Cannes and Eze - is 80's glam back?
Sep 8th, 2010, 08:49 AM
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Cannes and Eze - is 80's glam back?
Day 1....
We had to wake up at 6 am because our TGV train from Paris to Cannes left at 7:46. We packed the night before so getting out in the morning was no big deal. The high speed train was nice. It had two floors and we had plenty of leg room. We caught a little bit of sleep and also some some beautiful scenary in Avignon and Toulon along the way. We also passed by Marsaille which did not look that pleasing to the eye. When we arrived in Cannes, Hotel Splendid was not too far from the train station. We had an awesome room that overlooked the sea and the yacht harbor and we had a terrace with two chairs and a table. Our room itself was very nice with built in closests and I loved the way it was decorated and the colors that they used. We then took a stroll on the famous Blvd. Croissette. The beaches and the sea were spectacular, however I do have to say that I did not find Cannes to be jaw dropping. I thought many of the modern buildings looked like they needed sprucing up and many of the buidlings still had that 80's feel to it. I bet that Cannes was the place to be in the 80's! Some of the people looked like they had been in the sun way too long with their bright red lipstick and leathery skin and their designer clothes from the 60's. I didn't get that upscale feeling even with all those designer storefronts lining the blvd. Perhaps I was judging Cannes too quickly?? We went and had lunch at Be De la Croisette which was beachside and we enjoyed the sea breeze and our club sandwhiches. We then laid out for a few hours at the beach. The water was freezing, but refreshing. We then went back to the hotel and rested for a bit and I wanted to go back and read some of my Fodors guidebook. I was determined to find a part of Cannes that had that charming French feel. After following some Fodorites suggesstions, we went to the old town part of Cannes of Suquet Hill and I found what I was looking for! So quaint, charming, cobblestone streets, and bourganvilla everywhere! Just gorgeous. I loved the winding narrow streets and we found an amazing spot uphill that was actually a church - Eglise Notre Dame. It actually had a medieval look to it and was a wonderful spot to take some pictures because we could see all of Cannes and the sea! This was the Cannes I was dreaming about. We came down the hill and stumbled across the most adorable little street called Rue St. Antoine, which triggered my memory because a Fodorite recommended it. Some of the restaurants smelled marvelous. I am hoping we can go back there for dinner. Unfortunately, I left my sunglasses on one of the ledges and now I have to go buy a pair of new ones. We headed back to the hotel to get some rest since it was a long traveling day. I forgot to mention we saw our first topless woman. Very European. Good night.....
We had to wake up at 6 am because our TGV train from Paris to Cannes left at 7:46. We packed the night before so getting out in the morning was no big deal. The high speed train was nice. It had two floors and we had plenty of leg room. We caught a little bit of sleep and also some some beautiful scenary in Avignon and Toulon along the way. We also passed by Marsaille which did not look that pleasing to the eye. When we arrived in Cannes, Hotel Splendid was not too far from the train station. We had an awesome room that overlooked the sea and the yacht harbor and we had a terrace with two chairs and a table. Our room itself was very nice with built in closests and I loved the way it was decorated and the colors that they used. We then took a stroll on the famous Blvd. Croissette. The beaches and the sea were spectacular, however I do have to say that I did not find Cannes to be jaw dropping. I thought many of the modern buildings looked like they needed sprucing up and many of the buidlings still had that 80's feel to it. I bet that Cannes was the place to be in the 80's! Some of the people looked like they had been in the sun way too long with their bright red lipstick and leathery skin and their designer clothes from the 60's. I didn't get that upscale feeling even with all those designer storefronts lining the blvd. Perhaps I was judging Cannes too quickly?? We went and had lunch at Be De la Croisette which was beachside and we enjoyed the sea breeze and our club sandwhiches. We then laid out for a few hours at the beach. The water was freezing, but refreshing. We then went back to the hotel and rested for a bit and I wanted to go back and read some of my Fodors guidebook. I was determined to find a part of Cannes that had that charming French feel. After following some Fodorites suggesstions, we went to the old town part of Cannes of Suquet Hill and I found what I was looking for! So quaint, charming, cobblestone streets, and bourganvilla everywhere! Just gorgeous. I loved the winding narrow streets and we found an amazing spot uphill that was actually a church - Eglise Notre Dame. It actually had a medieval look to it and was a wonderful spot to take some pictures because we could see all of Cannes and the sea! This was the Cannes I was dreaming about. We came down the hill and stumbled across the most adorable little street called Rue St. Antoine, which triggered my memory because a Fodorite recommended it. Some of the restaurants smelled marvelous. I am hoping we can go back there for dinner. Unfortunately, I left my sunglasses on one of the ledges and now I have to go buy a pair of new ones. We headed back to the hotel to get some rest since it was a long traveling day. I forgot to mention we saw our first topless woman. Very European. Good night.....
