Monday, May 23, 2005
So we got there. The flights from Helsinki were ok. Food and drink both cost money, so I went hungry. Karoliina was flying business class and so she did not go hungry. I spent the first leg of the trip - Helsinki to Copenhagen - speaking with a US reservist who spoke quite honestly about his time in Iraq as well as in Guantanamo. He had some very enlightening things to say about recruiting and competency levels among the reservists, especially those involved in Abu Ghraib, whom he knew professionally. This was a quick trip to be sure.
We had a layover in Denmark and the airport there has probably the best selection of fresh juice that I have ever come across at an airport. Orange, Guava, Pineapple, with a nice brie sandwhich and a banana muffin easily made up for no meal on the plane.
The second leg of the trip - Copenhagen to Nice - started nicely. I had an aisle seat (K was again in business class), I was reading the paper when Jenni came up the aisle and said hello. The man sitting next to her then asked if I wouldn't mind switching places since I was sitting next to his wife. I said ok. The plane finished boarding and Jenni and I had a row of 3 to ourselves which made the seat comfortable. Until, the last person to board told us that she and her baby had the middle seat and would I mind switching. I glanced back at the guy in my original seat, then moved to the middle seat which had to have been the most cramped seat on the plane. I tried to sleep but the baby kept hitting me and releasing my tray so it would smack me in the legs.
We arrived in Cannes only to realize that there was a mix up with our return tickets and K and I would not be on the same flight. In a crowded airport, our nerves got a little frazzled, but once we were in the car and on our way to Cannes, things were looking up.
We checked in, but our room wasn't ready and so we waited by the pool, had some lunch and waited for our room. When I checked in an hour later the front desk had lost the paper I had given them and told me that I never gave it to them. I got a little agitated and everything settled down after that.
I had a meeting in Cannes - on a yacht - and had to leave a little earlier than K and Jenni. Once I got on the train everything became quite familiar. I remembered where everything was and quickly got my badge and found the boat for my first meeting. I think the setting was a little better than the content - Québec Tax Incentives. I met K and Jenni an hour later and we made our way to the Croissette for dinner.
K had done a lot of restaurant research and we found a seafood place that was packed. We waited 30 minutes and were seated outside on the patio. K and I decided to order the house specialty - a raw platter (clams, mussels, oysters, shrimp and snails). I don't think we thought too much about it until we saw the platter up close and realized what we had done. But the delicious house white wine gave us some courage and we proceeded to do our best. Eventually, I went for a snail. It was steamed, so it wasn't extremely gross, although it did bring out an element of Fear Factor. I grabbed the little fork, stabbed the snail, turned the shell so it all came out and popped it in my mouth. Without breathing, I chewed rapidly until it was down and, as it turns out, it was pretty tasty. So I ate a couple more.
We were at dinner for a couple of hours and were sitting next to a celebrity. We only realized that he was a celeb when a flock of Asian cameramen and tourist rushed to him and begged him for a photo. I think he was a Korean director, but beats me really.
We had a couple of more late night drinks and made our way to the last train of the night. We were staying in Juan les Pins, which is 2 stops away. We got on the train and waited for 30 minutes before it left. Thirty minutes is a long time to wait at night, when we thought that the ride would take 10 and we decided not to use the toilet beforehand.
Finally we arrive at the hotel. I had to get to bed because I had a morning meeting aboard the same yacht for more talk of tax incentives. Got to bed at 1 and woke up at 4 with the blaring of the fire alarm. Now I had seen a printout stating that the hotel would be testing the fire alarm between 2 and 6 pm that day. Except the test never happened. At least not yet. The alarm kept going off until finally, we decided that we would indeed leave the building. We got downstairs to find other confused guests and an employee who spoke no English, but tried to convince us that it was a false alarm. Eventually we returned to the room and at 5 got back to bed.
The next morning (Sat) my lack of sleep showed a little on the rocking boat. The weather was turning sour. It was hot and clear when I woke up and made my way to the festival, but an hour later it was cold and raining. We were stuck on the boat until the rain relented which it eventually did. I bought an umbrella from a dude on the street and started the other mission of the festival - find invitations to as many parties as possible.
Saturday night we had a party on the same boat and met some Finnish filmmakers and other industry professionals. It was a great night. The weather cleared and we really enjoyed ourselves.
The next day - Sunday - I had another meeting and got to really enjoy the sunshine. We walked around the international village, had a beer on the beach and then made our way to the next batch of parties. Finland, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden all had parties during the week, some on the beach, some on the yacht, one in a villa and another in the Scandinavian terrace.
We met all sorts of people and became exhausted with the routine, especially with the commute. Depending on unreliable trains or expensive taxis is a little stressful, but nothing to complain about really - unless you are relying on unreliable trains and expensive taxis.
The last day the weather finally cleared and K and I had the day to ourselves. We steared clear of Cannes and enjoyed the calm environment of Juan les Pins and Antibes. We walked along the beach - well along the highway next to the beach - until it became a little too scary. We turned back around and made our way to the old town of Antibes where we had a wonderful meal - Seafood Salad, Grilled Sardines and fresh fruit and white wine of course. We bought peaches at the market and just strolled around. Until we had to make our way back to the last party in Cannes. The party scene was getting crazy. The same people, the same conversations over and over again. We decided to catch a bite and found another of Karoliina's restaurant choices. We knew we selected well when Danny Glover was sitting down to dinner on the patio, except this was a place that Danny Glover could afford, the Brodsky's however, could not. And so we went for pizza. Except, after 30 minutes, a conversation with Jen on her birthday and much anticipation, we were still not even approached by the wait staff. I had been waving my arms around too much and we went back to Danny Glover. He was still there, enjoying the food we wanted to enjoy. We decided to sit down. We looked at the menu and came to our senses. We went to the Italian dive next door and had a nice meal.
