Beyond La Croisette in Cannes

Cannes – that small city in the south of France – means many things to many people.

For most, I’d venture, it’s best known for its namesake film festival – home of the famous red carpet, 20-minute standing ovations, and the Palme D’Or.

And for many, it’s a requisite stop along any French Riviera tour, the spot to hit after Saint-Tropez and before Cap D’Antibes.

For me, the city is two things.

First, it’s a pivotal place in my how-I-met-my-husband story. Fifteen years ago, I met Emmett two weeks into a three-month Eurotrip. Since I’m a classic booked-all-three-months-of-accomodation-in-advance type, and he was a freewheeling couchsurf-my-way-across-the-continent sort, he ended up following my itinerary, which included meeting my mom and brother Matt in Cannes. AKA – Emmett crashed my family vacation, and thus many of my first memories of the city involve grossing out Matt and my Mom with aggressive PDA and over-the-top swooning.

The second thing this city is to me is a professional playground. Cannes is home to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the ad industry’s Oscars/foremost conference/homecoming weekend. For one week in June, the relaxed town transforms into a Vegas-style juggernaut – tech companies take up temporary residence on the beach, producers get wined and dined on yachts, and agencies project their names onto hotel exteriors (Snapchat even runs a monorail up and down La Croisette to shuttle people from one panel or branded content series or award ceremony to the next).

Two weeks ago, I traveled to Cannes for work – to reunite with old co-workers, have dinner with clients, learn about new tech and tools, and get inspired by all the work agencies are making worldwide. Every day I drained my social battery, slept for like four hours, and then woke up to do it again. On the best days I also got to tag along to places like Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and the Cap D’Antibes Beach Hotel to recreate Slim Aarons’ poolside pics, swim in the sea, ride waves in speedboats, and drink a stereotypically large quantity of rose.    

While the similarities between corporate Cannes to and romantic Cannes were slim, there was one area of overlap between those very different experiences: the neighborhood. I stayed in La Suquet, the same hilly old town area where my mom rented an apartment fifteen years ago. It was quiet and peaceful and provided a much-needed release valve from La Croisette’s non-stop scene.

All of which is to say, I love both kinds of Cannes – but I bet you can guess which of the two I love most of all.