Sep 8th, 2010, 09:02 AM
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Tod - I think you would recognize it. I can't imagine much has changed! haha. Don't get me wrong - we had a fabulous time in Cannes but it just didn't have that European feel to it. I am from Florida so we have big resorts on beaches so I was expecting to see something totally different. More European I guess. Probably the fact that I came from Paris didn't help.
Sep 8th, 2010, 04:00 PM
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I didn't get to any of those places. I was actually feeling sick on the second day, so that didn't help. We went to Eze and we absolutely loved it there.
We liked the old part of Cannes. That was really nice....
We liked the old part of Cannes. That was really nice....
Sep 9th, 2010, 05:00 AM
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Day 2
We began our day with breakfast at our hotel on the outside terrace overlooking the sea. I love hearing the sounds of the sea when waking up. I actually woke up today not feeling so good. I thought it was because I was tired from all the activity, but I realized it was a sore throat. OH NO. I knew we had to take it easy today and Cannes was the perfect city on our European vacation to do it in. I would have been devasted if I was feeling sick in Paris or Venice because there is so much to do there. First, we went to the pool and just relaxed for about an hour. Then, the beach was calling our name. I brought a book with me and rested my feet in the sand by the edge of the sea water. It was perfect. My legs and feet were getting the coolness of the sea and the sun was getting my body sunkissed. To me, there is nothing more relaxing than reading a good book on the beach. There was not a cloud on the sky and with Todd by my side, my sore throat seemed to disappear. I think we stayed at the beach for 4 hours or so. We went out to the cluster of rocks off the shore and it seemed like a glorious idea until I cut my foot on the rock. It wasn't too bad of a cut - thank goodness. With that incident, I headed back to the shore and continued to play it safe and just read my book. We started to realize that we were getting a little burnt so we headed back to our hotel. It was really great to have our hotel so close to the sea and we could just walk home in 1 minute. We took an hour nap from our hard day of work. haha. I couldnt wait to wear my white dress tonight with my fresh tan. Cannes is the perfect place to wear white. We headed out to Rue St. Antoine and Rue Le Suquet (old part of Cannes) for dinner. We ate at Le Marais. (recommended by Fodors) This meal was the best food we had on our entire European vacation. We sat outside, of course, and Todd had a medley of lamb, pork, and duck. I had just the duck and we had tapas for appetizer and chocolate cake for dessert. We absolutely loved this place and the food was mouthwatering. It was a meal I will not forget. Very memorable. Can you believe we saw an American celebrity while dinig? Many people know her as the character Mary Alice on Desperate Housewives. We saw a celebrity in Paris too. Three more cities to go! On our way back, I bought a new pair of sunglasses and then we wanted to find a romantic spot to watch the sunset and I could write my journal entry for the day. I know it may sound like this journaling has been a chore, but to be honest, it has actually relaxed me after busy days of sighseeing. It has been fun finding places to inspire me to write. It is almost like each city is trying to outdo each other in a competetion for the most scenic spot for reflection. Right now, Todd and I are sitting on a cluster of rocks right off the yacht harbor looking out onto the sea. I am journaling and he is doing his photography thing. I have to say that I think I misjudged Cannes. Today seemed like paradise. Sitting in the sand looking out into the sea with all the yachts cruising by. I thought about why perhaps I formulated a not so gleeming first impression??? I think it boils down to this - Florida is somewhat similiar to Cannes. There are many beaches in Florida that resemble the vibe of Cannes. However, there are definitely differences. The flamboyant people of Cannes, the narrow winding streets, the topless girls, and the hills that surround the beach. Yes, there are people that are too tan and look stuck in the 80's. However, isn't that at every beach no matter where you are in the world?? Yes, some of the modern buildings need renovating. Besides that, Cannes is a beautiful place. I guess the saying "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover" applies here....
