Cannes, sand beaches

Cannes, famous place the Palace of cannes Film Festival

The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival international du film de Cannes or simply le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1939, is one of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held annually (usually in the month of May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.

The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival will be held 14 to May 25 2008
At the end of the year 1938, shocked by the interference of the fascist governments of Germany and Italy in the selection of films for the Mostra de Venise, Jean Zay, the French Minister of National Education, decided, on the proposal of Philippe Erlanger, to create an international cinematographic festival in Cannes (Pronounced Kahn). In June 1939, Louis Lumière agreed to be the president of the first festival, set to begin on 1 September 1939. The declaration of war against Germany by France and the United Kingdom on 3 September 1939, however, postponed the festival's première.

The festival was relaunched in 1946 and held from 20 September 1946 to 5 October 1946 in the old casino in Cannes.

The festival was not held in 1948 or 1950 on account of budgetary problems. In 1949 the Palais des Festivals was inaugurated. The original Palais was replaced by a new one in 1983.

The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May 1968. The day before, Louis Malle (president of the jury), François Truffaut, Claude Berri, Jean-Gabriel Albicocco, Claude Lelouch, Roman Polanski and Jean-Luc Godard took over the large room of the Palais and interrupted the projection of film in solidarity with students and labour on strike throughout France.

At the 25th Cannes International Film Festival, in 1971, Charlie Chaplin was awarded the Legion of Honour by French Minister of Culture Jacques Duhamel, and a dozen directors were honoured by the festival, including Orson Welles (who was not present), Luis Bunuel, Federico Fellini, William Wyler, Rene Clement, Michaelangelo Antonioni, Lindsay Anderson, Vojtech Jasny, Masaki Kobayashi and Robert Bresson.[1]

The 59th Cannes Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 May 2006. The Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai was the president of the jury for feature films. He was also the first Chinese president in the Festival's history. Wong Kar-Wai won the Best Director award in 1997 for the film "Happy Together".

The most prestigious award given out at Cannes is the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") for the best film. The jury of the festival, made of a small international selection of film professionals, grants other awards, including the Grand Prix ("Grand Prize") — the second most prestigious award.

One of the very famous Russian actriss Samoilova left her palm prints of the memory alley near the Palace immortalized impact of Russian cinematograph in the World History.

Cannes, Cote d'Azur

Cannes (pronounced /kan/) (Provençal Occitan: Canas in classical norm or Cano in Mistralian norm) is a city and commune in southern France, located on the Riviera, in the Alpes-Maritimes département and the région of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur. Cannes lies on the Côte d'Azur within easy reach of the Maritime Alps. It is noted for its gorgeous sandy beaches which are mainly open to the public for a fee, particularly as one moves west to Cannes La Bocca.

In the Middle Ages Cannes was a feudal depency of the Lérins monastery. Until the early 19th century, Cannes remained a small agricultural and fishing village with the highest density of population on Le Suquet hill. Beginning in the 1830s, foreign and French aristocrats built holiday homes in the area, gradually turning Cannes into a resort town.

The man responsible for Cannes' growth is Lord Henry Peter Brougham (1778–1868). A respected and talented British politician in his time, he discovered Cannes in 1834 on his way to Italy. Having bought land to the west of the Suquet hill, now the entrance to the city, Brougham used his many contacts in French politics to help develop the rest.

The development of the coastal village encouraged enterprise and a tramway, the Tramway de Cannes opened in 1899, Cannes Station opened in 1863.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

The name "Monte Carlo" (Italian) takes origin from the prince Carlo III of Monaco, whose state was able to be founded thanks to the protection of the Italian Monarchy. Since they divided in 1861, the official language had been Italian. In the last hundred years, the official language has become French.

In 1873, Joseph Jagger gained the casino great publicity by "breaking the bank at Monte Carlo" by discovering and capitalizing on a bias in one of the casino's roulette wheels. Technically, the bank in this sense was the money held on the table by the croupier. According to an article in The Times in the late 19th century, it was thus possible to break the bank several times. The 1892 song The Man that Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, made famous by Charles Coburns, was probably inspired by the exploits of Charles Wells, who broke the bank on many occasions on the first two of his three trips.

