Mediterranean 5: Cannes, France

On Friday, June 16, 2017, our ship weighed anchor just off the coast of Cannes (pronounced “can”, like a can of beans) in France. We had to “tender” in to shore, meaning we had to ride a little boat, which turned out to be one of the life boats they have hanging off the side of the ship, so that was cool.

When we got on shore, a big group of little French kids came walking by with their backpacks, holding hands with each other or with their teachers, apparently on a field trip. They were so cute with their little awkward expressions and talking to each other in French. It was adorable.

We walked up a bunch of stairs to the top of a hill overlooking the town, and saw cool trees in a garden there. We thought of how much you would probably want to climb one of them.

They had these awesome purple flowers everywhere.

I love how Mary and her baby are watching over the bay.

At the top of the hill was Eglise Notre Dame d'Esperance (The Church of Our Lady of Hope). It happened to be open when we were there, likely because a funeral was soon to take place, judging by the black-clad folks who were gathering as we exited.

I loved the murals like this one that made it seem like there was more going on than just a blank wall.

I bought an apple at this stand and had fun saying Bon jour and merci to the guy, since that's pretty much the extent of my French.

As in Italy, Cannes had a bunch of little fountains around where you could fill your water bottle.

Linette and I wandered into a little park and saw these dancers on the wall, so I started a panorama, and then Linette ran and grabbed the camera from me to finish it off so I could be in it, too. With my sweet moves.

From that park, we could see another fancy mural on the side of a building that made it look 3D.

It was again a warm day, and we had no particular plans, so Linette lay down in the shade to read, and I joined her, leaning on the same backpack from the other direction.

I fell asleep and had a nice little nap, waking up to these two friendly guardians of shade. I knew it was a good nap, because when I woke up, everything sounded weird.

A lady sat in the park where we were and this little girl came over and played with our water bottle. When it was time to go, Linette said, "Si vous plait?" and then, "Merci!" as she retrieved it.

As we wandered through the old part of town, we came across a big covered market that I had heard about (Marché Forville), where they sell all kinds of fruit, pastries, le poisson (hee hee hee haw haw haw), and on and on.

They also had a wide assortment of fine cheeses.

We ate cherries, and I got some sort of crepe made out of chickpeas, which was tasty and filling.

Afterwards we went next door to a cafe (La Tarte Tropézienne) and got an actual French croissant (which was buttery and tastier than ones I had had before), and pretty much the best pastry in the world. It had a thick layer of vanilla creme in the middle, with amazingly soft sweet bread (? pastry? donut-like substance?), ever so lightly glazed, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Quel magnifique!

Best pastry I've ever tasted. Oo-la-la!

 Later we needed a restroom, so we thought we should try McDonald’s. But they said you had to buy something first. But we had just eaten enough, so Linette asked, “What should we buy?” I replied, “Well, obviously, French fries!” They were the same except their “fry sauce” was like mayonnaise with lemon.

We rode the Petit Train to get a little tour of the town, and that was nice and relaxing. They told us about all the famous people who had stayed in all the fancy hotels along Plage de la Croisette, which is a mile-long promenade along the beach.

Then Linette wanted to step into the fancy shmancy Louis Vuitton shop. She looked at a little wallet, which cost 690€ (=$780). My thought was, “That wallet better come with 650€ in it!”. She said thanks and we quietly headed on out.

Here is a picture of the bay with boats and the castle and church at the top of the hill.

This was our one day at the beach as well. I did have to avert eyes on a couple of occasions as they have a different dress code there.

You can see where our ship is anchored in the distance. After walking all around town on a warm day, it felt great to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. (This beach also has a net to keep out the jellyfish).

We had a little card wishing us a happy anniversary, so we turned it in at dinner that night. Several Philippine waiters sang “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” to us in various keys, bless their hearts.

We had fun listening to Luis Garimaldi (from Argentina), who plays an amazing guitar. Here is a clip. One minute into the clip he starts going kind of crazy with it.

And that night we went nuts at the glow dance party.