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.