![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Continuing with the trip journal--it's now day 7 since we arrived in France, and our first day in Cannes. For the most part, we decided to relax during the day and go out for dinner at night.
By the time we got up, the day was in full swing. After a week long of rain in Paris, we were blessed with sunshine. We walked out of the house, and discovered the villa indeed got a fabulous view of Cannes (and Nice?) by the distant bays. The villa was situated in the Esterel mountains so it had a reddish rocky view as well. There was a nice pool directly overlooking Cannes in the distance. We spent most part of the day around the pool sunbathing and hung out.
( See picture collage of the day and the story of the night behind the cut... )
Anyway, we got to the police station and found a very friendly English speaking policeman who was sent from Paris as the reinforcement for the film festival. He told us he was very lucky to be on duty to stand guard near the stage where U2 performed live the night before!
After our friends got their police report, we decided to stroll around the town to see what we could find. We came upon the red carpet where the stars were seen and photographed. Of course by then it was all empty. We took snapshots in front of it and promised ourselves that one of these days we would come here around 18:00 when the stars would walk the carpet. We then continued making our way on the La Croisette Blvd. Along the waterfront, tents were setup for many private parties. When we walked in front of a tent facing the Hilton hotel, we noticed the music from the tent was particularly lively, and there were a group of men with heavy duty cameras waiting nearby. We decided to take a break to rest our feet and see what would happen. Several minutes went by, and I noticed a slender girl exited the tent and walked up to a man in suit sitting not far from where I was standing. Immediately, I went and whispered to my girlfriend that this girl was a really good look-alike of Mini Driver! The girl ended up with her back toward me and was talking to the man she approached. I kept whispering to my friend how this girl had the same hair, eyes, nose and profile as Mini Driver. Before long, the paparazzi noticed the girl as well, and they shouted her name to get her autograph. It was when the flashes went off that I realized it was indeed Mini Driver herself! Anyway, after signing a few autographs, Mini Driver quickly walked across the street towards Hilton, inside which was another private party being held. I was a little embarrassed and hoped she never heard me whispering that she was a very good Mini Driver "impersonator!"
After our brief "encounter" with Mini Driver, we walked further down the La Croisette and came upon an open air theater. Just then, fireworks were shooting from some boats off the shore. We were just in time to enjoy the grand finale. Then we decided to walk back toward the other end of the La Croisette where our car was parked. When we passed the theater where the movies were screened, we noticed that people were leaving the place. We went to the side where we had a good view of the exit to see if we would catch sight of any famous people. As we were standing on the side, all of a sudden, Geoff and I noticed two familiar faces--they were the two pretty French girls we met on the train yesterday! They both saw us and came by to say hello. When the two girls saw me, they excitedly asked me if I remembered Erica on the train--they just saw her movie earlier--she was indeed a ladybug. One of the girl kept saying it was a pretty weird movie, but they were very thrilled to see their new friend on the big screen!
We lingered around the theater a little bit longer. Most people were gone by then. We saw a lady dressed in a red ball gown exiting the theater as one of the last ones to leave the place. As she walked by, many paparazzi surrounded her and snapped pictures of her. She was very cooperative, and made many poses for the cameras. My friend and I looked at each other--who was she?! Neither of us could recognize her. After the lady left, my friend approached one of the paparazzi to ask him who the woman was. The cameraman was friendly and spoke accented English. He shrugged and said he had no clue! "No clue?! Then why are you taking pictures of her?!" we asked. He laughed and said he'd taken TONS of pictures during the day--he would take pictures of anyone who were dressed up or appeared wearing expensive jeweleries hoping to catch at least one famous person! Ha! The life of a paparazzo!!!
We left the theater and decided to go to Jimy'z Club to try our luck at a gambling table. But we were stopped at the entrance--we didn't know that apparently they require passports to enter Casinos in Europe! Oh well, it was getting rather late for us anyway. We went and got our car and drove back to the villa to end the night...
