May 17, 2010 - easy to order

Things easy to order in French -- chocolate eclair, quiche, pommes frites. But is this good news or bad news? I made it down to Cannes proper today. Bus #1 made it very easy, practically door to door for just one euro. I saw one girl in a very fancy gown being interviewed, but I had no clue who she was. The film companies hang their banners from the high-rise hotels on one side, and the pavilions run along the beach opposite. It's obviously a big deal here. I felt like the anti-Cannes, walking chubbily along in my Land's End shirt and...

May 16, 2010 - the street where we live

It rained yesterday, so I didn't take any pictures. Got out this morning (lovely) to document some of the neighborhood. Tomorrow I have to get down to the "plage" and see some of the festival. Weirdly, when in England I got hit with the same bronchitis-ish ailment and am still trying to recover. But of course I have to see the festival spaces.

May 14, 2010 - what's French for toilet paper?

We got to Cannes last night late, pretty tired. We're staying up the hill in Le Cannet -- the cheap seats. Rentals down near the beach and the festival are astronomically expensive. The house is wonderful, though. Very old and in a maze of those little streets where you can almost touch both sides. (We nearly got the rental car trapped in one. I certainly could not have backed it out. I'll put up some outdoor pictures tomorrow.) I did have to go buy the toilet paper, and some soap, who the merchant was kind enough to remind me is...

Dec 10, 2009 - Transatlantic crossing and Canne France again

Ok basically during a 17 day crossing of the atlantic ocean there isnt much to do but hold on and stick it out. we were blessed by the ocean gods and had an awesome crossing. 4700Nm of calm seas, and i mean mill pond. we missed major storms and low fronts and arrived relatiely rested and happy. if you dont like sunsets dont look at this post, i on the other hand will never tire of a fantastic sunset or sunrise and due to my job i get so see alot of them. not everybody gets to cross the atlantic on a 190ft 40million Euro superyahct, i did,...

Oct 9, 2009 - Cannes

@@@@@@@ And so, our second day on the Cote D’Azur saw us boarding a bus heading back west along the coast towards Cannes, just over an hour away. I was looking forward to seeing some more spectacular scenery along the highway, but instead, the road was more or less flat and we passed through some simple towns with non-descript commercial centers. In between, we would enter and leave the coastal highway with industrial zones between the water and the asphalt. It was a little disappointing, but we never mind being on the move and seeing new...

Sep 21, 2009 - Villefranche & Saint Jean Cap Ferrat

Today we spent most of the day at the beach at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and Villefranche...trying to relax before Paris. Villefranche is absolutely my favorite place thus far,a cozy & authentic medieval village overlooking a bay in the Mediterranean. I will miss the south of France. Off to pack for Paris.....

May 6, 2009 - French Riviera

THE FRENCH RIVIERA (Travel Tips are bolded) Our first stop on the famous French Riviera was Cassis, just a few miles east of Marseilles. We didn’t expect much, but were very pleasantly surprised to find a very well maintained, charming seaside town with a lively center of town on the port with lots of restaurants. An additional stroke of luck was to find the best hotel in town at a “reasonable” rate. It is the Hotel Roche Blanc perched high on the seaside with a dramatic view to the Mediterranean and the cliffs surrounding it. It has an...

May 6, 2009 - Cannes, France

Our first time in Cannes, France. Lucky for us we met Gregory when we were in Monaco about three years ago on the Creative Memories trip. Gregory is actually based in Cannes so we arranged to meet him weeks ago. Lucky for us our visit falls on his 30th birthday AND his 2 week anniversary. When we met Greg a few years ago, he was clearly an adventure traveler. He told us at that time he had a trip planned for himself and his girlfriend and that would let him know if they were meant for each other. Well after many weeks in S. America, he...

Oct 8, 2008 - Avignon

Left our isolated farmhouse about 9.00 much to Peters relief - too far out in the sticks. Weather turned to rubbish on the way down, almost stopped traffic on the motorway at one stage. Booked into the Mecure Hotel and enjoyed having some space to move around. Took a Taxi into town to avoid parking hqssles. Continued to rain and rain hard. Could be beautiful in the dry. The wall around the old town is almost fully intact. Had a nice lunch at an Italien Pizziera, but someone took Dis brolley from the door, and left an inferior one - she...

Oct 1, 2008 - Cannes-Four fools by the sea

Breakfast as at about 8:30 AM and then we went to the seawalk for a stroll by the shops - the Mediterrean was calm this morning and the ships were very plentiful. Went to the festival center and had our picture taken on the red carpet where they hold the Cannes film festival, I'm sure we were standing where James Bond stood on many occasions. We went to the train station about noon to see if we could get an earlier train to Paris but could not because the cost would have been about 640 Euro -- no way so we are waiting until our 5 PM train....

Aug 7, 2008 - The waves of the Mediteranean Sea

Naomi writes: We arrived in Cannes, home of the famous Cannes Film Festival, on the French Riveria on Tuesday evening. The first thing that happened was that Michael fell ill. He probably caught the same bug that Daniel had in Paris last week. Unfortunately, Michael’s powers of recuperation are not as strong as Daniel’s. He spent the next two days resting in bed in between vomiting. As a result, Naomi had to take over as cruise director for the Potter family vacation in Europe. I was upset and intimidated, mostly becase I was unprepared for...

Jul 3, 2008 - Cote d'Azur

Alas, we are in La Cote d'Azur....the french riviera! We had a quick night stopover in Nice, and then made our way to our 4-star hotel in Cannes. It has its own private beach...meaning, we walked from the hotel, over one street and were greeted on the actual beach by a swarm of cute french boys, ready to serve us. They gave us fabulous seats, laid out our towels for us, and brought us drinks all day. Little ordered a Thai salad, which looked so sexy (see pic) and they brought out, right to the foot of her seat. Basically, we have spent the...