Tochi's Hut

To avoid any rigging inquiries by the stewards or backlash regarding certain cities having gained an unfair advantage, I hereby declare the entire Côte d'Azur, by definition, to be 5/5.  Côte d'Azur, also referred to as the French Riviera, is arguably the most beautiful and one of the most posh regions of France.  I have been told of countless wonders and stories of the French Riviera from various sources over the years, so this has always been one of my must-visit places in the world.  Naturally, the many incarnations of E08 itinerary always included Côte d'Azur - guaranteed success!  Our plans call for several days in this area, with the first stop in Cannes.

Now… the planning of this E08 trip has, at times, been frustrating.   We originally had more people, but various conflicts in schedule forced some to bail out –.-;  In the end, we had settled on these two weeks in May which overlaps with Victoria Day and Memorial Day long weekends.  When it came time to book accommodations, I realized something was fishy when hostel/hotel prices were up to 10 times more expensive during these two weeks than any other time of the year.  What we did not realize when we initially picked the dates is that our visit to Côte d'Azur coincides with two of the most celebrated spectacles in the world – the first of which is the famous Festival de Cannes.

We spent the night in Nice and took an early morning train into Cannes for a day trip.  The scene at Nice’s station was a mess.  We did not expect such a big crowd!  BlueOrca was smart with our EuroPasses; we skipped the lines and jumped onto the next train to Cannes.  40 minute ride from Nice to Cannes.

Having grown up around another major film festival for the better part of my life and knowing how it transforms Toronto for two weeks every year, I was really curious what Cannes would be like.  BlueOrca also hyped it up by telling me about a giant Indiana Jones façade adorning some building’s exterior.

The train station was only a few blocks away from the main pavilion of the 61st annual Festival de Cannes.  Unfortunately, unlike TIFF, most of the festival’s viewings and activities were held in a private, secluded section of the water front.  Only accredited film and media members were allowed in.  Too bad I forgot to register myself as a reporter for Tochi Media Conglomerate. :(

What does one do at a film festival?  Watch movies, see the stars, interact with well dressed people, ogle at all the fancy cars. :D  We had to see at least one movie while at the film festival.  Our first pick was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which had came out two days prior.  However, Indy was only being shown at a regular theatre, so we opted for the Festival-sanctioned Director’s Fortnight showing of independent films later in the evening.

We took a stroll along the water front promenade, Boulevard de la Croisette, to check out the beaches, booths, boutiques and palaces.  We passed by a row of white roof huts (classic Cannes Film Festival icon) that showcased various countries and their films. I really love film festivals because you get to see films that are “non-Hollywood”.  So few of these movies ever make it to mainstream theatres back home.  Take Pan’s Labyrinth for example – Hollywood would never create such a film.  It really is a pity that there is so much art and culture we are missing.  Anyway, Cannes is an important showcase for such films, especially those of European origin.

This product of Ukraine was particularly interesting – Sappho – Love Without Limit.  Where can you highlight and celebrate such a provocative, erotic film besides a film festival?  What made it more amusing for me was that the subtitle resembled the second Umizaru movie Limit of Love.

We made a brief stop at the official boutique store, where BlueOrca picked up a t-shirt to wear at home and I brought the most expensive key chain of my life. There were many performers showing off their arts and crafts along the street. At various times, there were groups of people dancing to music coming out of a boom box. :P

It seems like there was a contingent of adoring fans outside every single hotel, waiting for their idols to come out. BlueOrca and I hung around for a few minutes, but didn't really see the point of wasting our time like this. Chances are, I won't even recognize the stars anyway - although, Harrison Ford was rumoured to be in town. XD  We did manage to see a lot of nice cars - Lamborghinis, Ferraris, you name it, they have it. I've never seen so many different colour Ferraris in my life. Also got my first close up look of a Tesla. Too bad Segamatic was not here yet. lol.

