The Promenade des Anglais' iconic blue chairs first made their appearance around 1900. Fifty years later the municipality ordered a more modern range. In 1966 the distinguished French architect and urban planner Jean-Michel Wilmotte was commissioned to design a third-generation chair. The present model, painted in sky blue to complement the azure waters of the Baie des Anges, was placed on the Promenade in 1997. Nice ordered about 2,000 of these very elegant chairs, but due to "misappropriation" (ie. stolen) only around 700 are left.

During the clashes involving anti-capitalist demonstrators that erupted at the European Union summit in Nice in 2000, dozens of the blue chairs had to be withdrawn from service after they had been hurled at riot police and damaged. In 2003 when the company responsible for their maintenance fell into financial difficulties, the Wilmotte chairs were placed in storage. When they again re-emerged they had been welded together in batches of 10 . . .