A Sunday in Cannes

We arrived into Cannes around midday on Sunday and went immediately from the Gare SNCF to our hotel, the lovely, modern Hotel Le Renoir on rue Edith Cavell. Our room on the 4th floor was huge and beautifully decorated in soothing creams with a large bathroom. Our balcony provided a beautiful view of Northern Cannes as well as the Alps to the East. Pleasant and polite staff added to the charm of the hotel. This place really is a little treasure, especially if you can book it at a reduced price on the internet.

The one downside to Hotel le Renoir was the fact that WiFi access was not free. In fact it was quite expensive. I hate paying for WiFi access, especially in hotels, and I really dislike high internet charges. Hotels, especially cool ones, really need to cop themselves on in this regard.

We took a walk towards the port, and had an excellent lunch at Restaurant La Farigoule, 82 rue Meynader located towards Le Suquet. Chicken liver salad and fish soup were the starters while we had fish and duck for mains. Desserts were also included in the menu for E16. The addition of some sparkling water, a half bottle of rose wine, two coffees bought the total to around E50. The waitress added two shots of apple liquer on the house. Excellent!

We wandered up the hill to La Castre, in Le Suquet, or the old town part of Cannes. The Castre Tower and the Chateau were built in the 11th Century by the monks of Lerin to protect the port of Cannes. Climbing to the top of the tower is not hard (not when compared to the belltower in Brugges) and affords a spectacular view of both the town and the port. You can see all the yachts moored below as well as the ferries which sail regularly to the Iles.


The whole area around Le Suquet is charming and picturesque with steep paved streets, stairs and flowers blossoming. It's a refreshing part of Cannes when compared to the blowsy eastern part of the town.

Later that evening, we went in search of food on Le Suquet. We had walked up the steep rue du Suquet earlier in the day when most of the restaurants were closed, but later in the evening it had transformed into a bustling hive of activity with restaurants perched on the edge of the narrow street. After walking up the whole street, we chose Prego, 16 rue du Suquet, this decision being based on the modern decor and funky red chandelier.

Prego was offerning a menu de degustation for E25 outside the door, but we had to especially ask for the menu once we were seated inside. The restaurants here will take every chance that they can to extract a few extra quid. I had a delicious terrine de foie gras to start while he had petit farcis de Nicois - essentially delicious little meatballs served in grilled vegetables. I then had the St-Jacques, or scallops, served with the coral on, while he went for seabass. Both dishes were served with rataouille and a mix of sauteed leeks. Desserts were chocolate fondant and a creme brulee. One bottle of house red and some sparkling water cost just under E80. It was pretty good food, served in a lovely setting, but such a pity that you had to look for the special menu rather than having it given to you.

Hotel le Renoir, 7 rue Edith Cavell, 06400 Cannes. 04 92 99 62 62

La Farigoule, 18 rue Meynadier, 06400 Cannes. 04 93 38 94 95

Prego Restaurant, 16 rue du Suquet, 06400 Cannes. 04 93 99 92 93