The atmosphere here really epitomize the lifestyle of Côte d'Azur - definitely a place for the rich, lavish and carefree.  If I ever become super rich, I’d love to get a yacht and sail into Cannes (and probably Monaco and Marseille too), dock and just party. 

There were many giant billboards and decorations advertising the latest and upcoming films.  Here is the one outside of Intercontinental  Carlton that got BlueOrca all excited.

After a quick lunch, we explored a hill that rises above the western part  of Cannes.  There was a cache there with the longest log ever.  Good thing I found it first, so BlueOrca had to roll it back. XD

From the hill, you get a pretty spectacular view of the city.  We could see the pavilion and convention centre where the Festival was taking place.  On the deck of the helicopter landing pad like building, someone famous must have been holding a press conference.  From our super far vantage point, all we could see was a constellation of camera flashes going off every couple minutes.  Too bad we didn’t have a super long telephoto.  We raided the tail end of a wedding party at this restaurant near the top.   All the guests went home with a bottle of wine. :P 

There was some church at the top of the hill that we visited briefly.  My memory is kind of fuzzy from this point on, as I started feeling the worst of my cold.  I seem to get sick at least once on every trip. :(  On our way back to downtown Cannes, we passed by a façade of the bus terminal that I particularly liked. 

We decided to go through the shopping district (I think this is the first time on the trip where we’ve gone “shopping”. lol).  Two of the memorable shops were a pirate candy store, where the loot was literally barrels full of candy and a souvenir shop where BlueOrca spotted an inflatable Orca (or whale, I still cannot tell the difference).  BlueOrca was contemplating on starting a pin collection on her slingshot backpack, the first being the palm logo of the Festival.  She debated for the better part of an hour – considering factors such as cost, usage, future and anything else you can think of.  I was to the point where if she did not buy this darn pin, I would have brought it for her.  We ended up heading back to the official festival boutique store where BlueOrca picked up her pin, while I got a postcard.  After she paid for it, we found out it was not a pin. Good thing the cashier was kind enough to give BlueOrca a refund.

With some time left before our movie viewing at 7pm (had to get in line by 6pm), we decide to hit the beach.  This is, by far, the liveliest beach on our entire trip.  The sun had returned.  My only problem was that my bathing suit was back in Nice.  :( We just took off our shoes and went for a stroll along the water.  BlueOrca drew her trademark logo and an unflattering (fatter than irl) version of Tappy in the sand.  My attempt at an Orca ended up looking more like a dolphin (in my defense, Orcas are dolphins).  I apparently missed some critical part in my design - a part that I still cannot remember.  Footprints in the sand. :)

We had some quiches for dinner.  Saw a few very spectacular sand sculptures that were nearly completion. 

We brought these 7 euro tickets to watch the prestigious independent film guild known as Directors’ Fortnight.  I do not think I have ever watched these so-called amateur films.  Perhaps the closest would have been Blair Witch.   From the program we were expecting to watch a 1hr 20min feature film, timed perfectly to give us some time to walk over to the beach to catch the late night outdoor movie at 9pm.

Everyone took their seats and the show started.  This dude in an all white suit and a lady in a colourful dress took the stage and started explaining the mission and purpose of the Directors’ Fortnight.  I was like.. wtf. ._.;  The show then turned into an awards presentation, kind of like a mini Oscars.  Tonight was apparently their closing night gala.

The experience of witnessing the awards presentation in person was quite unreal.  You can sense in the atmosphere that this evening was very special for many in attendance.  The winners were like any awards show, ranging from some really animated ones to some very humble ones.  However, they were all very honoured with and proud of the awards and the guild.  I totally felt like an outsider experiencing something truly special, something truly great.  The colourful lady I’d mentioned earlier was an interpreter, translating from French to English and vice versa.  She was the best part of the show.  At various times, after a long speech by the speaker, she would summarize everything in one sentence, much to the pleasure of the crowd.

