Cannes

Friday morning we took the train south to Cannes.  Unfortunately it poured the whole time we were there; we made the best of it all the same.  

This terrestrial sail, out for a stroll in the old city, enjoyed the rain at least.

Cannes was smaller and more what I had envisioned for Nice.  There were lots of narrow winding streets with little shops and cafes. 

The old city on the hill had a large fort (now a museum) and a church. 

I loved these fish sculptures in the marina. 

My 3 male colleagues were wandering around the marina, jaws dropped looking at all the yachts while I checked out the fish sculptures.

Most buildings had cute roof deck gardens and balconies to enjoy the normally sunny French Riviera weather.  All the houses had window and door shutters that open out with no glass or screens between them and the outside.  When it wasn't raining quite as hard, people would open the shutters and lean out the windows to say bonjour.

One of my favorite fixtures in Europe are Smart Cars.  Not only are they compact, but apparently they are not afraid of confrontation!

The Cannes Film Festival ended a week earlier, but the festival tents and movie posters were still around the city.  You can see white pointed tents in the center of the photo next to the marina.

Apparently the Hotel Carlton has a 4 year waiting list to get a room.  It looked nice; perhaps if I had put my name on the waiting list for 2012 I'd have enough money to pay for the room by then...

Saturday morning I left for Paris.  I snapped this shot of both Nice and Cannes in one frame.   Cannes is the town opposite the 2 islands (the only islands in the Mediterranean off the coast of France).  Nice (the pinkish area) is above of the marina in the lower right corner.