According to the book Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich, a team of blackjack players recruited from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology attempted to break the bank at Monte Carlo with the assistance of a system invented by the team's leader, Victor Cassius. The book describes how the management of Monte Carlo responded to the progress of the team, whose members included Semyon Dukach and others mentioned by aliases.

James Bond, fictional British spy and protagonist of the Bond book and movie series, is often associated with the city's glamorous Belle Époque casino. This was a model for the setting of Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale (1953), 'Royale-Les-Eaux' being a fictional resort in the style of Monte Carlo. The real Monte Carlo and its casino provided one of the glamorous locations for the 1995 James Bond Film, "GoldenEye".

The film "Once Upon A Crime" also takes place in Monte Carlo.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Monte Carlo (Occitan: Montcarles, Monégasque: Monte-Carlu) is the wealthiest of Monaco's 4 quarters, sometimes erroneously believed to be the country's capital, even though there formally is none. Monte Carlo is known for its casinos, gambling, glamour, and for sightings of famous people. The permanent population is 30,000 (1990 estimate). Monte Carlo quarter includes, not only Monte Carlo proper where the casino is located, but also the neighborhoods of Saint Michel, Saint Roman/Tenao, and the beach community of Larvotto. It borders the French town of Beausoleil (formerly known as Haut-Monte-Carlo).

Monte Carlo is home to most of the Circuit de Monaco, on which the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix takes place; it also hosts world championship boxing bouts, the Monte Carlo Masters, fashion shows and other events. Monte Carlo has been visited by royalty as well as the general public and movie stars for decades. The quarter of Monte Carlo was served by tramways from 1900 to 1953, linking parts of Monaco. The Monte Carlo Rally is one of the longest running and most respected car rallies, and marks the start of each rally season as the first event on the World Rally Championship calendar.

Monte Carlo is one of Europe's leading tourist resorts, and has many attractions which include Monaco Cathedral, the Napoleon Museum and The Prince's Palace.

Most famous of the tourist attractions is the casino complex and the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo, an opera and ballet house, and the headquarters of the Ballets de Monte Carlo. In 1861 a 50-year concession to operate the gaming rooms was granted to a private individual. Since 1898 the concession has been operated by the Société des Bains de Mer, a private company, in which the government now holds a majority interest. This corporation also owns the principal hotels and clubs of the community that serve the tourist trade. The citizens of Monaco are exempt from taxes, and they are forbidden to enter the gaming rooms.

Twilight in Monaco, getting to Monte Carlo night life.

Monaco, time with Tanya

Monaco is the place you feel as you are in fairytale. Paradise for adults and kids. Best place to relax with your friends, fresh air, nice food and azur-colour sea!

Oceanographic museum

Another sight to visit is the Oceanographic Museum: the museum of marine sciences in Monaco-Ville, Monaco. The Oceanographic Museum was inaugurated in 1910 by Monaco's biggest reformator, Prince Albert I. This monumental architecural work of art has an impressive façade towering above the sea. The structure towers over the sea at a height of 279 feet (85.04 meters). It took 11 years to build, using 100,000 tons of stone from La Turbie.

The museum houses remarkable collections of various species of sea fauna (starfish, seahorses, turtles, jellyfish, crabs, lobsters, rays, sharks, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, eels, cuttlefish etc.) both stuffed and in skeletal form. The museum's holdings also include a great variety of sea related objects, including model ships, sea animal skeletons, tools, weapons, etc.

An aquarium is housed in the basement of the museum which showcases a spectacular array of flora and fauna. 4000 species of fish and over 200 families of invertebrates can be seen. It features a presentation of Mediterranean and tropical marine ecosystems.

Jacques Cousteau was its director for many years, beginning in 1957. I didn't know that, for instance.

