"He was never happier than when he was in Cannes": Churchill's great-granddaughter moved as the city inaugurates Winston Churchill Boulevard

During World War II, Winston Churchill fought for the freedom of France. In Cannes, he returned to his own, paintbrush in hand, to depict the city of festivals of which he was a great admirer.

This Sunday, August 24, on the occasion of the ^81st anniversary of the Liberation of the city of festivals, Cannes officially named the renovated road along the Pantiero esplanade after this great political figure. A boulevard in tribute to the man who embodied resistance to Nazism and the defense of freedom. A ceremony was held this Sunday morning at Place Bernard-Cornut-Gentille, in front of the Hôtel-de-Ville. The British statesman's great-granddaughter, Jennie Churchill, was the guest of honor.

The boulevard, previously called the Promenade de la Pantiero, did not yet have a real name. " On behalf of the Churchill family, we thank Cannes for this great honor ," declared Jennie Churchill. "My great-grandfather always loved and believed in France, even in the darkest days ."

Churchill and Cannes, a beautiful story

Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during the Second World War, has gone down in history as one of the great architects of the liberation of Europe. But beyond his political role, he was also a writer – awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 – and a passionate painter, an activity to which he devoted himself fully, as evidenced by the 600 paintings he produced during his lifetime.

Among the places from which he drew his inspiration, Cannes was for him a refuge, a light, a breath of fresh air. From the 1920s, he stayed there regularly, notably at the Villa Rêve d'Or, on the heights of Croix-des-Gardes. Here he discovered a Mediterranean clarity that fascinated him and which he immortalized on canvas.

" Churchill painted a lot of Cannes," Mayor David Lisnard emphasized. "The old port, the town hall, Le Suquet, but also the magnificent sunsets. "

"The Côte d'Azur was a milestone in his life"

His great-granddaughter confirmed this real Cannes crush: " The magnificent Côte d'Azur was a milestone in his life. He was never happier than during his stays here, in Cannes ."

This intimate connection with the city was already marked in 1949, when Winston Churchill was made an honorary citizen of Cannes. A recognition that the municipality is extending today with this denomination. " Like Place De Tocqueville, recently named thus in the heart of the Allées de la Liberté, we wanted to pay tribute to another figure of liberty ," explained David Lisnard. Following this inauguration, the official Liberation ceremony was held in front of the War Memorial on Place Bernard-Cornut-Gentille.