When we think of the Cannes Film Festival, images of Ginger Rogers, Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Dors sipping the finest champagne among a star-studded Palais des Festivals et des Congres, may spring to mind, with us mere imaginers of the ‘world’s most glamorous film festival’, being right to visualise scenes of hedonism, glamour and almost unimaginable wealth taking centre stage at what is irrefutably one of the world of movies most highly acclaimed annual events.

In fact since it first began in 1946 the Cannes Film Festival quickly became one of the world’s most prestigious movie events and being ‘invitation only’ has always attracted a wealth of media and public attention.

Although in spite of its seven-decade monopoly of being globally acclaimed as being a swanky Cote d’Azur “schmoozathon”, has the famous Cannes Film Festival and its “finely contoured head” about to be knocked off its pedestal in the film-festival-prestige stakes?

Hot on the Cannes Film Festival’s heels in the glamour recompenses, is the New York Film Festival. This highly prestigious annual event was founded in 2002 by  American film producer Jane Rosenthal, Hollywood actor Robert De Niro, and the American philanthropist and real estate investor, Craig Hatkoff, in response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

The eleventh Tribeca Film Festival took place in April this year, generated approximately $600 million and drew in an estimated three million people.

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Without wanting to sound like a cliché, the village of Gordes truly is a hidden gem on the Cote d’Azur. Built into a rock and clinging cosily to the face of a cliff, Gordes’ presence cries out a million tales and legends.

Whilst the beauty and overall charm of many of the villages and towns on the Cote d’Azur is augmented by the narrow cobbled streets that climb, wind and descend through a labyrinth of marvels, delights and treasures, the cobbled streets of Gordes, which gently coil past tall stone houses, stunning architecture, picturesque squares, until they finally reach the zenith of the village’s assets – a castle standing proudly atop the hill, keeping a watchful eye over the Gordes’ villagers and equally as beautiful Luberon valley in the distance.

This impressive castle was originally built in the tenth century and was rebuilt in 1525, and brings together a unique amalgamation of architecture from the medieval period and hints of a more contemporary Renaissance period. The inspiring castle is now home to Gordes Town Hall and the Pol Mara Museum, in honour of the late Flemish painter, Pol Mara.

Pol Mara died in 1998 and spent much of his life living in Gordes, where he was inspired by the beauty of the village and its surroundings. Although a visit to the Pol Mara Museum is not for the physically unfit, as to experience the museum in its most splendid form, one is required to climb a spiral Renaissance staircase that leads to the top of the castle, where one can then begin a transfixing chronological tour of the life and work of this extraordinary painter.

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The Cote d’Azur is home to a throng of jaw-dropping mansions and listed houses, which, being set in acre upon acre of impressive regal grounds and containing so many huge rooms with imposingly high ceilings, you are frightened that if you don’t keep up with the house’s guide you may get lost, for the majority of us humble mortals, a guided-tour around these mansions are the best we can hope for.

Whilst for most, the prospect of owning our own grade-listed mansion on the Cote d’Azur is almost second to none, there are certain design steps we can take to create a house that is resonant of a Cote d’Azur manor – Here’s how!

Balance the contemporary with rustic

According to a recent report in the Globe and Mail, Canadian expatriates, Max and Trudy bought a villa recently on the French Riviera. What the couple liked most about the villa was that, despite being 200 years old, situated in the ancient stone hills above Provence, it combined a charming mix of contemporary and rustic.

This ‘Cote d’Azur look’ can be achieved even if your home isn’t 200 years old, has six or more bedrooms and is located above Provence. Placing things like false wooden beams on the ceilings with give a room a ‘rustic’ character and make it look considerably older.

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Imagine this – Being served the most exquisite of French cuisine, whilst pouring out another glass of ice-cold Veuve Clicquot champagne, returning the bottle back into the ice bucket, digging your feet further into the soft white sand at the Mediterranean’s edge whilst taking in some of the most breath-taking views of Cannes and the globally acclaimed Promenade de la Croisette.

Scenes of utopia don’t come more ‘utopic’ than this and fortunately are a reality at the Vegaluna. This waterfront restaurant is situated opposite the Ritz Carlton in Cannes, and, given its enviable position, reputation for serving some of the best cuisine on the Cote d’Azur and idyllic ambience; it is hardly surprising that the Vegaluna is an eatery favourite amongst celebrities and some of the most ‘well-heeled’ tourists the French Riviera attracts.

The décor, like its food, is taken extremely seriously at the Vegaluna, which exudes style, taste and refinement with numerous floral arrangement and sculptures scattering amongst the modernist furniture under a pristine-white tent-like roof.

The candles that accompany each table augments the atmosphere of the restaurant, particularly at dusk when the first lights on the Promenade de la Croisette are lit and cast a twinkle of the gentle waters of the Mediterranean.

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It would be practically unheard of to spend time on the Cote d’Azur without sampling some of the region’s famous wines, in fact it wouldn’t just be unheard of, it would be darn right rude!

Vineyards on the Cote d’Azur are bounteous, as the mild sunny climate the region is blessed with, alongside the siliceous soils, which are permeable, stony and humus, makes it the perfect place to cultivating top-notch wine.

According to RedWine.co.uk, the annual production of wine on the Cote d’Azur is more than 160 million bottles, with almost 80% of this production being a dry, fruity rose, which the area has become most famous for.

Approximately 20% of the Cote d’Azur’s yearly production of wine is red, which are commonly fairly strong and full bodied. Only 5% are local winemaking is dedicated to white wines, which tend to be fresh and crisp, the perfect accompaniment for fish and seafood.

Despite the common belief that rose wine is a recent product of the winemaker’s art or is a mixture of red and white grapes, on the contrary, rose is in fact one of the earliest wines ever to have been made.

As the French government  imposes extremely strict laws about the making of wine in France, the highest quality wine carries a stamp of approval, known as the AOC (Appellation d’ Origin Controlee), which many of the bottles of wine on the Cote d’Azur possess.

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