What cultural etiquette should I know for Cannes?

The single fastest way to get cold-shouldered in Cannes is walking into a shop on Rue d'Antibes and asking a question before saying "bonjour." This isn't politeness theater. It's the social operating system of southern France, and skipping it registers as real rudeness. Say "bonjour, madame" or "bonjour, monsieur" when you enter a boulangerie, a pharmacy, a restaurant, even a clothing store. When you leave, "au revoir, bonne journée" closes the loop. Between acquaintances, the Provençal greeting is la bise, two cheek kisses starting with the right. Don't initiate this with shopkeepers or waitstaff. A nod and "bonjour" is the correct register for strangers. After 18h00, switch to "bonsoir." Getting this wrong won't ruin your trip, but getting it right changes how people treat you for the rest of the interaction.

Service is included on every restaurant bill in France by law, a 15% charge baked into the listed prices. You'll see "service compris" in small print on menus along Rue Saint-Antoine and the Marché Forville area. That said, leaving small change is normal. At a café on Rue Félix Faure, the coins from your change on the saucer are enough. At a sit-down dinner where the bill reaches €50-70, leaving €3-5 on the table is generous by local standards. Don't ask for separate checks at a group dinner. The French split evenly or one person pays. Bread arrives without butter, and you tear it with your hands, never cut it. Place it directly on the tablecloth, not on your plate. Hands stay on the table during the meal, not in your lap. These details sound minor until you notice every French diner around you doing them automatically.

Cannes has a stronger dress sense than most Mediterranean beach towns. The sand-to-restaurant pipeline that works in Barcelona does not work here. Swimwear and shirtlessness stay on the beach. Walk 50 meters up to Boulevard de la Croisette and you'll see locals in linen trousers and leather sandals even in 27°C June heat. Restaurants along La Croisette and in Le Suquet expect closed shoes and a collared shirt for men at dinner. Women can get away with nearly anything if it reads as intentional, but flip-flops at a white-tablecloth place will get looks. During Festival de Cannes in May, the Palais des Festivals enforces strict black-tie for evening screenings. The rest of the year, smart-casual covers nearly every situation. Notre-Dame d'Espérance and the chapels in Le Suquet require covered shoulders and knees, same as any French church.

Cannes is Catholic by heritage but secular in practice. You might hear the bells at Notre-Dame d'Espérance ringing over Le Suquet at noon, but fewer than 10% of local residents attend Sunday Mass regularly. Still, church etiquette matters if you visit. Cover shoulders and knees. Don't photograph during services, typically Sunday at 10h30. Silence in side chapels is expected. Grasse Cathedral, about 40 minutes northwest by the 600 bus from Cannes Gare Routière, holds three Rubens paintings from the 1600s and enforces the same rules. On the secular side, a few taboos are worth knowing. Don't speak loudly on the beach after 22h00. Don't photograph sunbathers at private beach clubs like Bâoli or Le Martinez without asking. Don't haggle at Marché Forville, where prices are posted and fixed. And avoid discussing money or salaries with anyone you've met recently. The French find it intrusive, and visitors from the US tend to underestimate how much.