A monastic island

I love contrasts.

I love stark and sharp contrasts.

To me, it represents a true picture of any location. It shows me what it's really like to live or exist in a place.

Far too often, I find that the impression provided of a place is limited to a shiny facade. It isn't exactly a false impression, but it's definitely not the full picture that you get from spending an extended amount of time in a place.

So away from the beautiful facade of Cannes, away from hotels and away from the beach, I found something far quieter.

St Honorat Island is only a short ferry ride away, but it might as well be in a different country. It is an island full of monks who spend their time between quiet prayer and making wine. It is a calm and quiet place that truly allows a person to think and to contemplate the existence.

As I got off the ferry, dozens of seniors departed with me, yet surprisingly that was pretty much the last time I saw any large groups of people.

It felt as though I was on this island almost completely by myself.

And I loved it.
Following the path around the island, I would occasionally walk off to the side and find myself in front of beautiful little coves. Perfectly secluded little beaches that just begged for a swim.... and me without my bathers....
As I walked from one end of the island to the other, I found myself wanting to sit down, to just rest and even to take a nap. The sight of the vineyards also added to this sense of overwhelming calm I felt.
It was hard to believe that just over the water, the debauchery of the Cannes Film Festival would occur every year.
This place seemed too peaceful, as though it was protected by a bubble far from the anxieties of modern life.

Film festivals and stuff

I managed to extricate myself from the horrible mess of a place that is Monaco.

I felt like I was in some horrific dream. It looks nice from a distance and it definitely doesn't resemble the glamorous mirage I had created in my mind.

My next stop was to visit an old friend.

This old friend happened to live in Cannes, so it was only a short train ride along the French Riviera.

My expectations of this region had been more than a bit crushed by my time in Monaco so I wasn't really bouncing with excitement anymore.

I was quickly proven wrong though!

This was a really nice place.

I had come at a time when most people weren't in the holiday mood and there was a distinct lack of celebrities roaming the streets.

It didn't matter. I was able to search out the tidbits that had been left by some truly world changing and culturally significant artistes of recent generations.

People like Van Damme!

.... and some other guys who had far less impact on our culture and times.

Guys like Dennis Hopper....
I saw famous landmarks.
I saw pretty views.
I saw some mediocre beaches!
What struck me the most about this place was that there was a strangely laid back attitude towards life.

For a place that is supposedly a Mecca for the high flying cinema industry, I got more of a feeling of "relaxed comfort" than of "superficial wealth".
When I was able to meet up with my friend, she and her friend took me out into the old quarter of the town for dinner as well. It was an incredibly nice place to have dinner with friends. It was quiet without being deserted, there was a cozy feeling to the streets that was not cramped and like most places in France, there was tasty food to be had.
In the back of my mind, I thought that this was one of those precious places, the ones that you could actually see yourself living in.
However, as I walked past the row of beautiful hotels I had to remind myself that while it was nice at the moment, this was probably not a state of affairs that lasted the entire year.

The Life Aquatic

Well this is weird.

Walking around the top of Monaco, near the Prince's palace, I discovered an aquarium.

It seemed to be a reasonable aquarium, but not a great one in the modern sense. It was more interesting for the old artifacts and historical pieces it held of past explorations into the sea.
The aquarium itself was fairly ordinary.
Once again, I was confronted with constant reminders of the Monaco royal family.
Apparently they love the sea and this aquarium goes to show just how much they love the sea...
... there was something strangely ridiculous about it all. It reminded me of the Wes Anderson film "The Life Aquatic", and somehow their behaviour and claims seemed to be even more preposterous than those of the characters in the movie.

I needed to leave this silly place.

More rich people

I was still wandering around the streets of Monaco.

This place sure was tiny.

It's so tiny that the Monaco golf course isn't even in Monaco. It's in neighbouring France. It makes sense when you consider that the whole Principality probably only a little bit bigger than a golf course as it is....
There were lots of famous things to see.

Such as the final resting place of Grace Kelly. Is she the most glamourous princess of all time? The Diana supporters may disagree, but Princess Grace had the movie career and the French Riviera upping her claim.
Then there was the notorious hair pin turn of the Monaco Grand Prix.
For most of the year, I guess this is just a random turn on a road.
But for those brief moments during the Grand Prix, this tiny little corner of the world becomes so much more!

.... to be honest, I was finding it hard to get excited. Monaco is an empty place. Once you get past the not so shiny exterior, you're about done with all there is to do.

Rich people

My wanderings had brought me to a place with more ostentatious displays of wealth than I had ever seen.

I was in Monaco!

The land of royalty, F1 and luxury.
The only thing was... it wasn't the land of class and elegance that I had expected.

Monaco has always been in my mind as one of the most glamorous places in the world. I expected big things from this place. I expected the place to be full of architectural wonders, fast cars and people who were the definition of chic.
I didn't really get that feeling.
There was something almost tacky about the place. It felt as though everything would have been brand new and high tech, had we still been in the 80s. There were obvious signs of wealth to be seen such as with the cars being driven, but it wasn't consistent and it didn't necessarily imply any class whatsoever. There's also something incredibly creepy about seeing the really rich old man with the strikingly beautiful young model girlfriend/wife.

