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French and tourists seem indifferent to Jolie

Agencies | Updated: 2008-07-04 18:18

French and tourists seem indifferent to Jolie

Actor Brad Pitt (2nd R) carries his children Zahara (R) and Shiloh (2nd L) as they arrive at the Nice Lenval Hospital, southern France, where pregnant U.S. actress Angelina Jolie has been admitted, July 2, 2008. Doctor Michel Sussmann gave few details away during a brief news conference, declining to reveal the sex of the expected twins or give a clear indication of the likely birth date. [Agencies]

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Partially eclipsed by the glitterati of Cannes and the royal glare of Monaco, Nice is a place where even the brightest stars — like Brangelina — are greeted by little more than indifference.

Only the presence of paparazzi outside the seaside hospital where Angelina Jolie is waiting to give birth to twins gives any indication that the star is in the seaside resort in Southern France.

The Cote d'Azur has long been the playground of the rich and famous. Elton John, Bono and Brigitte Bardot are among the stars with houses in the region. But Nice likes to think of itself as more down-to-earth than its celebrity-crazed neighbors.

"Of course it is less glamorous. It's more for active people, people who love art, sport and gastronomy," said tourism bureau spokeswoman Isabelle Billey Quere. "It's a real town," she said, with a university, France's largest airport and largest art collection outside of Paris, 7.5 miles of shoreline — and a population that has grown accustomed to the arrival of foreigners and celebrities from at least the mid-19th century.

There are no gaggles of autograph-seekers waiting to catch a glimpse of Brad Pitt as he comes and goes, and just a handful of English-speaking tourists held their cell phones aloft in an attempt to snap photos of two of the couple's children leaving the hospital on Thursday. Jolie herself is on the fifth-floor with tinted windows — affording her privacy along with a fabulous view of the Mediterranean.

The constant flow of celebrities through the Riviera also contributes to the blase reception, said Nancy Wilson, assistant editor of the English-language Riviera Reporter and correspondent for People magazine.

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