As a little stop on the way back west, Annie and I stopped at Cannes, which is only 30 minutes away from Nice. You may know Cannes because of the annual Cannes Film Festival, which occurs in May. It's right on the coast and supposed to be nice, so we figured, pourquoi pas?
Also, before we start the pictures, let me just give you this little excerpt of our conversation the previous day (the first day we met) in Nice:
"Ugh, the weather is so bad. I wish southern France would hurry up and decide it's Spring. When will the sun come out?!" -moi
"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe tomorrow." -Annie
"Uhhhhhhhh seriously? Are you going to start singing? Do you want me to start singing?" -moi
Anyway, no such luck with the sun, as you can see below.
Also, before we start the pictures, let me just give you this little excerpt of our conversation the previous day (the first day we met) in Nice:
"Ugh, the weather is so bad. I wish southern France would hurry up and decide it's Spring. When will the sun come out?!" -moi
"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe tomorrow." -Annie
"Uhhhhhhhh seriously? Are you going to start singing? Do you want me to start singing?" -moi
Anyway, no such luck with the sun, as you can see below.
mini Hollywood Boulevard?
When I was 18, I discovered (at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles) that my hands are the same size as Julie Andrews' hands in a picture almost just like this. Here I am 8 years later (?!) replicating it in France.
Catherine Deneuve
Here you can see the famous steps that the stars walk up to attend the film festival (thanks to avignon-et-provence.com for the photo).
Here's what the stairs looked like when we showed up. Yeah, that's right. DISAPPOINTING.
You can see how it might be charming... without all the gloom.
We were all "Oh let's take a cute picture with that giant French flag bon-bon," and then were like "This rain is dis-gusting. Let's get to a café."
The winding, uphill streets left me with the desire to wander around... some other time.
La Favela: Restaurant Tex-Mex... Somehow I doubt it.
Finally we found ourselves a café, where they were actually done preparing food but they made us some anyway. And the waiter was speaking some English for us, even though we were speaking in French. And also, there was this cat. Just chillin' in the café. They even fed him in the café. "You know you're in France when..."
Also, when the weather is horrible, you may or may not end up comforting yourself in this way.
Trompe-l'œil at the bus station, featuring great characters and actors from throughout cinema's history (Charlie Chaplin, Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Jack & Rose from Titanic, Charlie Chaplin, Batman & the Joker, Roger & Jessica Rabbit, Fred Astaire, C-3PO & R2-D2, a drawing from Le Voyage dans la Lune by Georges Méliès (which I never would have recognized had I not watched the film Hugo), among others)
Even in the rain, there are always beautifully-displayed macarons. After all miss, this is France!**
Basically, Cannes kind of blew. I mean, it was just the weather. And the fact that we couldn't go on the stairs. I really wanted to explore more of the city; it looks like it must be really nice in better weather, and there are movie tributes throughout the city (like murals, for example) and cute little winding streets. Maybe another time, Cannes. We'll try again someday.
*I mean seriously. Can I get a witness? That was about to be a musical moment up in here!
**Please get this.
**Please get this.
