Yes, We Cannes!
Gertrude Stein once said of Oakland, California: "There's no there there." Cannes, sadly, seems to suffer from a similar character flaw. Rick Steves said, "Cannes has nothing unique to offer the traveler, except a mostly off-limits film festival. You can buy an ice cream cone at the train station and see everything before you've had your last lick."
One interesting thing we might consider is taking a boat to one of the little islands just off shore. The smaller is St. Honorat which has a monastery and ruined castle. The monks sell monastery made food and wine that make unique souvenirs. The larger island is Ste. Marguerite, the island prison that housed The Man in the Iron Mask. The island also has a castle, shops, bars, and restaurants. We could grab a baquette along with some cheese and fruit from a local shop, a bottle of wine from the monks and head to a quiet cove, and enjoy a bite under some shade from palm trees.
But if we do stay on the mainland, we can stroll the old port and adjacent Le Suquet district. These are the most original parts of town so it’s easy to lose your way among the labyrinth of narrow streets, and tiny squares. Le Suquet is an area with many contrasts: antique lives beside new luxury and mingles with rustic. Centuries and centuries of history are intermingled in a few streets.
In Le Suquet we can visit the Musee de la Castre, accommodated in a 12th-century castle with a collection of objects of Mediterranean origin with an emphasis on ethnography and archaeology and The Notre-Dame d’Esperance Church which dates back to the 17th century, in tribute to the Virgin Mary.
Le Suquet is a whole district, with a huge array of artisan shops and quality fishmongers. There are little bars serving a glass of wine and three oysters, a caviar and smoked salmon shop, rotisseries,
the famous Brun oyster restaurant where five people open oysters and prepare seafood on the street, all day and well into the night. There are wonderful wine shops, quality butchers, and the bread shops sell specialist Provencal bread.
Little restaurants serve bourride, aioli, daube and other provencal specialities.
Also in Le Suquet, we could spend all day at The Forville Market (Marche Forville). It's not only a market bursting with the freshest fruit, vegetables, local fish, cheese, olives etc.,
but we will be there on Monday to experience the famous Cannes Flea Market!