it was punny.

Time: 10:41pm


Location: the sofa

Weather: not really important for this entry



You know you are about to have a very excellent weekend when your friends, who were going to be a quarter of an hour early picking you up, end up calling you half an hour later asking how to get to your house, and if you have a map of how to get to Nice.

Took this from the limo
20 may

"Just a bunch of french people, nobody famous"
haha
20 may

Another way you know you are going to have an amazing weekend, is before you even get out of your own village, the fact that “This is a Road Trip!!” is stated, the Haribo candies are being downed like crazy, music is pumping, and to your left, in the midst of the five o’clock traffic jam, right there, on the boulevard, is a car parked, with a HUGE dog sitting in the driver’s seat. That last one made us do a double trip around the traffic circle just so we could get a photo (and none of them turned out).

Guess who!!

If you are yet to figure it out, this entry is about The Best Weekend (So Far).

En route to Nice, we stop in Cannes.

paparazzi sniper shot of a Canadian

oooh the suspense of who it is!!

Arriving in Cannes, we start the same way any group of road trippers who have absolutely nothing planned out would; we wandered. We parked right next to the harbour, so we walked all along the Vieux Port. This was where everything seemed to be happening. We had anticipated a huge amount of people because, well, it was the Film Festival after all, and sure enough, people were everywhere.

out our window
21 may

nice opportunity for a photo

Being early evening, all the tents and daily activities related to the festival were more or less all closed up, but we did find a tent selling merchandise. We talked to the girl working it and found out that we had just missed the Red Carpet (at 6:30pm) but that later that evening (at 10 pm) there would be another.

Opera de Nice

Calissons of all shapes and sizes

candied fruits

We found the Palais des Festivals (home to the Red Carpet) and then went about getting some dinner. We stopped at a lovely restaurant not too far from the port. Still having time to kill before 10pm and not being pleased at all by the dessert menu, we stopped at a 50’s Diner styled ice cream shop and indulged. I tried some cactus sorbet and found that it tasted quite a bit like ginger. Then I realized that it was cactus and ginger sorbet and am still left wondering what exactly cactus tastes like…



very Nice



As ten o’clock neared, people started gravitating towards the music and lights and watched all the stars climb the Steps. Jara, Ebba, Evelin and I were all really excited to see some Hollywood Stars real up close for once in our lives. But were a little disappointed when all the glimmer faded on the festival for us.

Side of the Colline du Chateau
now, do we take the stairs, or
l'ascenseur?

View from the top of the Tour Bellanda

Unlike on TV, the fans are not right up to the carpet; we are in fact across the street, the luckiest of us being no closer than 30 meters away. Those people with abnormally large heads that only appear in crowds when you’re trying to see something exciting appeared in the dozens and the best view we could get was by looking at the one screen they had set up. And finally, we are not French. Or overly familiar with French actors. Thus resulting in us seeing “nobody famous”.

La baie des Anges - les plages - ville de Nice

I spy with my little eye: a swimmer.

EXCEPT!!

For…

potentially the New Port

Well… It took us a little while to recognize him due to the distance, and then a little longer to place the name to a film, but eventually we saw:

RYAN GOSLING!! (best known for his role in The Notebook) He was in Cannes for the premiere of his latest movie ‘Drive’. Very exciting, you heard it here first.

We found Johnny Depp;
he was in Nice, not Cannes.
Silly Johnny...

A whole half and hour after 10 pm, the red carpet was done, the buzz and hub-bub outside was kaput, so we piled back in the car to get to Nice and ultimately find the hotel, which we did. After 20 minutes of driving to Nice and then 30 minutes of driving around it trying to find the hotel, we did indeed make it.

one of the 5km of Nice beaches

Colline du Chateau from
Promenade des Anglais

Breakfast in the morning was especially nice. Very nicely set out for us four, almost to the point where it seemed exclusively for us.

yellow building with green shutters;
tres Nice.

some art we found

We took the tram from the conveniently near by train station to the Place Massena and walked down to the Flower Market on Cours Saleyna. Flowing right along the flower market turned into the typical Provençal Market and we bought some fresh fruits for a picnic lunch.

and some fesses

The heat was incredible, yet when we came to the bottom of the Colline du Château (Castle Hill), and face with the options of taking the elevator up or taking the stairs, Ebba and I took the stairs. We went up and up and stopped when we got to the Tour Bellanda and took some photos while waiting for Evelin and Jara to meet us there. Back in the middle of the 14th century, the tower was built in remembrance to the Castle’s fortress. The ambiance was great; an excellent view of the beach and harbour, ridiculous heat and some guy playing guitar. We got tired of waiting and melting in the heat so we continued the ascent.

yellow 'n' green
its er'ywher'

A little higher we regrouped and took in the many views of Nice as well as some fruit. A quick FYI: Nice is pronounced “Niece” not nice. Well, it is nice, but just not when you say it.


made it back in time !!
Cannes


We took the elevator down and walked along the beach on the Promenade des Anglais. Luckily we found the main shopping street while we were on the tram, so we walked back to the hotel so we could do a little shopping. We stopped at a Lebanese restaurant for lunch. Bet you never knew that Lebanese taboule does not have couscous in it.

its a universal thing

Before we went back to Cannes to catch the 6:30pm Red Carpet, we went to the hotel to freshen up. Even though we checked out earlier that day, they still gave us a room and let us park there all day for free. It may have had something to do with us knowing the owner of the hotel, but you never know.

The Red Carpet

Back at Cannes, we made it right in time for the Red Carpet. Again, not being the most cultivated people when it comes to French cinema, the star spotting was a flop. We took a leisurely stroll all about Cannes; we were all glammed up after all.

closest you could get.
keep in mind the zoom I got going on here.

Cannes is so glamorous and so full of different aspects; The Croisette, Palais des Festivals, Forville Provençal Market, the old city of Le Suquet with an amazing viewpoint and finally above all, the dominating La Castre. Of course there are the typical beaches full of bums and harbours full of yachts.

All the glam and the glitter shine around the Palais des Festivals and the Croisette. The Palais is pretty self-explanatory. However, the Croisette is a little more cryptic. The Croisette is the stretch of the most prestigious palace like hotels, the more beautiful beaches, and most luxurious boutiques. All of course coming with a just as lovely price tag.

Red Carpet

That evening, we headed back to Aix and hung out at Jara’s for the rest of the weekend; making full use of her pool and the scorching temperatures that were unrelenting the whole three days. An excellent way to end and excellent weekend.

11:32pm