Later we said good bye to Cannes, went back to Juan les Pins, had some ice cream on the beach and went to bed.
We had a layover in Denmark and the airport there has probably the best selection of fresh juice that I have ever come across at an airport. Orange, Guava, Pineapple, with a nice brie sandwhich and a banana muffin easily made up for no meal on the plane.
The second leg of the trip - Copenhagen to Nice - started nicely. I had an aisle seat (K was again in business class), I was reading the paper when Jenni came up the aisle and said hello. The man sitting next to her then asked if I wouldn't mind switching places since I was sitting next to his wife. I said ok. The plane finished boarding and Jenni and I had a row of 3 to ourselves which made the seat comfortable. Until, the last person to board told us that she and her baby had the middle seat and would I mind switching. I glanced back at the guy in my original seat, then moved to the middle seat which had to have been the most cramped seat on the plane. I tried to sleep but the baby kept hitting me and releasing my tray so it would smack me in the legs.
We arrived in Cannes only to realize that there was a mix up with our return tickets and K and I would not be on the same flight. In a crowded airport, our nerves got a little frazzled, but once we were in the car and on our way to Cannes, things were looking up.
We checked in, but our room wasn't ready and so we waited by the pool, had some lunch and waited for our room. When I checked in an hour later the front desk had lost the paper I had given them and told me that I never gave it to them. I got a little agitated and everything settled down after that.
I had a meeting in Cannes - on a yacht - and had to leave a little earlier than K and Jenni. Once I got on the train everything became quite familiar. I remembered where everything was and quickly got my badge and found the boat for my first meeting. I think the setting was a little better than the content - Québec Tax Incentives. I met K and Jenni an hour later and we made our way to the Croissette for dinner.
K had done a lot of restaurant research and we found a seafood place that was packed. We waited 30 minutes and were seated outside on the patio. K and I decided to order the house specialty - a raw platter (clams, mussels, oysters, shrimp and snails). I don't think we thought too much about it until we saw the platter up close and realized what we had done. But the delicious house white wine gave us some courage and we proceeded to do our best. Eventually, I went for a snail. It was steamed, so it wasn't extremely gross, although it did bring out an element of Fear Factor. I grabbed the little fork, stabbed the snail, turned the shell so it all came out and popped it in my mouth. Without breathing, I chewed rapidly until it was down and, as it turns out, it was pretty tasty. So I ate a couple more.
We were at dinner for a couple of hours and were sitting next to a celebrity. We only realized that he was a celeb when a flock of Asian cameramen and tourist rushed to him and begged him for a photo. I think he was a Korean director, but beats me really.
We had a couple of more late night drinks and made our way to the last train of the night. We were staying in Juan les Pins, which is 2 stops away. We got on the train and waited for 30 minutes before it left. Thirty minutes is a long time to wait at night, when we thought that the ride would take 10 and we decided not to use the toilet beforehand.
Finally we arrive at the hotel. I had to get to bed because I had a morning meeting aboard the same yacht for more talk of tax incentives. Got to bed at 1 and woke up at 4 with the blaring of the fire alarm. Now I had seen a printout stating that the hotel would be testing the fire alarm between 2 and 6 pm that day. Except the test never happened. At least not yet. The alarm kept going off until finally, we decided that we would indeed leave the building. We got downstairs to find other confused guests and an employee who spoke no English, but tried to convince us that it was a false alarm. Eventually we returned to the room and at 5 got back to bed.
The next morning (Sat) my lack of sleep showed a little on the rocking boat. The weather was turning sour. It was hot and clear when I woke up and made my way to the festival, but an hour later it was cold and raining. We were stuck on the boat until the rain relented which it eventually did. I bought an umbrella from a dude on the street and started the other mission of the festival - find invitations to as many parties as possible.
Saturday night we had a party on the same boat and met some Finnish filmmakers and other industry professionals. It was a great night. The weather cleared and we really enjoyed ourselves.
The next day - Sunday - I had another meeting and got to really enjoy the sunshine. We walked around the international village, had a beer on the beach and then made our way to the next batch of parties. Finland, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden all had parties during the week, some on the beach, some on the yacht, one in a villa and another in the Scandinavian terrace.
We met all sorts of people and became exhausted with the routine, especially with the commute. Depending on unreliable trains or expensive taxis is a little stressful, but nothing to complain about really - unless you are relying on unreliable trains and expensive taxis.
The last day the weather finally cleared and K and I had the day to ourselves. We steared clear of Cannes and enjoyed the calm environment of Juan les Pins and Antibes. We walked along the beach - well along the highway next to the beach - until it became a little too scary. We turned back around and made our way to the old town of Antibes where we had a wonderful meal - Seafood Salad, Grilled Sardines and fresh fruit and white wine of course. We bought peaches at the market and just strolled around. Until we had to make our way back to the last party in Cannes. The party scene was getting crazy. The same people, the same conversations over and over again. We decided to catch a bite and found another of Karoliina's restaurant choices. We knew we selected well when Danny Glover was sitting down to dinner on the patio, except this was a place that Danny Glover could afford, the Brodsky's however, could not. And so we went for pizza. Except, after 30 minutes, a conversation with Jen on her birthday and much anticipation, we were still not even approached by the wait staff. I had been waving my arms around too much and we went back to Danny Glover. He was still there, enjoying the food we wanted to enjoy. We decided to sit down. We looked at the menu and came to our senses. We went to the Italian dive next door and had a nice meal.
Later we said good bye to Cannes, went back to Juan les Pins, had some ice cream on the beach and went to bed.
// posted by Howard @ 1:37 PM 
