I woke up
Saturday morning feeling bittersweet: I knew an exciting day was ahead of us,
but it was also my last. Turns out, my last day was better than I ever could
have expected. Rawson was leaving Saturday morning, so Adam, Hayley, and I met
him for breakfast before he departed at an amazing little restaurant by the
beach we just discovered. The pastries there looked amazing and we had homemade
muffins and coffees for breakfast. Such a wonderful start to the morning. They
also had what appeared to be homemade ice cream bars in the freezer there-
Hayls, I hope you get those today while you're still there, because not having
one of those babies seems to be my only regret about the entire week….
Rawson
sadly departed after that and the three of us ventured into town to buy
souvenir posters from the Boutique Officiale to bring home and frame. However,
they were all sold out so we were majorly stressing. The lady in the store said
they would have a shipment that afternoon so it was a top priority that we went
back to get them later on. While we were down there, we got a phone call from
Arthur that one of his family friends was taking his boat out for a little spin
in the Mediterranean (casual) and asked us to join along. We dropped everything
and practically ran home (and by that I mean walked at a snail’s pace because
we were so exhausted) so that I could pack and we could make it on the boat. We
could not have been more excited- boating was the one thing on our Cannes
bucket list we had yet to do. We stopped at what we presumed to be another
small sandwich stand on the side of the road near the beach to pick up lunch
for the boat, but it turned out to be a gourmet one, where instead of just
premade sandwiches they had made-to-order sandwiches and salads. Hayley and I
got the best salads of our entire trip there, so I would like to retract my
previous statement that all of France has bad salads. See this Cannes
equivalent of a food truck for proof.
Then, the
boat. It was supposed to rain according to the trusty iPhone weather app, but
in typical fashion for us, it held off- our luck once again. We sailed for over
2 hours, had wine, and went swimming in the freezing and salty, but absolutely
breathtaking, Mediterranean Sea. Arthur became our hero in that moment- and the
four of us had the best day ever. We passed an island that is largely
undeveloped and has belonged to monks since the 5th century, and
another island where Louis XIV’s twin brother was supposedly held captive
behind an Iron Mask during his reign. It is a pretty interesting tale (that can
be read here).
En route back to the Cannes harbor, we passed tons of huge yachts and a famous
sailboat that was made in the early 1900s and still is on the water today. We
napped in the sun (finally got some more color I think!) and were so relaxed.
Then the
marathon that was my last night began. The final competition premiere was at 7,
and our boat docked at 4:30. In between that time, we had to get posters from
the store, make it back to the dorms, shower/change, make it back to the Palais
area, beg for tickets, and enter the Grand Lumiere with tickets in hand before
the access closed at 6:30. Could we do it? Read on my friends…
We
literally jumped off the boat, thanked Arthur and his family friend profusely
for the amazing afternoon we just had, and ran to the store. I can't stress
enough how luck ALWAYS managed to be on our side this trip. It was absolutely
incredible. The store had just gotten in their poster shipment an hour before,
and there was an abundance to go around. We each picked up our coveted prize
and then power-walked home as fast as our feet would take us. Hayley and I beat
Adam and Arthur back, arriving at 5:03 and were showered, changed, and ready to
go by 5:28. It was a miracle. We sprinted to the bus stop decked out for the
red carpet and magically (but somehow not surprising) the bus arrived 10
seconds after we did. We got on and made our way into town, sprinting to our successful
ticket-begging spot. It was brutally hot and Cannes was emptying out already,
but Adam and Hayley managed to score 3 tickets for us. We scarfed down
soft-serve ice cream cones (“Italian style” as they call it in France) and were
entering by 6:30. I was SO impressed with us!!! We made everything happen and
had so much fun doing it.
Finally
catching my breath, I made my way down the red carpet slowly, as number 12
would be my final and last journey down it. I looked around, soaking up
everything, and made my way inside of the Grand Lumiere for the last time. It
was such a bittersweet experience. The movie, Mud, was another American film,
written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and starred Reese Witherspoon and Matthew
McConaughey. The film was FABULOUS. Definitely made my top 5 list out of the 25
films I’ve seen. It was such a nice closure to my time at the festival, my time
in the Grand Lumiere, and my time in Cannes. The film is a beautiful coming of
age story of two young boys who encounter a fugitive and form a pact with him
to help him evade the bounty hunters who are after him in order to reunite him
with his one true love. I sat in my seat for as long as I could, saying my
internal goodbyes and reflecting on how amazing my time here was.
I wasn’t
sitting with Adam and Hayley so I left to go meet up with them and Arthur, who,
as you can tell by the name of this blog post, made our day yet again by getting
us invited to a private party on the beach sponsored by Schweppes. YAY ARTHUR-
YOU ARE THE BOMB!!! We had a quick final dinner for me at an amazing restaurant
called Petit Paris and made our way to the villa. The four of us were some of
the first people there and it was AWESOME. It is so weird to think how all of
these hundreds of tents are set up for a mere two weeks and afterwards they’ll
be taken down, the beach reduced to its natural and mundane sandiness once
again. Everything about the festival is so real, but at the same time so, so
fake. Such an interesting thing to contemplate…
The party
had live entertainment and an open bar and they must have had some type of pact
with Grey Goose because that was the vodka of the night- served with delicious
new Schweppes juices/fizzy mixers. Loved it! And the champagne of course. The four
of us toasted our trip and our new friendship. I could not have asked for a
better last night!!!!!!! We brought our drinks out to the beach and sat
together by the water, talking and laughing and having the best time of our
lives. Biggest joke of it all was that we were getting an academic credit for
it- that one sure had a lotta laughs. The views were incredible and will forever
be etched into my memory. Hayley and I were the first ones to retire back to
the dorms (surprise, surprise) and left the boys there until closing (mandatory
2 am beach evacuation in Cannes). Hayley and I passed out and then I woke up
this morning to finish packing so upset, realizing my trip of a lifetime (if that’s
even an appropriate term for what my time here was) was coming to a close. Yesterday
was perfect (thanks 99.9% to Arthur) in every sense of the word, As I sit in
the Nice airport typing this second to last post (I think I still have one more
in me…), I am happy to be going home, but at the same time so upset to be leaving
Cannes behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment