It's hard to think of Cannes without conjuring up images of the Festival de Cannes, the glamorous film festival held every year right by the beach. If you're looking for fun ways to tap into the French Rivera city's cinematic culture, why not take a self-guided walking tour of the Murs Peints — murals that celebrate Cannes' film history?

2025 has begun in the wettest and windiest fashion in London and I'm already dreaming about my next adventures, ideally to somewhere warm and sunny! In the meantime, I've picked out five of my favourite travel memories from 2025, including two new countries (Sri Lanka and Bulgaria) and delightful returns to NYC and Cannes.

Planning a French vacation on a budget? Cannes probably isn't the first destination that springs to mind. The Euro cents soon add up in the glamorous French Riviera city known for its Film Festival premieres and parties, designer shops and glitzy beachfront hotels. But it is perfectly possible to experience some of the best of what Cannes has to offer — from beautiful beaches, history, culture and, of course, delicious food — without breaking the bank. 

2017 has been my busiest ever year for travel. I spent 84 days outside the UK on 12 foreign trips, some for business but most for pleasure. 30 of these days were spent on a sabbatical in Australia and New Zealand. I visited five new countries and ten countries in total: the Czech Republic (Prague); France (Paris and Cannes); Germany (Cologne); Italy (Padua); Norway (Oslo); Spain (Barcelona); the United States (New York, Boston, Cape Ann and Maine); Singapore; Australia; and New Zealand.

I can't pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with the French Riviera but it was more than two decades ago. We visited many times on family holidays, and Cannes soon emerged as our favourite town. My parents now have an apartment there and I go once or twice a year. Spending a long weekend there last week reminded me that I still hadn't put together a guide for my favourite things to eat, drink and do in Cannes, so without further ado, here it is!

As I was only in Cannes for a long weekend on this trip, I wanted to spend as much time as possible on the beach. This included spending the whole of Sunday relaxing on Île Sainte-Marguerite. When we were on the mainland, however, we mainly went to Plage Zamenhof, one of the public beaches, which is tucked in the eastern corner of the Bay of Cannes. 

When in Cannes for the summer, I spend as much time as possible on the beach. There are plenty of good public beaches in Cannes itself, my favourite for swimming and sunbathing being Plage Zamenhof, which is on the eastern end of the main stretch of the Croisette. Sometimes, though, it's nice to escape the town and head for one of the islands.

I've been going to Cannes two or three times a year for more than a decade, but finding good — or even decent — coffee there has been hard, though I've had a decent noisette (macchiato) at a few places around town. Da Laura, an Italian restaurant on rue du Vingt-Quatre Août and a family favourite of ours, often performs well in the noisette stakes: this little beauty arrived at the end of lunch on my first day in town on Friday.

I am on my way to Cannes today for a long weekend at my parents' apartment. My main holiday this year was to Mexico, but June and July were insanely busy at work and I've been in need of a little sunshine, sea and poulet rôti. I booked a hand-luggage only with BA and I'm travelling super-light, taking only my trusty small and large Longchamp Le Pliage totes.


This is what I'm bringing — the only things missing are my blazer for the plane, fedora and DLSR. I keep a few things at my parents' place, including a spare pair of running shoes, a few tops and some toiletries, which helps a lot when I'm travelling light. My things are laid out on a Hammamas towel; I won't be taking it with me on this trip, but I've had the turquoise version for about five years and love it so much that I've just bought this pink one to keep at my office. They are lightweight, absorbent and very chic; great for those who like to travel light.


I will be in Cannes for four days, so as well as my purple Havaianas flipflops, my favourite black Banana Republic ballet flats, my & Other Stories bikini, undies and my running kit, I'm bringing: two pairs of shorts (khaki are from Miss Selfridge circa 2004, indigo are J. Crew); five tops (smart black lace tank from Banana Republic, pink textured tank from J. Crew, Uniqlo striped tank, pink American Eagle tee and indigo J. Crew tee); a lightweight cardi; and two dresses (pink and green dress from TopShop and navy dress with floral pattern from Aqua). There are a few toiletries and make-up items here too, but I have more at the apartment.


