Why go
The postwar story helps explain why Cannes is identified with cinema, Saint-Tropez with international celebrity, and Cimiez with major art museums. These associations grew through distinct events and decisions rather than from a single, timeless Riviera image. Each town rewards a different kind of visit.
The full story
The Cannes Film Festival began in 1946, bringing international cinema back to the coast soon after the war. A decade later, the 1956 film Et Dieu… créa la femme made Brigitte Bardot an international star and drew fresh attention to Saint-Tropez. Grace Kelly’s marriage to Prince Rainier in Monaco that same year put another part of the coast before a global audience. Nice followed a different path. In the 1960s, mayor Jacques Médecin sought to broaden the city’s economy through conventions and cultural institutions. The Chagall and Matisse museums in Cimiez are lasting parts of that shift. Apartment blocks and other development also spread along the coast. Together, these changes produced the Riviera visitors see today: historic towns and beaches alongside film venues, museums, large buildings and places shaped by mass tourism.