Avenue of the Stars near the Palais des Festivals in Cannes could become one of the biggest disappointments for the tourist.

First of all, it does not alley. Imagination draws two rows of palm trees, and between them - in the walled sidewalk handprints idols. But it is not so, and tourists, is, for a long time can not find the right place, because I was looking out for the mall. And it is necessary to approach the entrance of the Palais des Festivals (the same one where the trail red carpet for celebrities) and look around. The space along the front called the esplanade Pompidou, and there walled metal tiles with prints - not in the center and on the side. They look the part design of the sidewalk, pedestrians walk on them, they put their wares the street vendors, and some tiles are not staying in the best condition.

"As this is the Avenue of Stars ?! "- Exclaims the astonished tourists. Yes, this is it.

Of course, there is also the problem of terminology. Such a place in Hollywood (the first in the world to present a series of "lanes") is called the Walk of Fame, which can be translated as the "path of glory", and it is closer to reality. But it is not only in the title: Hollywood track consists of a large pink stars on a black background, it with nothing to confuse. Cannes by comparison looks much more modest.

She does so. Actors, directors and other famous Cannes Film Festival participants are asked to leave fingerprints of both hands in the clay form. Then these forms are sent in Vallauris, a small town on the French Riviera, famous for its ceramics (in the fifties of the XX century there dabbled in this kind of art by Picasso). In Vallauris make plaster casts of precious prints, which are in turn sent to a foundry located in the Rhone - Alps. From there, the cast stainless steel returns to Cannes and set on the Esplanade Georges Pompidou. Plaster casts of the stored at the Palace - just in case.

This is the case since 1985, when he first opened the Cannes Walk of Stars (25 years later, Hollywood). During this time, more than 400 imbedded pavement famous hand prints - including Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Quentin Tarantino, Angelina Jolie, Sharon Stone. There are tiles with handprints Tatiana Samoilova - Soviet actress, in 1957 received a prize of the Cannes Film Festival XI "Orange Tree" for the role of Veronica in the film "The Cranes Are Flying" (the film was then the "Palme d'Or", the highest award of the festival). Handprints Samoilova appeared here in 1990.

Locals refer to the Walk of Stars with a fair amount of irony. "It's like in the US" - they say with inexpressible intonation and condescending look at the tourists, for some reason, photographing footprints foreign hands at his feet.