After the fun stuff was taken care of, the show transitioned to the feature films of the night.  The short film was Benny Safdie’s The Acquaintance of a Lonely John.   It was the life of one guy (John) as he goes about a day of his life.  A little sloppy, John is pretty much the type of person you would not even notice on the street.  However, his little actions and gestures of kindnesses are beautifully captured in the film.  For example, arriving home one day, he finds a little bird trapped inside his air conditioner.  Instead of dismantling his air conditioner to take care of the darn bird, he feeds it some seeds.   While subbing in for a friend at a gas station, he accidentally overfills someone’s tank.  He tries to make up for the extra with his own money.  His friend also pulls a prank on him by “robbing” the gas station and he took it all in stride.  The film, while only like 15 minutes long, makes one appreciate the small wonders and joys of the people and life around us.

The next film is the feature of the night entitled “The Pleasures of Being Robbed” by Josh Safdie, Benny’s brother.  Story is about this girl, Eléonore, who goes about her life stealing miscellaneous things from people.   Film starts of with this girl seeing another girl that she knows (the other girl doesn’t really know her).  Eléonore gives her “friend” a hug and picks her purse.  Similarly, she goes stealing some DVDs, some grapes, and a basket of baby kittens, the latter gets tossed onto her bed, to the joy and horror of BlueOrca.  The weirdest part is that this girl isn’t stealing for money, greed, etc.  There is really no reason given for her actions.  She just does it.  The description for the film states “A curious and lost Eléonore looks for something everywhere, even in the bags of strangers who find themselves sadly smiling only well after she's left their lives. They owe her their thanks.”  Unfortunately, with the awards ceremony, we were running late, and the film at the beach was about to start.  We decided to leave early, so I never figured out how the people ended up being better off after Eléonore pickpockets them.  Even now, as I’m summarizing this, I’m aching to see the rest of the film.

So yeah, the closing night with the Directors’ Fortnight was a pretty cool film festival experience.  However, we were heading off to the beach, where every night of the festival, the festival committee selects one film to show to the public on a giant projection screen by the beach.  Woot.  We were going to see an official film from the festival!

Before that though, we made a quick run to the train station to check the schedule for the last train to Nice.  On the way, we saw a mini Hummer, which sounds like an oxymoron until you see one.  We got back to the beach and found a good spot on the ledge. 

So, why was the film we were watching black and white?  We then realized this was a showing of a 1962 psycho-thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?  The Festival was not picking a film from this year’s film roster!  Argh.  Anyway, I would have never watched this film had it not been this festival.  The movie was quite a nail biter.  The plot is about a pair of sisters: Blanche, a former movie queen who was crippled to a wheelchair due to an accident and Jane, a former child star.  Blanche is trapped in a house with her sister who is a little messed up in her head.  Her successful childhood stardom which was overshadowed by her sister’s fame and her involvement in her sister’s accident led Jane to her sadistic torture of her crippled sister.  Both a horror story and a thriller, I was pretty much glued to my seat the entire time.  My favourite character was poor old Edwin.  He was only trying to make a buck.  In the scene where Jane shows Edwin her doll, that “WTF” look on his face was priceless.

Halfway through the show, fireworks went off out in the sea.  It was such a pretty sight… how can one not love Cannes? :)  Ironically, we had to leave before the movie finished in order to catch our train.  I finished watching the rest of the movie on YouTube after the trip.  The movie wraps itself up quite nicely.  Many questions including the title of the film are answered.  Glad the Festival stewards made a great choice. :)

We caught the last train back to Nice.  A ticket officer on the train came awfully close to checking our Europass tickets, but never ended up getting to us.  Got back into Nice after midnight and after a walk towards the Promenade, we checked into our Hotel.  We’re exploring Nice the next day, so that means we can sleep in a bit!

This Cannes experience has been a most memorable one, to say the least.  Even though we didn’t end up seeing any movie stars, Cannes gets a well deserved 5/5.  I told you so. :P