The Once Upon a Time World: The Dark and Sparkling Story of the French Riviera

1835, Lord Brougham founded Cannes, introducing bathing and the manicured lawn to the wilds of the Mediterranean coast. Today, much of that shore has become a concrete mass from which escape is an exclusive dream. In the 185 years between, the stretch of seaboard from the red mountains of the Esterel to the Italian border hosted a cultural phenomenon well in excess of its tiny size.



A mere handful of towns and resorts created by foreign visitors-notably English, Russian, and American-attract...