This is the second in a series on the French Riviera.

Cannes makes headlines every May when it swarms with thousands of movie stars, wannabees, film moguls, "beautiful people", fans and reporters, all there for the prestigious Film Festival. The rest of the year it's a very livable city of about 70,000 with a bit of everything the Riviera has to offer.

Many of the "belle epoque" palaces such as the Earl of Brougham's "Villa Eleonore" are still standing, though most now serve as office or apartment buildings. In addition to some of Europe's finest hotels, the beachfront Croisette boulevard boasts elegant shops frequented by the owners of visiting yachts, and of course it's also the site of the Film Festival Theatre.

There is plenty for history buffs. Crowning the hill behind the old port on the site of a former fort stand an old church, a museum, and the 12th century "Suquet Tower". An admiring Queen Victoria donated a park bench too, from which I've oft admired the view of the port on one side and the distant Alps on the other. Near the old port is a church where a plaque states that Napoleon hid there after returning from exile in Elba, before heading back to Paris. The Iles de Lerins, just a few kilometres offshore, make for a fascinating day trip, and a pastoral refuge from the city's bustle. They were once the site of the most influential monastic order in Europe, where Saint Patrick himself was trained. There is also the fort where it is said that the mysterious "man in the iron mask" spent most of his miserable life before finally being executed.

There are many self-catering apartments for ordinary tourists in Cannes and nearby. We spent the month of February at our favorite, the Villa Francia complex of the Pierre et Vacances chain. It had been a palatial estate, and the landscaped grounds were still painstakingly maintained. Overlooking the Mediterranean, it was about 2 km (1 1/4 miles) in one direction from the Croisette and half a mile in the other from a shopping centre. Most significant for us, the complex was completely modern, and a real bargain. In the mid-1990s the entire cost FOR TWO for a month, including round-trip air between Montreal and Nice by Air France was about CAD$2700. It's a bit more now, but still a bargain by today's standards. Unlike many winter destinations, we had no trouble finding everything we wanted, although most items cost more than at home. The exceptions were flowers and fresh produce, which were abundantly available, inexpensive, and always of the finest quality. Perfume and cologne were bargains, and we heartily enjoyed lots of excellent and inexpensive wines.

What was life like in Cannes? The people seemed not much different from North Americans, except for their usually immaculate dress and the formal manners which one comes to expect in France. The city buses were excellent and inexpensive, but the weather was fine and I often walked, sometimes in shirtsleeves, sometimes with a light jacket. Eating out once a week, we found the restaurants fairly expensive, but the food was great! For centuries the "real" business of Cannes was fishing, and although the old port is now filled with small pleasure craft, fishermen still go out daily, and their fresh catch graces the tables of resaurants along the Quai St Jacques.

One big difference we discovered is the French fondness for dogs, which soon led to a few surprises. Dogs ride with their masters in the buses, and often lie quietly under the table in restaurants. Also, at first we wondered why so many people seemed depressed or preoccupied, always walking with their heads down. You guessed it: -- nobody stoops and scoops! Although Cannes has efficient cleanup crews vacuuming and scrubbing the sidewalks constantly, you have to watch where you walk everywhere in France!