Cannes Film Festival: East Hamptons' Steven Spielberg To Host Yacht Party

Hamptons’ summer resident, Steven Spielberg, will head the 2013 Cannes Film Festival jury from his 282 foot yacht, where jurors can conceivably watch festival films in his infinity pool. For those without that invite, there are many other reasons to head to the Cote d’Azur, where the Cannes Film Festival (May 15-26) kicks off the season.

French Riviera Tourist Board’s Florence LeCointre. (Photo: Lee Fryd)

With the season imminent, Delta Air Lines, operated in conjunction with Air France KLM, resumed its daily non-stop service between JFK and Nice, as of March 31 (after a four month hiatus). To celebrate, they threw a party. Delta, the Cotes d’Azur Tourism Board — Eric Dore, Sandrine Carsalade, and Florence LeCointre — and the cities Cannes, Nice, and Antibes Juan les Pin hosted the blow out at the Maritime Hotel. We always look forward to seeing LeCointre, as well as the chic ladies at Atout France, the French Government Tourism Office, in New York — Marion Fourestier and Katherine Johnstone.

At the turn of the 20th Century, skiing, not sunbathing, was the Riviera’s lure. They say the summer season began in 1931, when Coco Chanel made suntans chic and American artists and writers flocked seaside. The great artists never stopped coming. Today, very personal museums, some the artists’ former homes, dedicated to them, dot the villages they made their own. This is a big year for art lovers. The Cotes d’Azur will be celebrating with key exhibitions:

— The 40th Anniversary of the Chagall Museum in Nice

— The 50th Anniversary of the Museum Matisse in Nice and Vence.

— The 50th Anniversary of the death of Jean Cocteau in the Museum Jean Cocteau Collection Severin Wunderman in Menton.

— The 40th Anniversary of the death of Picasso in Picasso museums in Mougins, Monaco, and Vallauris.

— The 50th Anniversary of Foundation Maeght in St Paul de Vence.

In Cagnes sur Mer, Renoir’s final estate, surrounded by olive trees, Les Collettes, is reopening in July after an 18-month renovation. And the medieval hotel and restaurant Chateau Le Canard has reopened after its renovation.

If you don’t want to stay away from the Hamptons too long, take a long weekend. After all you can fly there direct with Air France/Delta Airlines’ daily direct flights: JFK 8:55 pm – Nice 11:25 am the following morning and Nice 1:35 pm – JFK 4:50 pm.