How to relax on the beach in Cannes — amazing color photos of 1948

A small collection of bright vintage photographs, depicting in colors the unhurried and expansive life in French Cannes in the late 40s.

A little historical background: Cannes is a resort town on the Cote d'Azur, located southwest of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Named after the reeds that once grew on its shore, the city was inhabited by Ligurs in the past and was successively occupied by Phocians, Celts (or Gauls) and Romans. In the 4th century it came under the protection of the Abbey of Lerin, whose abbots were lords of Cannes and in the 10th century built a fortress to protect the region.

Here, in the dunes behind the village, Napoleon positioned his small army on the first night after returning from the Elbe. Cannes became famous as a resort thanks to Lord Broome, who, due to quarantine measures, could not enter Nice in 1834 and stayed in the fishing village of Cannes; later he built a villa here and returned every winter for 34 years.

One of the reasons for the popularity of Cannes is the Cannes Film Festival, which dates back to the 1940s. Since then, the Cannes Film Festival has become an international event that annually gathers thousands of artists, producers and tourists.