Avenue of Stars near the Palace of festivals and Congress in Cannes may become one of the biggest disappointments for the tourist.

First of all, it is no alley. The imagination draws two rows of palm trees, and between them – imbedded in the sidewalk handprints idols. But all is not so, and tourists sometimes can't find the right place, because looking at something in the alley. And it is necessary to approach the entrance to the Palais des festivals (the same one where lay the red carpet for celebrities) and look around. The space along the front is called the Esplanade Georges Pompidou, and there imbedded metal tiles with prints – not in the center and the side. They look part of the design of the sidewalk, passersby go on them, they put their goods street vendors, and some of the tiles are not in the best condition.

"Like, this is the Avenue of Stars?! "exclaims the astonished tourist. Yes, it is.

Of course, the terminology here is also a problem. Such a place in Hollywood (the first in the world to present a series of these "alleys") is called the Walk of Fame, which can be translated as "path of glory", and it is already closer to reality. But it's not just in the title: Hollywood track consists of large pink stars on a black background, it's not an easy mix up. Cannes in comparison, looks much more modest.

It is done so. Actors, Directors and other famous members of the Cannes film festival asked to leave the fingerprints of both hands in clay form. Then send these forms in Vallauris, a small town on the French Riviera, famous for its ceramics (in the fifties of the XX century there dabbled in this art form, Picasso). In Vallauris make plaster casts of precious prints, which are in turn sent to the foundry, located in the rhône – Alpes region. From there, casting stainless steel return to Cannes and set on the Esplanade Georges Pompidou. Gypsum also casts are stored in the Palace – just in case.

This happens since 1985, when I first opened the Cannes Avenue of Stars (25 years later Hollywood). During this time, the sidewalk was built more than 400 prints of the famous hand – including Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Quentin Tarantino, Angelina Jolie, Sharon stone. There is a tile with the imprint of the hands of Tatiana Samoilova – Soviet actress, in 1957 XI won the prize of the Cannes film festival "Orange tree" for the role of Veronica in the film "the cranes are Flying" (the film received then "Palme d'or", the highest award of the festival). Handprints Samoilova came here in 1990.

The locals refer to the walk of fame with a pinch of irony. "It's like in the US," they say with an indescribable intonation and condescending look on tourists, for some reason photographing fingerprints at the hands of others under my feet.