This May 30, 2008 file photo shows the exterior of the Lenval Hospital in Nice, southern France. U.S. actress Angelina Jolie checked into the Lenval Hospital in the south of France on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 where she is expected to give birth to her twins, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday. [Agencies]
In this May 15, 2008 file photo, U.S. actors Brad Pitt, left, and Angelina Jolie arrive for the premiere of the film 'Kung Fu Panda,' during the 61st International film festival in Cannes, France. [Agencies]
Brangelina's twins aren't here yet, but the big day is drawing closer. The seafront Lenval hospital in Nice in the south of France said Tuesday that Angelina Jolie had checked in at its Santa Maria maternity clinic to be kept under doctors' surveillance and get some rest before she gives birth.
"There's no urgency. It's been planned for a long time," said Nadine Bauer, a hospital spokeswoman. "She's very well. Everything is fine."
"She is not on the verge of giving birth, not at all," she said. "It's not for right away."
The 33-year-old actress will almost certainly remain in the hospital until she gives birth, Bauer said. She said Jolie was admitted recently but would not say exactly when.
Jolie has said the babies are due in August, but twins are often born early. She and her partner, Brad Pitt, have four children: Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3; and Shiloh, 2.
The Brangelina clan has been settling into a new home in the south of France. They recently moved into the Miraval Estate villa in the French hamlet of Correns, in the Provence region. The town's mayor has said the couple have moved in, and a helicopter has been spotted taking off and landing at the site.
Correns is about 60 miles from Nice, a resort on the Mediterranean. Bauer said the hospital faces the sea, is "very modern" and specializes in caring for children.
The hospital is named after Baron de Lenval, who in 1884 donated part of his fortune to start the facility, in memory of his only son, who died in Nice at age 11, the hospital's Web site says. It says the hospital was rebuilt in the 1990s. Photos show a boxy-looking building with a white exterior and mirrored blue windows set among palm trees.
The hospital's address is fitting for the American couple: It's on Nice's California Avenue.
(Agencies via China Daily July 2,2008)
