Day 5

Cannes:

Well, it was another grey day here on the Riviera, and my what a disappointment that was. I'm starting to feel like grey follows me everywhere, blah. :p Anyway, today I was supposed to head out to St. Tropez & Cannes, but by the time I got going (was taking my time today, starting to feel the travel lag) it was too late to go to St. Tropez, & it was no loss in this weather for the hour & half train + boat ride it takes to get there. So it was Cannes alone instead. And I have to say, I had a pretty good day despite the sporadic drizzle. The train stops right in the middle of town, and the town is tiny, so I started out just wandering around the harbour, checking out the restaurants and hotels, and the first sandy beach I've seen so far (Nice's is pebbly.) There were these cool little beach shack restaurants under the boardwalk where you could eat on the beach & stare at the Med as the sailboats go by. There were also wicked crazy yachts with shi-shi & shi-shier names that came from all over the world - though mostly England. The theatre where the film festival's at is kinda a let-down, but aren't most things that hyped anyway? There were handprints of some mighty famous stars & I snapped a few pics of those. Then it was starting to drizzle again & my feet really needed a break & I really needed a bathroom, so I stopped at one of those beach shack restaurants and had a plate of ginormous jumbo shrimp and super thick hot chocolate. It was good. :) When I was done, I finished my walk down the promenade, with all the big name shops & hotels (D&G, Cartier, you name it, etc. & Carlon, Hilton, blah, blah) & there was an artists' fair & Marche aux Puces (Flea Market) going on, & that was cool. I was really impressed with the artwork as it was so colourful, beautiful, & creative. I would've taken pics but felt like I'd be robbing them of their original copyright. ;) When that was done, I made my way back up off the water, onto the one major street & kept walking, walking... walking, for what felt like forever. Well, except for the lunch break, I'd been walking for... almost 4 hours, and my feet knew it. :/ But I had to keep going, the street was filled with big name shops (yep, more of them, some of the same) and ones I'd never seen before. The street was filled with children & families, couples (man, affectionate couples galore in France - l'amour, it's no lie. ;-)) just people, going out, and it had an almost festive feel. Despite the obscene consumerism, it's kinda fun taking in all the sites. But by now I'd walked the street almost 3 times (don't ask why, let's just say I got 'lost') and my feet were ready to fall off so I headed back to the train station to head back home (or hostel home.) The trains here feel like they glide on air & I was so glad to catch the express back & grab some good hostel food - no joke, we have this super hot Australian chef (and he knows it, "good morning sunshines" sends the girls into frenzied giggles ;)) named 'Olly' who cooks us up a storm every night for only 6.50 Euro - can't find a better bargain in town (or anywhere else for that matter) or a better meal. :) You gotta get here quick though cuz he runs out fast. Aiight... what else can I say? So far the Riviera's been great, despite the crap weather I really got a feel for this place and I have to say, on the whole, it's really pleasant. Of course nothing's perfect and Nice isn't the most beautiful place in the world (much like Honolulu, it has its dark moments) but I dunno, I really like it. :) Or I really like the area I should say. There's a gorgeous cliffside/seaside town called Villefranche on the way to Monaco that we didn't get a chance to stop at yesterday, tomorrow after I check out & wander around Nice some more, if there's still time I want to head there for some relaxing by the sea, finally. :) And then the real work begins! Yay! I'm actually super excited to stop living out of a suitcase & settle in - I'm getting too old for this. ;-) Alright everyone, I hope all's well back home, talk soon!