doing the cannes, cannes

Cannes was quite the sight compared to the last time I visited. It was practically a ghost town in March '06, but with the 62nd annual Film Festival going on, it was a flurry of activity.

The streets were filled with tons of hurried industry execs, their assistants, workers and promoters. I'm sure many of them were very important people, but with so many people wearing badges, they all looked the same. It was quite entertaining to walk down the boardwalk and hear two people talking so casually about Uma Thurman.

Speaking of the boardwalk - it used to provide a spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea while you walked down it. But it was jampacked with tents for film companies and private restaurants where one meal could easily cost me an entire day's budget.

The famous Carlton Hotel was decorated with film advertisements. The poster for the animated A Christmas Carol turned the sunny Cannes into a winter wonderland. (And I thought it was only Winnipeg who got snow in May).

We did some quality celebrity-stalking outside the other famous hotel, the Martinez. We stood amongst the paparazzi waiting for someone to leave. In the meantime, we got to watch fleets of official cars play merry-go-round in the hotel's drop-off zone. Finally, someone famous emerged and the paparazzi's clicks could be heard. The only problem for us is that we had no idea who that person was. I took a picture anyway.

Around 4, we hopped on a train to Geneva and said goodbye to France for a while.

This morning, we visited the United Nations Headquarters and the Red Cross Museum. Both were very interesting sights.

After an afternoon break, we'll be visiting the Old Town and then packing up tomorrow morning and heading out to Lucerne.

Until then...