Cannes - Map

This is a map of the area. The Palais is the venue where all of the premieres are held. Huge "Cannes 2008" sign on the front, massive steps with red carpet. It's near the water at the west end of the Croisette. A few blocks to the east is the Carlton Hotel. That's where all of the major studios have their offices. Kind of like a Four Seasons. I've only been in the studio suites, which are pretty nice. Everyone stays at the other hotels along the Croisette - Majestic, Miramar, The Grand, Martinez... those look fabulous from the outside (the French are very concerned with appearances) but most have rooms that are more on par with a Travel Lodge. Our hotel is quite comfortable. It sits off the beaten path, just a bit, about a 10 minute walk to the Carlton. The Croisette hotels are mob scenes. Celebrities, publicists, journalists, security, fans... sometimes it's hard to push through the crowds. I like being able to retreat to our (relatively) quiet lobby, where we have the run of the place. The staff are quite polite and accommodating and - most importantly - we have wifi and power outlets.

Cannes - Misc. Photos

Cannes - Day 11

Finally, a clear day! No rain, few clouds, 75 and pretty. We spent most of the day inside, of course. Now that the work here is clearing up, I really need to focus on my upcoming LA and NY events. So we went to the usual place for lunch... found a special treat in my fries... walked the Croisette a little to snap a few photos. Later met with a vendor in the Carlton lobby - great people watching. There are some crazy outfits here. It's very, uh, amusing what some people consider "black tie". And the cars - WOW. There are Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Mazeratis, Bentleys, Maybachs, Mercs, RRs.... and a mini Hummer. WTF? Dude is driving around, thinks he looks cool. Real cool. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking someone wanted his photo, so I snapped this when the golf cart was parked and he was off being cheesy.

Then we ended up at L'UpSide Down for dinner. I had the pasta carbonara. Basically ham in a cream sauce, it comes with a raw egg yolk on top. It's everywhere here. The idea is to mix the raw egg into the hot pasta, which is hot enough to cook it. So good. So bad. LOVED the Manhattans. Yes, plural. Served in a margarita glass, not chilled, with a straw and fruitcake cherries.... Yeah, it was heaven.

Cannes - Day 10

It's Wednesday now, and only a couple days to go. I leave Saturday morning, 7:30 am flight. I'm trying to think of all of the things I still want to do before leaving town. Let's see... pick up some goodies for friends, rent a scooter and explore a little... um, that's about it. And I might skip the first one if it weighs me down. Anyhow, today was more of the same. Work, wait, work, wait... work. And then wait some more. So we got out for some food - lunch at the usual place on the beach. Dinner at an Armenian place on the Croisette.

Cannes - Day 8

Worked through most of the day, except to get out for lunch and dinner. Lunch at the beach front place. Dinner at the Vietnamese place. Best meal yet. Weird, huh?

Cannes - Day 7

Christine and her "Sicilian Warning Pizza" - anchovies, capers and olives.

Sunday, beautiful Sunday!! Weather is sunny and almost 80. YAY!! We worked in the lobby for a while, then walked La Croisette to pick up some premiere tickets at the Paramount office, say hi to friends in the Universal office, drop off some gift bakets, and find a place to lunch. We first tried L'UpSide Down Cafe, over near the carousel, but it was packed and we didn't feel like waiting because Sean was about to pass out from hunger. We walked to La Pizza (2nd time and counting) and got right in for a table of six.

Beer (they never ask what kind - I just order a "bierre" and they bring me something), a 4-cheese pizza add pepperoni, housemade tiramisu. MMMMmmMMMMmmmmMMMM!!!

Then we walked back, stopping at the festival gift shop to pick up a few things (anyone need any Cannes crap while I'm here?) to take back. Cool "official Festival de Cannes" poster, btw. Passed through a cute shopping area - though it's Sunday and most of the shops are closed (smart, huh?) - and got stuck in a quick rain shower.

Now I'm back at the hotel to do a little non-Cannes related work (yeah, we've got a really busy summer) and wondering what we'll do tonight. We're planning to do dinner somewhere, then meet up with my buddies Adam, Cathy and Fernando for drinks at some point. Probably late night.

Cannes - Day 5

We were in charge of the guest list for the Friday night party. Unfortunately we were weren't in charge of setting up the arrivals area. That was left to the crew, who set out a nice table and chairs. Sounds perfect, except that it was pouring rain and pretty dark. We were at the Gare Maritime (marina). We checked in the guests, then they boarded a tender and were shuttled out to the boat for the party. Good times.

Check out how close the boats are parked next to each other. It's like spring break at Lake Havasu. Separated only by bumpers, near enough that you could hop from deck to deck.

Cannes - Day 6

Friday was a late night. Went to sleep around 8 am and got up at 11. We snuck out to grab some breakfast at about 1 pm. We all wanted something breakfast-y, like pancakes or waffles, but all the restaurants were on to lunch. We ended up at one of the places on the beach side of La Croisette. Food was nice. We were served an amuse bouche... very interesting. Trio of sorbets to share - beet, cucumber and wasabi. Deeelicious. Then steak with an herb butter. Then a really awful creme brulee. It looked better than it tasted.