( See picture collage of the night behind the cut... )
By the time we got up, the day was in full swing. After a week long of rain in Paris, we were blessed with sunshine. We walked out of the house, and discovered the villa indeed got a fabulous view of Cannes (and Nice?) by the distant bays. The villa was situated in the Esterel mountains so it had a reddish rocky view as well. There was a nice pool directly overlooking Cannes in the distance. We spent most part of the day around the pool sunbathing and hung out.
( See picture collage of the day and the story of the night behind the cut... )
Anyway, we got to the police station and found a very friendly English speaking policeman who was sent from Paris as the reinforcement for the film festival. He told us he was very lucky to be on duty to stand guard near the stage where U2 performed live the night before!
After our friends got their police report, we decided to stroll around the town to see what we could find. We came upon the red carpet where the stars were seen and photographed. Of course by then it was all empty. We took snapshots in front of it and promised ourselves that one of these days we would come here around 18:00 when the stars would walk the carpet. We then continued making our way on the La Croisette Blvd. Along the waterfront, tents were setup for many private parties. When we walked in front of a tent facing the Hilton hotel, we noticed the music from the tent was particularly lively, and there were a group of men with heavy duty cameras waiting nearby. We decided to take a break to rest our feet and see what would happen. Several minutes went by, and I noticed a slender girl exited the tent and walked up to a man in suit sitting not far from where I was standing. Immediately, I went and whispered to my girlfriend that this girl was a really good look-alike of Mini Driver! The girl ended up with her back toward me and was talking to the man she approached. I kept whispering to my friend how this girl had the same hair, eyes, nose and profile as Mini Driver. Before long, the paparazzi noticed the girl as well, and they shouted her name to get her autograph. It was when the flashes went off that I realized it was indeed Mini Driver herself! Anyway, after signing a few autographs, Mini Driver quickly walked across the street towards Hilton, inside which was another private party being held. I was a little embarrassed and hoped she never heard me whispering that she was a very good Mini Driver "impersonator!"
After our brief "encounter" with Mini Driver, we walked further down the La Croisette and came upon an open air theater. Just then, fireworks were shooting from some boats off the shore. We were just in time to enjoy the grand finale. Then we decided to walk back toward the other end of the La Croisette where our car was parked. When we passed the theater where the movies were screened, we noticed that people were leaving the place. We went to the side where we had a good view of the exit to see if we would catch sight of any famous people. As we were standing on the side, all of a sudden, Geoff and I noticed two familiar faces--they were the two pretty French girls we met on the train yesterday! They both saw us and came by to say hello. When the two girls saw me, they excitedly asked me if I remembered Erica on the train--they just saw her movie earlier--she was indeed a ladybug. One of the girl kept saying it was a pretty weird movie, but they were very thrilled to see their new friend on the big screen!
We lingered around the theater a little bit longer. Most people were gone by then. We saw a lady dressed in a red ball gown exiting the theater as one of the last ones to leave the place. As she walked by, many paparazzi surrounded her and snapped pictures of her. She was very cooperative, and made many poses for the cameras. My friend and I looked at each other--who was she?! Neither of us could recognize her. After the lady left, my friend approached one of the paparazzi to ask him who the woman was. The cameraman was friendly and spoke accented English. He shrugged and said he had no clue! "No clue?! Then why are you taking pictures of her?!" we asked. He laughed and said he'd taken TONS of pictures during the day--he would take pictures of anyone who were dressed up or appeared wearing expensive jeweleries hoping to catch at least one famous person! Ha! The life of a paparazzo!!!
We left the theater and decided to go to Jimy'z Club to try our luck at a gambling table. But we were stopped at the entrance--we didn't know that apparently they require passports to enter Casinos in Europe! Oh well, it was getting rather late for us anyway. We went and got our car and drove back to the villa to end the night...
( See picture collage of the night behind the cut... )