Secret gardens

About half an hour outside of Paris is Parc de Sceaux.

This would have to be one of the hidden gems of Paris.
It is an enormous and well manicured park that displays all the regal bearing of its even larger and more famous relative at Versailles.
However, unlike Versailles, the purpose of this lovely park isn't to recapture the lost glory of the Ancien Regime for precious tourist shekels.

Instead, this park exists to be what it was originally intended for. To be an open space where people can walk and sit whilst surrounded by the beautifully kept grounds.
On a cool, but sunny day, I saw this park fulfilling its purpose.

Families were out with their children, people were jogging, whilst others were just laying around on the grass gazing up at the sky.
When I thought of Paris and France, this is the type of image I had in my mind. It wasn't of enormous city scenes or of busy cafes, it was of parks like this. I imagined parks such as this. Where I could walk through while the wind blew and the leaves fell.

Je suis Napoleon!

Les Invalides is a grand and imposing structure.

With it's golden dome, it radiates power and magnificence. Even from a distance, there is a distinct glow that emanates from the beautiful gilding.

Inside, it is no less impressive. There are numerous museums and monuments dedicated to the glory of France's military past.
I even found myself standing in front of a small display case filled with batons belonging to some of France's field marshalls. No one seemed to care or notice, so I was stood there silently in awe of this amazing spectacle.

Six batons. All representing incredible power and achievement. Each one the symbol of accomplishment by great men. Now they are confined to being ignored by tourists in search of more impressive looking exhibits such as big guns and pretty light shows. It's a bit depressing.
Wandering into the main hall, there were monuments dedicated to the heroes of France, such as Marshall Foch.
One monument stuck out more than the others.

The sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Pacing in a circle around this sarcophagus was a strangely surreal experience. This was the resting place of the man who tormented Europe, and yet in many ways was also the man who broke down the old order and began the move of the world into modernity. I had read so much about the Napoleonic era over the years and seeing this in person somehow made it all slightly more real.

Just like Amelie

Someone once said to me that they imagined that I saw the world as Amelie did.

I wasn't sure how to take that. Did it mean that I was a bit loopy or that I viewed the world through a unique lens?

... maybe a bit of both.

It seemed fitting then to find myself standing in front of Sacre Coeur.

Standing at the top of the Montmarte, my only real knowledge of this place comes from the move Amelie. I know almost nothing about it, and to be honest, it had never struck me as one of the "must sees" of Paris.
Being at Sacre Coeur, I felt obliged to go inside, have a look, and as usual, climb to the highest possible point.
It was definitely a nice view.

The sky was clear and I could see straight across Paris.
I was definitely beginning to feel a bit of the "not another **** cathedral" phenomenon that so many tourists go through.

There was nothing "wrong" with Sacre Couer, it was just that after seeing so many other places in such a short amount of time, I was beginning to struggle with differentiating them in my mind.
Even so, standing out the front of this old basilica made me feel strangely nostalgic for the film Amelie. It was like being transported into the film itself, with Audrey Tatou surely only just around the corner...

It's so pretty

It's such an overstated comment that "Paris is beautiful" or that it's "magical".

Whenever I hear such comments, I generally recoil as I am usually unconvinced by the strength of the arguments.

Paris in particular seems to garner praise as a destination that is beyond compare.

It's a nice place, but I certainly wouldn't say it's the most amazing place I've ever been.

Some things definitely exceed expectations though.

The Eiffel Tower for instance.

Who would have thought that arguably the most touristy of all tourist destinations in the world is actually a pretty amazing site?
I don't like heights though.

I seem to find myself climbing all manner of structure on my holidays.... but I really don't actually like heights.
I find myself becoming a little bit light headed and I get that shaky feeling in the legs. However, I push on, knowing that it won't be so bad once I reach the top.
It's more than not bad.

It's beautiful.

The view from the heights of the Eiffel Tower completely unobstructed and unhindered. As such, it gives a near perfect perspective of this famous city.
Then there is the tower itself.

Phil and I were fortunate enough to get there late in the afternoon when the crowds had begun to dissipate. We wandered past all of those waiting patiently in line to ride the elevators to the top, and instead walked up the stairs ourselves.

This gave us a better understanding of the scale and size of this impressive structure.

As afternoon slowly became evening, we were also treated to a startling change in the tower itself.
The lights of the city began to flicker on. We had been on our way down the tower, when we realised that we were being given a completely different view.

We decided to stay longer and stare out for just a bit more.

Eventually, we had to go.

We were getting hungry and the winds began to pick up at the top of the tower.

Even as we left, we were given more to see.
The tower began to sparkle as lights began to flash up and down its length.

As we walked further away, it became clear that the top of the tower had spotlights shining out like a lighthouse.
The Eiffel Tower is a stereotypical tourist attraction, that is beyond a doubt. However, that doesn't make it any less amazing to see. Sometimes, too many travelers become too caught up in the image of travel, and forget that people will flock to see popular sites for good reason.