Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai have taken off for the Cannes International Film Festival 2009 in France.

Says a source, "They've both gone on a personal invitation from the Cannes fest folk. Aishwarya attends the event's opening or closing every year, depending on availability of time. This year, Abhishek decided to accompany his wife."

The couple, however, will return in a few days time. Ash resumes shooting with Akshay Kumar for Vipul Shah's Instant Replay. Abhi joins father Amitabh Bachchan for another schedule of Balki's Paa.

Of late, the Junior Bachchans have been travelling a lot. They recently were in Bhopal, visiting Jaya Bachchan's mother who resides there.

Adds the source, "It was a flash visit last week. Abhishek and Aishwarya had never visited his nani together. They wanted to surprise her. They had a day off. So they just took off for the day.

There was no direct flight. So they had to get flight-hopping. But it was finally worth it because the visit made their grandmother extremely happy."

- Mid-Day.com