Angelina Jolie's labor not too far away

Fabulous views of the shimmering Mediterranean, tufty palm trees, all bathed in a July sun. In short, a royal place for Brangelina's twins to make their much-awaited entrance to the world.

Photo: Angelina Jolie's labor not too far away

Angelina Jolie's labor not too far away

Angelina Jolie's obstetrician, Michel Sussmann, who is watching over the actress at the French Riviera hospital where she is expected to give birth, called a news conference for later Wednesday afternoon, a day after it first emerged that Jolie had checked in.

Would the doctor announce that Jolie's twins were finally here? That remained a mystery; the hospital wouldn't say.

This much was known: Brad Pitt was seen coming out of the hospital on Wednesday morning, with one of their children. Jolie and Pitt have four children: Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3; and Shiloh, 2.

The seafront Lenval hospital in Nice, on the French Riviera, had announced a day earlier that Jolie checked into its Santa Maria maternity clinic to be kept under doctors' watch and rest up before she gives birth.

A hospital spokeswoman said the births were "not for right away." But spokeswoman Nadine Bauer said the actress will almost certainly stay in the clinic until then.

The hospital, a boxy-looking building with a white exterior and mirrored blue windows set among palm trees, looks out over the sea. The hospital's Web site says it is named after Baron de Lenval, who in 1884 donated part of his fortune to start the hospital, in memory of his only son, who died in Nice aged 11.

The hospital was rebuilt in the 1990s. Its address is fitting for the American couple: It's on Nice's California Avenue.

The local newspaper, Nice Matin, reported that Jolie has the best room in the hospital, on the fifth floor with an "unobstructed view" over Nice's Bay of Angels. It said Jolie arrived by helicopter, landing Sunday afternoon on the hospital's roof. The newspaper said the actress has reserved four rooms on the maternity ward, with a bodyguard keeping watch.

A worker at the hospital's cafeteria, who wouldn't give her name but who spoke to the AP outside of the building, said the kitchen had whipped up an omelet for Jolie.

Nice Matin reported not without a little pride that the famous couple had chosen Nice over the even more chic Monaco, further down the coast.

Nice Matin claimed that the birth was merely days away, and that the twins would be girls. But in following the saga of the world's most famous expecting couple, media have been wrong before.

The Brangelina clan has been settling into a new home in the south of France, in Correns, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Nice. The town's mayor confirmed that the couple had moved into the Miraval Estate villa, and a helicopter has been spotted taking off and landing from there.