It isn't hard to guess that my three favourite colours are pink, turquoise and purple, is it? Most of these items, apart from my laptop and chargers, will go in my smaller 'handbag-sized' bag. I've downsized my wallet to a teal Lonchamp coin-purse and a pink card-holder from Kate Spade Saturday. My favourite fossil sunglasses and Kate Spade passport holder will also accompany me. My jewellery and a few first-aid-type items live in my aqua J. Crew pouch. I recently acquired a S'Well bottle, which is great at keeping liquids cool — I even brewed some coffee last night and decanted into the bottle so that it was ready for my early start this morning. My iPad Mini is loaded up with e-books and my waterproof camera is also ready for some action. Then there's just my sleep mask and my amazing Bose SoundTrue headphones, which fold down really small for travel.


J'arrive, Cannes! A plus tard!

I can hardly believe that it's already time for my end-of-year top five lists. I like to pick my top five 'leaps' of the year because it is a convenient — and somewhat quirky — way of reviewing my London-based and foreign adventures. It's been a hectic year at work but I've travelled to New York, Japan, Canada and Cannes, and there has also been plenty of fun in London, including Secret and Hot Tub Cinemas and many birthdays and gin experiences. None of these London activities involved any good leaps, though, so my top five leaps are all taken overseas.

My family spends Christmas in Cannes most years, although for various reasons we were elsewhere for the last two years. It's nice to be back though.

I've travelled to some awesome places this year and enjoyed all of my adventures. Sometimes, though, I just want to go somewhere familiar with good food and a good beach. Cannes has both in spades and I jetted off there last week to spend a long weekend at my parents' flat with a couple of friends.

The weather forecast suggested we should expect rain yesterday, but it was beautifully sunny, so we drove up the coast road to Antibes. There's a lovely, bustling produce market on Sunday mornings, and the town has some nice shops, including an excellent English-language bookstore. 

After a day of rain in London, on Friday evening I headed to Gatwick for a late-night flight to Nice, where my parents were waiting to whisk me away to their flat in Cannes. I hadn't been to the Côte d'Azure since last year's soggy film festival and it was nice to be back. 

The 2012 BFI London Film Festival kicked off a few days ago but my first event was tonight. And what better way to kick it off than with the premiere of De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone), Jacques "A Prophet" Audiard's new movie?

I've been pretty busy over the past few weeks so I hadn't had much time to read about the actors and directors whose films I would be seeing so that I had a good question to pose during the Q&A sessions, nor to work on my red carpet strategy. Much as I love the LFF, I do hate having to be in Leicester Square at the weekend or in the evening, and tonight it was pretty hellish, with some apparently dyslexic zombies mistaking 13 October for Halloween. Fancy dress aside, I was surprised that Leicester Square seemed less dominated than in previous years by the film festival. There are usually lots of LFF hoardings but I only spotted one on the Odeon West End, where Rust and Bone was showing. This could be due to the Leicester Square renovation project finally being finished or to the fact that new festival director Clare Stewart wanted a festival that is temporally more compact, while being geographically more extensive.

Fun, glamour and Marion Cotillard on the red carpet at the London premiere of Rust and Bone

In any case, I arrived at the cinema at that sweet spot of about 10-15 minutes before the film's posted start time, when the biggest star of the night is likely to be pounding the red carpet. Indeed, Marion Cotillard was there looking gorgeous and sporting a lovely black dress, not dissimilar to the one I was wearing, although mine came from TopShop and probably cost about 100 times less than hers. I hovered for a bit, snapping a few photos; annoyingly, on the rare occasions she turned in my direction, I couldn't seem to get her in focus. Once she'd gone inside, I went to take my seat. Before the film started, Cotillard was joined on stage by her co-star Matthias Schoenaerts, as well as Audiard, his translator and Clare Stewart. There was a bit of gallic banter and a miscommunication of stage directions meant that Audiard nearly knocked Cotillard off the stage (particularly unfortunate given that her character in the film has a serious accident).

