Here is a video clip from a film about Cagnes, probably from around 1956. The video plays for about 9 minutes and I have recorded this from a colour 16mm film. Quality is poor because I have had to compress it to play over the internet. Might I suggest that you turn up the brightness on your computer screen to view the video at its best. A soundtrack in French is provided with the film. Please click below and wait a minute for the film to start running. It is in Real Video format and will stream.

Play Video

Left, the house now covered with leaves is 38 Rue Hippolyte Guis (July 2000). The photograph above is the castle at Cagnes (July 2000).

The French town of Cagnes-sur-Mer is set in a landscape of hills covered with olive and orange trees and cultivated by flowers (carnations, rose, mimosa). The town comprises: Haut-de-Cagnes, dominated by a medieval castle, Cagnes-Ville, the modern residential and commercial quarter and Cros-de-Cagnes, an unusual fishing village and beach. The picturesque upper town has become the home of many painters who come each year in great numbers, attracted by the beautiful setting and incomparable light [from the Michelin Guide to the French Riviera - Cote d'Azur].

My grandmother was French and lived in Cagnes at 38 Rue Hippolyte Guis (probably since the 1920s). I visited Haut de Cagnes each year from early childhood though to my mid-teens. The attraction of the village is so strong that I visited Cagnes again this year. This website is about an Englishman's love of a small French village. This site is dedicated to Cagnes.

Cagnes 1 - Map of Haut de Cagnes and painting of the Château

Cagnes 2 - Montée de la Bourgade - Haut de Cagnes

Cagnes 3 - 1953 postcards of Haut de Cagnes

Cagnes 4 - Photographic tour of Haut de Cagnes

Cagnes 5 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir. A Church at Cagnes. 1905. Oil on canvas. Private collection

Cagnes 6 - Fête Médiévale at Haut de Cagnes (1) : 6 August 2000

Cagnes 7 - Fête Médiévale at Haut de Cagnes (2) : 6 August 2000

Cagnes 8 Fête Médiévale at Haut de Cagnes (3) : 6 August 2000

Cagnes 9 Haut de Cagnes - Vue Generale pris de la route Vence 9

Cagnes 10 Chapell Notre Dame de Protection - painted by Salter circa 1910

Cagnes 11 Other Postcards of Cagnes

Cagnes 12 Cagnes Fortin Médiéval. Plan Promenade, édite par les Amis du Vieux Cagnes_Cagnes Fortin (large)

Cagnes - Streetmap

Boris Smirnoff - Artist of Haut de Cagnes