Putnam patriot., 1929-04-18

a snowstorm such as would put New England blizzard to shame. The green of winter gardens is buried ! under a white pail. Palm trees, most ridiculous of all trees anyhow, bend beneath the weight of snow. The wind blows a gale. Around the Ester els we hurry towards Cannes as the ! storm grows wilder and wilder. Four hours late, we alight at Cannes sta- tion, huddle ourselves in ulsters and mufflers and drive to warm and comfortable villa by the sea.
 "So this" we murmur, "is the far famed sunny Rivierar'
 
 E But the weather doesn't last and after comfortable night we awaken to see the Mediterranean calm and heavenly blue. The snow has d.sap- peared and the sun is glaring, deli ciously brazenly, bright, blessed re- lief after the dark grey chill of winter Paris. From the villa of our hostess we look down the famous Croisette, Cannes's beautiful avenue by the sea, lined with villas and immense hotels. To the right, the Estereles stretch out protectingly beyond the pile of
 
 Cannes. fo the right we see the beach of Juan les Pins and the wood ed point of Cap d'Antibes Breaking the line of the bay before us are the islands of St. Honorat and Ste. Mar guerite, famed prison of the "Man With the Iron Mask" Behind us. piled high on the semi-circle of steep hills a thousand and more villas of every conception and style of struc- ture lift their faces hungrily to the sun.
 
 There is nothing that delights us more than when, once unpacked and established, We start out to explore Q |, new place. The first day is ever me , morable. Other days never have it's glamour. So at eleven, when the | Croisette is thronged with people and { every make of ear is passing in the
 narrow roadway, we set out down the , Croisette towards the Casino and the , center of the towns activity. First we pass the great hotels of which the Carl i ton, with its famous bar and tennis grounds, is perhaps the best known. . Then we come to the neyer-ceasing line of beautiful little shops represent ing all of the best known houses in ] Paris. Further on, to the left and be- i yond the rotund statue of King Ed
 ward VII in yachting costume, is the , huge yellow Casino, today the most fa- nous of the many Casinos along the { Riviera. Turning abruptly at the
 Casino and there is the harbor basin ' with luxurious yachts from hundred
 ports moored along as quais. Beyond s stretches the hill of Old Cannes
 crowned with a crumbling tower.
  As in all resorts, there is definite n line established between the visitors to the hotels and the villa residents. The r villa residents never fail to impress | this upon the visitor. I've never go \ to the. Casino" said our hostesses in , many lovely houses. "We live a very V quiet life among our own friends. !" a Bosh In the course of our stay in
 their midst there was not one of these n very hospitable people whom we did . not see in the Casino, not once but ' many times.
 And why not? To our way of think Ii ing, the Casino at Cannes is one of : the most colorful and brilliant spots a on the globe at this moment. True, it
 brings together gambler, adventurer i. and the female species of the same " noun. But it provides an necessarily 2 moving picture of modern cosmopoli- z tan life. It possesses little of the charm of the lilies of the field. but it . has a mondane attraction and glitter
 that for time is amusing and color full One does not have to reside in r the Casino to live in Cannes.
 We were delighted when our hostess
 suggested that we dine at the Casino s on our first night. It was a mutt de II gala" Also the season had began it's r swing and the crowd was at it's best. r The great restaurant, with it's swing z of windows facing the sea, is known
 as Les Ambassadors" IL possesses + many virtues It has. first of all. a r splendid cuisine and one of the worlds q finest maitre d'hotels The cellar is F. of the best and the entertainment suf- e ficiently amusing. One dimes some e time after nine. It really doesn't mat s ter as not soul in the place has any r intention of going to work the next q day. Cannes is winter carnival. Cen - tering the room, before a stage there a is a superb dance floor. Al the right - of the stage plays one of the best jazz c bands we have ever heard. Even the n enemies of jazz would melt to its D strains. At the left there is an Ar
 genuine tango band, whose Hitting har- $ monies come back to memory again e and again. The diners form brilliant | semi-circle. Over here sits the stony s faced Zographo, head of the great - Greek gambling syndicate. Over there l is a beautiful English duchess. Titles, [ good and bad and indifferent, are all i over the place. Americans, maie and I female, fat and thin. young and old, g are all over the place. and they are having a perfectly swell time n Dinner ended. the dancing floor gradually rises eighteen or more inch
 es and becomes the stage for short a and usually excellent vaudeville enter { tainment. There is the drollest of 7 jugglers, young American girl with
 agile and timeful legs, dancing team 7 of the Paul and Virginia" school, ! singer of Spanish ditties, and so on.
 The entertainment ended, the floor < gradually sinks to it's former level and : the dancing begins again.
 Over in the corner there IS table completely occupied by smartly dress
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