Yves Montand & Simone Signoret

Even today, this legendary couple of French film stars continues to fuel the renown of Saint-Paul de Vence. More than any other celebrities, Yves Montand and Simone Signoret really did stamp the village with their mark...

Yves Montand and Simone Signoret's romance began in Saint-Paul de Vence… at the Colombe d’Or to be precise, one day in August 1949. Simone Signoret and Jacques Prévert entered the village's famous inn and bumped into Yves Montand dining with his guitarist Henri Crolla. Prévert and Crolla knew each other and did the introductions. Simone Signoret subsequently invited Yves Montand to the small house she owned in the village by the church.

Eighteen months later, on 22 December 1951, the mayor of Saint-Paul, Marius Issert, married Ivo Livi and Simone Kaminker in the presence of their witnesses Jacques Prévert and Paul Roux.

Yves Montand immortalised Place De Gaulle in Saint-Paul de Vence by regularly playing pétanque there - either with friends from the village or with fellow celebrities Lino Ventura and Georges Géret.