged plot to steal DH Lawrence’s ashes and scatter them to the desert winds, a story so wonderful that it should have really appeared in a novel.
The famous novelist Somerset Maugham left England to find a place in the Mediterranean sun among the colony of artists, royals and celebrities living on the glamorous Cote d’Azur.
Admirer of Monet, mentor of Matisse, confidante of Van Gogh, the career of neo-impressionist painter Paul Signac was heavily influenced by two things: his friendship with George Seurat, and the famed light of the French Riviera.
King Leopold II of Belgium is another person who was quick to see the astonishing virtues of the Coted’Azur- much like his English cousin Queen Victoria.
As is the case with many of the great artists and writers who found their way to the French Riviera, Henri Matisse’s life was shaped by three things: sickness, light, and a willingness to disappoint his father.
Pierre Auguste Renoir was another of the great Masters who revelled in the glorious light and rustic scenes of the Cote d’Azur.
When Grace Kelly, silver screen goddess, married Prince Rainier III, ruler of Monaco, it was thought to be the perfect Hollywood film plot with the perfect fairytale ending: Commoner meets prince, commoner falls in love with prince, commoner marries prince in glittering cathedral ceremony and goes to live out her days in a Renaissance palace built high on the cliffs over the Mediterranean Sea.
Although not born here, Pablo Picasso spent a lot of his life in Antibes. He felt particularly inspired whilst he was visiting the town and eventually bought a large house in Antibes and several others along the Cote d'Azur. As a result, there is a museum dedicated to him and his work in a chatueaux where he used to rent a room as a young and aspiring artist.
Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr Jekylland Hyde, wrote of his time on the French Riviera with nostalgia.
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the famous novel The Great Gatsby while living on the French Riviera, and when the film version premiered to a red carpet audience at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, the story had in some ways come back to its spiritual home.
Bono, front man of U2 is a common sight on the French Riviera. Everyone who lives here seems to have seen him at some point- whether partying in a fashionable beach clubs in Saint Tropez, having a quiet drink in a bar in a bar in Antibes, or strolling along the beach of Eze-sur-Mer, the village where he has his mansion. He’s certainly not hard to spot, with those trademark clear glasses.