Monaco,

Monaco's population is unusual in that the native Monegasques are a minority in their own country. The largest proportion of residents are French nationals (47%), followed by Monegasque (16%), and Italians (16%). The remaining 21% belong to one of the other 125 nationalities that make up Monaco's international population. At 45, Monaco's average age is the highest in the world.

French is the only official language, but Italian, English, and the two local languages, Monégasque (a combination of Italian and French) and Occitan, are also spoken. The literacy rate is 99% (I would amused if it was less:-)) Beautiful place!

Monaco, the Cathedral

This cathedral feels positively modern by European standards (it was built in 1875) but it’s worth a look because it houses the tombs of the former princes of Monaco and it has a particularly fine mosaic in the dome above the altar (an audience of saints faces the congregation from recesses in an arc of the dome). If your visit coincides with the Feast of Ste. Devote (27 January) or the National Holiday (19 November) you can hear the wonderful four-keyboard organ (installed in 1976). As you exit the cathedral take a moment to admire the Hall of Justice across the street (no visitors allowed inside). Situated in Monaco-ville.

One of Monaco's main sources of income is tourism; each year many are attracted to its casino and pleasant climate. In 2001, a major new construction project extended the pier used by cruise ships in the main harbour. The principality has successfully sought to diversify into services and small, high-value-added, non-polluting industries such as cosmetics and biothermics.

As befits a world leader in glamour and money, Monaco is one of the most expensive places on Earth. As of February 2007, Monaco had Europe's most expensive real estate, ahead of even London. The principality is often regarded as a tax haven, and most of its inhabitants are millionaires from other countries. The glamour and prestige associated with Monaco and its style-conscious people can be seen in the number of high class cars, designer fashion boutiques such as Chanel, trendy restaurants, and its royal family, especially since the marriage of Prince Rainier to Grace Kelly, later HSH Princess Grace of Monaco.

The state retains monopolies in numerous sectors, including tobacco and the postal service. The telephone network (Monaco Telecom) used to be owned by the state; it now owns 45%, while the remaining 55% is owned by Cable and Wireless (49%) and Compagnie Monégasque de Banque (6%). It is still, however, a monopoly. Living standards are high, roughly comparable to those in prosperous French metropolitan areas.

Monaco is not a member of the European Union but is very closely linked to it via a customs union with France, and as such its currency is the same as that of France: the euro. Prior to 2002, Monaco minted their own franc coins, the Monegasque franc. Monaco has acquired the right to mint euro coins with Monegasque designs on their national side

It is TAX HEVEN! The State has no income tax for individuals. The lack of personal income tax has led to a considerable number of wealthy "tax refugee" residents from European countries, who earn the majority of their income from activity outside Monaco; celebrities such as Formula One drivers attract most of the attention, but the majority of them are business people.

In 2000, a report by French parliamentarians Arnaud Montebourg and Vincent Peillon alleged that Monaco has lax policies with respect to money laundering, including within its famed casino, and that the government of Monaco puts political pressure on the judiciary so that alleged crimes are not properly investigated.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued in 1998 a first report on the consequences of the tax havens financial systems. Monaco does not appear in the list of these territories until 2004, when OECD became indignant regarding the Monegasque situation and denounces it in its last report(as well as Andorra, the Principality of Liechtenstein, Liberia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands) underlining its lack of co-operation as regards financial information disclosure and availability.

In 2000, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) underlined that Monaco suffers a great lack of adequate resources[3]. The Principality is no longer blamed in the FATF 2005 report, as well as all other territories in 2006.

Since 2003, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified Monaco, along with 36 other territories, as tax havens.

The Council of Europe also decided to issue reports naming tax havens. 22 territories, Monaco included, were thus evaluated between 1998 and 2000 on a first round. Monaco is the only territory that refuses to perform the second round, initially forecast between 2001 and 2003, whereas the 21 other territories are implementing the third and last round, planned between 2005 and 2007