Hello From The Rich & Famous:
So, Marz and I went back to Cannes last Friday (April 11). The weather had been great and it seemed like a good idea, as our first visit was simply driving through the beach area of Cannes with the kids on a Sunday afternoon, and the traffic was horrendous. Well, it turned out we got an ocean haze and it was a bit cooler than we would have liked, but at least the locals told us it had been really sunny the day before. Cannes is near Nice and off the autoroute that connects Aix-en Provence and Nice. The Cannes exit is about an hour and 10 minutes from our house, but getting into and out of Cannes can be an adventure, so we add some time.
Cannes is right at the heart of the French Riviera, so there’s lots of glamour, glitz and money. The Cannes Film Festival is housed at the Palais de Festivals et des Congres on the waterfront and we elected to park in the underground lot beneath the Palais. Our introduction to French sophistication came immediately. We parked our car and headed for a pedestrian exit. At that time a small car parked near us, taking two parking spots. The French put their cars wherever they feel like. A well-dressed man was getting out of the car as we disappeared around the corner. We decided to walk back just to check our markings to make sure we’d remember our way to return to our car. Around the corner we came and there’s this same man urinating on the wall. I’m not sure we weren’t splashed. He zipped up and moved on as if nothing had happened. We were left stepping over the stream he had left. We see it frequently. We just read that it is not unusual for French men to urinate in public. In the same section of the same book about France, it was made clear that the French are not prudish, and seeing women’s bare breasts on French television, at some beaches and in parks on sunny days is not unusual. It noted that the French are aghast at the violence they see on American TV shows and read about on the streets of the United States. Actually, I’d take the bare breasts over the violence, but it’s another example of the strong cultural differences between France and the U.S.
As we hit ground level outside the Palais, we realized dozens of workers were preparing for the Film Festival, which opens May 14th. So, I got a photo of Marlene just outside of the Palais. The Cannes beach, seen in another photo, is rocky (not unusual), but it’s really beautiful because of the bay shape and the great views of land as well as the sea. There are some nice restaurants located on the beach, just steps down from a boardwalk. Along with the boardwalk along the water, there’s a boulevard and a strip of restaurants, hotels and the very expensive shops of the world (Cartier, etc.). We caught a picture of the Grand Hotel, which is apparently where NBC Universal will be housed for the Film Festival, if the large posters in front of the hotel are any indication. There were a few significant yachts parked in the harbor (it actually looked as if they were jammed into the harbor). The white building at the end of the beach (see photo) is the Palais des Festivals et des Congres. There’s nothing special about this comparatively new building, unless you include the open air urinals in the parking lot. About three blocks in from the beach row is the main shopping street in Cannes. It has the typical shops and even more high-end retailers. I caught photos of a couple of the retailers (more interesting and old French architecture).
We still haven’t made it to Monaco/Monte Carlo, which will be a full day trip. It will make the calendar fairly soon. And, it appears a 3-1 family vote has been taken on the idea of going to London. The family accountant cast the lone nay vote. So, we’ll be off to London sometime soon.
The Wilsons
