As business trips go, Cannes isn't half bad

People who don't travel on business always believe business trips are glamorous, exciting and worthy of envy. Most corporate road warriors would rather be home on their own couch. The nice hotels and nights out on expense accounts rarely compensate for the long hours, tedious air travel and personal time lost forever.

If you have to travel on business, however, heading for an industry trade show in the Mediterranean resort in Cannes is amongst the better options.

Cannes is an odd place. As the dear friend who originally introduced me to it always says, it is a town built by the French to extract the maximum amount of cash out of the English. (Although to be fair, it was an English expat aristocrat named Lord Brougham who actually developed the place and started the Anglo influx.) It has a louche opulence reminiscent of Rodeo Drive. The world's most expensive brands face the beach across the palm fringed main street. The architecture is mostly grandiose Belle Epoque, the interiors dominated by gold gilt, crystal, velvet and brocade. The natives wear designer clothes, immaculately coiffed hair, big jewelry and accessorise with small, equivalently attired dogs.

Despite all that, or maybe because of it, Cannes is a bit seedy. Get very far off La Croisette (the main street along the beach) and streets can look positively tatty. In Cannes there are a lot of dodgy clubs and unexceptional restaurants, clearly forgoing quality in their assumption that the tourists will never be back, so they don't need to impress. Meanwhile the hotels all provide food and drink at heart-stopping prices with supercilious waiters right out of central casting. The modern bulk of the convention centre is ugly and unpleasantly industrial, seriously diminishing what once must have been a near-perfect vista of the old town and the mountains beyond. And while it may bring in the glamorous for the film festival once a year, the hulking Palais du Congress is responsible for that other oddity of Cannes: the corporate conventioneer. In strange contrast to all the opulence, this place is filled with business people attending trade shows, meetings and sales kickoffs.

For all these reasons I would never spend my own money to go to Cannes. Neighbouring San Tropez or Antibes both manage to be elegant and have loads more charm. But on business, life could be a lot worse.

To get real pleasure out of Cannes you need to do one or more of these three things: wander through the old town; walk along the beach; have a great hotel room.

At the western end of La Croisette the original Cannes climbs a steep hill, complete with remains of its citadel, a medieval church and atmospheric winding streets. It is amazing how few business visitors ever get here, despite the fact that it's barely a 10 minute walk from the convention centre. Climb all the way up to the courtyard beside the church and you'll have a magnificent view of bay, city, mountains, sea and islands. There's also the wonderfully eclectic little Musee de la Castre up here in what's left of the old castle. The collection comprises American Indian, South Seas native and ancient Middle and Near East artifacts, plus a pretty gathering of French paintings including a whole room devoted to portraits of Cannes throughout the centuries. The paintings confirmed my earlier assertion that the Palais du Congress, while bringing in business, raped the aesthetics of the place.

Even if you don't make it for the view, the old town is worth the walk for the best restaurant in Cannes. The Auberge Provencale bills itself at the oldest restaurant here, in continuous operation since 1860. It's located up the steep Rue St. Antoine and occupies a warm, timber-beamed set of rooms that feel more like a farmhouse than a restaurant. The menu is heavily local, with lots of seafood. I highly recommend their traditional fish soup, served with croutons that you're intended to smear with garlicky, high-fat rouille and float on top, then coat with shredded cheese. Well, the fish is good for you. They do a fantastic dessert crepe, prepared traditionally at the table, flamed with Grand Marnier. And I can also vouch for the sinfully luscious chocolate fondant. (No, I didn't order both. I had a generous dining companion.) Reservations are strongly recommended if you're trying to get in here for dinner, though it was almost empty when we arrived for Friday lunch.

Second Cannes pleasure tip: Walk La Croisette. And I don't mean the inland side with the posh shops. Stroll the mile-plus length of the promenade along the beach. Breathe in the salty air. Look to the watery horizon. Appreciate the distant mountains. You may even be lucky enough to be kissed by the sun, which shines a good deal more here than it does in England. There's no doubt that Cannes is at its prettiest along this walk, especially from the viewpoint of the end of the breakwater on the Eastern yacht basin. From here you get the long stretch of the beach, glistening blue water, the elegant parade of hotels skirted by palm trees and the distant vision of the old town.

Third: Try to get a good hotel room. Most corporate visitors stay in one of the Belle Epoque hotels along La Croisette, and their rooms vary dramatically. For every one that looks out onto the bay, there are two or three that are tucked in odd corners or look out over the inland town. I seem to have an odd kind of luck when it comes to Cannes. It's always worth trying to flatter the hotel staff into a room with a view. I have been there three times and have lucked into an absolutely magnificent room each time. My introduction was a lovely room with balcony, dead centre of the front of the Carlton Inter-Continental. Second trip I was an honoured guest of the event organiser and ended up with a mini-suite on the top floor of the Majestic, complete with wrap-around balcony. This time, back to the Majestic. No balcony, but maybe something better. A room in the corner of the C-shaped front of the hotel, with generous French doors that opened up on the perfect angle to take in the spectacular view. (Ignoring, of course, the Palais du Congress.)
Recovering from four grueling days of work, my colleague and I were too tired to even venture out of the hotel on the last night. Instead we moved two arm chairs in front of my French doors, opened a bottle of wine and contemplated the view. If you have to spend time working away from home, moments like this remind you that there's plenty of good to balance the bad.