I didn't know much about the movie, which was probably a good thing. It was at the Cannes Film Festival this year, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or, although we missed the red carpet. Nice Matin, the local rag, was particularly excited because it was set in the local area. Most of it is supposed to be Antibes, but the beach scenes were definitely in Cannes and I spotted a few glimpses of the Croisette too. Rust and Bone portrays an entirely different side of the Côte d'Azur. Some spoilers may follow, although as usual I try not to give too much away.

Ali (Schoenaerts) runs away from Belgium with his young son Sam (Armand Verdure) to the South of France, where they can bunk with his older sister Anna (Corinne Masiero) and her husband Foued (Mourad  Frarema). Ali isn't the greatest father, but he does at least seem to be slightly more competent than Sam's never seen mother. While working as a security guard, Ali meets Stéphanie (Cotillard). The first we see of her is a languorous shot of Cotillard's lovely long legs in a nightclub queue. I believe this is what they call foreshadowing. Stéphanie has been knocked over and is bleeding so Ali insists on driving her home, where he meets her boyfriend Simon. Stéphanie, it turns out, works as a whale trainer at the nearby Marine Land. This surprises Ali who, based on her dress, tells her he thought she was a prostitute.

They both think they'll never see each other again, but then Stéphanie gets into a horrific accident and is struggling to adapt to her new life. Ali isn't exactly thoughtful, but his blunt, can-do attitude encourages her to venture back out into the real world, to move on and to try new things. A tentative friendship--with benefits, later--develops between them. Maybe Ali is growing as a person. Or maybe he's still a douchebag, because he is still a pretty irresponsible father and he still lets his sister down. He also lets Stéphanie down, as she begins to realise that Ali doesn't care about her as much as she thought--and as much as she wanted. He also gets recruited into a little underground fight club, where he gets paid big money to beat the living daylights out of other guys.

L: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, a translator, Jacques Audiard & Clare Stewart. R: Assorted Franco-Belgian shenanigans

Rust and Bone is based on a short story of the same name by Craig Davidson, which, from what the author says on his website and from what Audiard said during the Q&A tonight, seems to have gone through a number of changes in its transition to the big screen. The short story seems to be Fight Club, whereas the poster of the movie proudly displays the Grauniad's one-line summary: "an utterly absorbing love story." It is utterly absorbing, if very draining and hard to watch at times. It is also beautifully shot with recurring water motifs, and the Côte d'Azur making an attractive backdrop, even in its seedier parts. Cotillard is excellent, as usual, and Schoenaerts is also good playing a character who is often unlikable and infuriating. They are playing very different characters but the chemistry between them is good and believable.

The Q&A after the movie proved rather interesting, with two French people, a Belgium, an Aussie and a translator on stage. It didn't help that audience members tried to ask questions in French or Flemish, which then had to be translated back into English for the benefit of the rest of the audience. Cotillard and Schoenaerts both spoke very good English, although Audiard's was a little weaker, which meant the Q&A felt more farcical than usual. Audiard had wanted to work with Cotillard for a long time, he said ("me too," Schoenaerts added). Someone asked about the ending, which did change substantially from the short story, "because my co-writer and I both have children" and because the movie is a melodrama and there are thus certain conventions to be followed. When asked what his next film would be if Rust and Bone is a follow-on from A Prophet; hilariously, he said, "a musical." I can't remember any other interesting questions, although at one point Schoenaerts decided to pick up Cotillard and swing her round to show her legs off to the audience. This is what happens when you let the Euros into LFF, you see!

It's been a pretty good summer for hotties at the movies. First, there was Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider Man, then there was Christian Bale and Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises, and next, Clive Owen appeared in Shadow Dancer. But that's not all: this evening I got to see a preview of another Tom Hardy film, Lawless. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of Monsieur Hardy at the Cannes Film Festival this year, but the unclement weather meant I missed out.