We then went back to the hotel and worked more on the event list. Whoohoo. We worked all afternoon. Exhausted, we decided to eat dinner at the closest place, Papa Nino's. We trudged two blocks through the rain (what up Cannes weather?!) and sat down for a bottle of red wine and spaghetti bolognese. I don't mean to talk about food all the time here, but it's the only thing I get to do here besides sit inside the lobby and work.

Cannes - Day 4 - Kung Fu Panda Premiere After-Party

It was exhausting, but everything turned out perfectly! The weather held for us (it has since been raining non-stop) and the night was beautiful. Good temperature. I don't have time to write more, as I'm on my way to work tonight's event. Here are some pics and a link to someone's video on YouTube.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=0nEi2ovcuRs

Cannes - Day 2

What a great day! I don't have a lot of time, so here are some points. I'll come back later and edit. Hung out most the day with Kris, Christine and Allison (my posse - they're a good bunch - more to come).

1. Weather getting so much better!! I won't jinx by saying anything else.

2. Found cutest pizza place a block from the hotel. It's called Papa Joe's (or something) and the owner (Pierre, with wife Natalie) has a sister in L.A.... she owns Le Petit Four on Sunset Plaza. Small world? He has a fun downstairs "private lounge area" for friends. Said we could use it. Used to be a brothel-type place for "bitches" (his word).

3. Panda suits delivered and set up at the tent. I want to keep one, but am not sure if it will fit in my carry on. Press stunt in the morning.

4. Dinner was at Pizza Cresci. Very popular place, way at the other end of the Croisette, past the Palais, near the marina. Pizza didn't look that good and got a "C" rating from a co-worker. I got a recommended pasta - noodles with mushrooms and "bacon sauce" (how did I not know there was such a thing?). It wasn't my favorite meal, but it was prety tasty. Fresh pasta.

5. Sound check at the pier for the stunt. New song for the movie - by Ce-Lo (sp?) is catchy and will be in my head for the next 2 weeks.

6. We have decided to rent scooters if we have a free moment. It looks like a blast and traffic is not that fast here. Cars are amazing. High-end Italian cars like you wouldn't believe. All stuck in first gear in the Croisette traffc. Ha.

7. Hotel decided to start offering a little customer service (very little - the room service is still only good noon-2). Actually turned down my room and left an adorable little light-up teddy bear (with a bottle of Voss) on my desk.

8. Can't find Jack Daniels at any of the obvious places (mini bar, hotel bar, local bars). Need to switch to Johnnie Walker for the duration. Not too bad.

9. Paparazzi is in town en masse, and the foreigners are flooding in. It was so peaceful before. Now the Croisette is down to 2 lanes of thru-traffic.

9. Got 4 hours of sleep last night. This is good.

Cannes - Day 1

It's overcast and about 70 degrees. Everyone's rushing to put up the final items for the fest before the Croisette closes and it's pedestrian-only.

I have to get to a meeting, but here are the highlights:

1. It's a holiday here so lots of stuff (including room service... huh?) is closed. It was also a holiday on Friday. Today is celebrating end of Lent. Friday was WWII Victory Day. Really?

2. EVERYTHING is one giant billboard. Every hotel has movie posters and banners and promotional items stuck to the outsides, in every imaginable position. The Carlton was beautiful. Now it's gross. Keep that stuff in Vegas.

3. I changed rooms. Yippee. Pics to come. The drapes match the bedspread, which in turn match the carpet. That level of coordination is pretty impressive.

4. I got 2.5 hours of sleep last night. Apparently I haven't adjusted as well as I thought I would.

5. It appears that Cannes is 9 hours ahead of LA, not 8 as I originally thought. That lost me another hour of blogging. :)

Cannes Day 1

Just finished my first day in Cannes. Whoohoo. We are doing a press stunt and party at the Carlton Hotel Pier. Today my boss and I walked around, figured out where everything was, checked in with the client and got set up in their production office, worked on a rain contingency plan... you know, the usual stuff.

There is a 50% chance of rain for the party on Thursday. This is not good. The event could probably survive - guests can squish into the tent we have and (truly) it's more of a misting/drizzle than a downpour. They would manage. It's the press we're worried about. They need a dry place to stand - especially considering they're out there for an hour or two (if we're lucky) and have very expensive video/photography equipment. Plus the talent won't do a rainy press line. Can you imagine [insert starlet name here] looking like a drowned rat? Quelle horreur!

So we're looking into options. Maybe move the party into the hotel... tent certain areas of the party... each with certain limitations and problems. Ah well.

Anyhow, worked, worked, worked... then met with the other client and went over the initial guest list. The plan is to meet at 8 am tomorrow to review the list one more time and e-mail out the invites.

Tried to nap, but it's not so easy. I'm just not tired, though I know I should be. Went to dinner with my boss and the client. Somewhere just past the Palais (the festival HQ). We split mussels with curry sauce and a goat cheese tart. AMAZING. Had a parma salad too, with bufalo mozarella, sundried tomatoes and proscuitto. Finished it off with some crepe with Nutella. WOW. All so good!

Of course the rain started in a lot harder as we walked back to the hotel, so I was pretty soaked when I arrived around 11 pm. Figured I'd fall asleep quickly, but I'm still on a weird schedule and was up until 2:30 working and watching American shows dubbed in French. Fun. "Grey's Anatomy"? Really? That's just wrong.