Lawless is set in during the Prohibition era in 1930s Virginia. Brothers Forrest (Hardy), Jack (Shia LaBeouf) and Howard (Jason Clarke) Bondurant have got a great bootlegging business going on, but Special Deputy Charles Rakes (Guy Pearce), who is more than a little crooked, wants a share of their profits. He isn't afraid to use his guns to achieve this, and the brothers must band together to defend themselves and their business. Jack is also trying to win over Bertha, the preacher's daughter (Mia Wasikowska), and to prove to his older brothers that he is as tough as they are. Forrest, meanwhile, gets badly wounded in the crossfire on several occasions and is nursed back to health by Maggie (Jessica Chastain), with whom he enjoys a slow-burning relationship.

Actually, the whole film is a slow burner. The trailer gives you the impression that it's a non-stop action thriller, but although there are a few dramatic shout-out scenes and a fair bit of blood and guts, there isn't a huge amount in the way of plot. Lawless is also quite amusing--Hardy, in particular, has quite a few funny lines, and LaBeouf's character is less of a charisma vaccine than his character in Wall Street: Money Never Sleep. Hardy, with his husky, redneck accent, isn't much more comprehensible than when he played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, but he puts in a strong a performance as ever. Pearce is also great as the vain bad guy with the Nazi haircut.

Despite the good performances, I wasn't overly impressed with Lawless. It isn't really my kind of film, and I felt it needed a better storyline or a more engaging script. It was fine for a free preview and I'm always happy to be able to lust over Tom Hardy, but I probably would have been more disappointed if I had paid £12 for my ticket.

I arrived in Cannes the day after the Moonrise Kingdom premiere and thought it sounded quirky and interesting, so I was disappointed that if I wanted to see it in Cannes, I would have had to watch it dubbed into French. Unsurprisingly, I decided to wait until I was back in England. The only other Wes Anderson film I've seen is The Royal Tenenbaums, which I didn't like at all, although back then my taste in films was a lot less eclectic than it is now, so I didn't rush out to see any of his other movies. But I liked Moonrise Kingdom so much, maybe I will take a look at his back catalogue.

Moonrise Kingdom is set on a small island off the coast of New England in the summer of '65. Drawn together by their mutual sadness and their love for each other,12-year-old Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) decide to escape their unhappy home lives and run away together. Fresh out of khaki scout camp, Sam, clad in a coonskin cap, has plenty of useful kit and knowledge; the blue-eyeshadow-wearing Suzy, on the other hand, brings her pet kitten, a suitcase full of stolen library books, a record player and her favourite Françoise Hardy record.

Hot on their heels are Suzy's aggressive, lawyer parents (Bill Murray, whose character has a collection of colourful pull-ons to make even Johnnie Boden envious, and Frances McDormand), the glum island policeman (Bruce Willis), and a whole troop of overly militaristic khaki scouts, led by Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton). Sam's parents, it turns out, are dead and the couple in charge of the near-Dickensian foster home where he has been living have decided that even if Sam is recovered, he can't go back there. Oh, and there's also the mean lady from social services (Tilda Swinton), in a pre-Wonka-chewing-gum Violet Beauregard outfit, who wants to sequester Sam away in a "juveline refuge" and administer shock treatments to him. Oh, and there's also a hurricane warning in place and a potentially ill-fated performance of Noye's Fludde.

Being a Wes Anderson film, Moonrise Kingdom is very quirky and funny-odd, but it's also sweet and, at times, funny-ha-ha. Anderson's attention to detail is almost clinical throughout, but the performances are great--the two young leads, in particular, as they play bold, intelligent, idealistic kids, who often act more mature than the adults in the film, but are still ultimately kids. Their relationship is convincing and enchanting. Norton is also excellent and very funny as the scout master who doesn't want to admit that scouting is his whole life, but part of the fun of the film is seeing all the big-name stars in such random, small-town roles.

Overall, Moonrise Kingdom is well plotted, well paced and very well acted. It's funny, strange and compelling, and well worth a watch.

It was hard to ignore Sacha Baron Cohen's presence in Cannes last week. Even though I missed his dramatic camel-tumbling red carpet stunt, the façade of the ever-showy Carlton hotel was hijacked and redecorated in honour of Admiral General Aladeen, Baron Cohen's titular character in his new film The Dictator. Classy it ain't. Still, at least no mankinis were involved. Thank goodness.