We began our day with breakfast at our hotel on the outside terrace overlooking the sea. I love hearing the sounds of the sea when waking up. I actually woke up today not feeling so good. I thought it was because I was tired from all the activity, but I realized it was a sore throat. OH NO. I knew we had to take it easy today and Cannes was the perfect city on our European vacation to do it in. I would have been devasted if I was feeling sick in Paris or Venice because there is so much to do there. First, we went to the pool and just relaxed for about an hour. Then, the beach was calling our name. I brought a book with me and rested my feet in the sand by the edge of the sea water. It was perfect. My legs and feet were getting the coolness of the sea and the sun was getting my body sunkissed. To me, there is nothing more relaxing than reading a good book on the beach. There was not a cloud on the sky and with Todd by my side, my sore throat seemed to disappear. I think we stayed at the beach for 4 hours or so. We went out to the cluster of rocks off the shore and it seemed like a glorious idea until I cut my foot on the rock. It wasn't too bad of a cut - thank goodness. With that incident, I headed back to the shore and continued to play it safe and just read my book. We started to realize that we were getting a little burnt so we headed back to our hotel. It was really great to have our hotel so close to the sea and we could just walk home in 1 minute. We took an hour nap from our hard day of work. haha. I couldnt wait to wear my white dress tonight with my fresh tan. Cannes is the perfect place to wear white. We headed out to Rue St. Antoine and Rue Le Suquet (old part of Cannes) for dinner. We ate at Le Marais. (recommended by Fodors) This meal was the best food we had on our entire European vacation. We sat outside, of course, and Todd had a medley of lamb, pork, and duck. I had just the duck and we had tapas for appetizer and chocolate cake for dessert. We absolutely loved this place and the food was mouthwatering. It was a meal I will not forget. Very memorable. Can you believe we saw an American celebrity while dinig? Many people know her as the character Mary Alice on Desperate Housewives. We saw a celebrity in Paris too. Three more cities to go! On our way back, I bought a new pair of sunglasses and then we wanted to find a romantic spot to watch the sunset and I could write my journal entry for the day. I know it may sound like this journaling has been a chore, but to be honest, it has actually relaxed me after busy days of sighseeing. It has been fun finding places to inspire me to write. It is almost like each city is trying to outdo each other in a competetion for the most scenic spot for reflection. Right now, Todd and I are sitting on a cluster of rocks right off the yacht harbor looking out onto the sea. I am journaling and he is doing his photography thing. I have to say that I think I misjudged Cannes. Today seemed like paradise. Sitting in the sand looking out into the sea with all the yachts cruising by. I thought about why perhaps I formulated a not so gleeming first impression??? I think it boils down to this - Florida is somewhat similiar to Cannes. There are many beaches in Florida that resemble the vibe of Cannes. However, there are definitely differences. The flamboyant people of Cannes, the narrow winding streets, the topless girls, and the hills that surround the beach. Yes, there are people that are too tan and look stuck in the 80's. However, isn't that at every beach no matter where you are in the world?? Yes, some of the modern buildings need renovating. Besides that, Cannes is a beautiful place. I guess the saying "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover" applies here....
Sep 9th, 2010, 05:27 AM
#7
I agree that Cannes now seems stuck in the 1980's but that was not the time to be there, because that's when they were tearing down some of the grand old buildings and putting up that crappy stuff like the Noga Hilton (in place of the old film festival palace!) -- and of course there is "the bunker" too (the new festival palace). It was all a construction and demolition mess back then. Now it is very calm (except during the festival) and all of those leathery people can continue to shrivel in the sun. I suppose you saw the name of the sister city of Cannes on the signs?
Sep 10th, 2010, 09:41 AM
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Hi Raincitygirl! My Vernis bag is the amaretto color, which is like a dark expresso(almost a hint of cranberry in it.) I like it because I can wear it with brown and black, which is hard to find in most bags...
Okay, I am going to post the last day of my trip report for Cannes and then I will start a new trip report for the next city, which was Venice (my fav!)
Thanks for following!
Okay, I am going to post the last day of my trip report for Cannes and then I will start a new trip report for the next city, which was Venice (my fav!)
Thanks for following!
Sep 10th, 2010, 10:02 AM
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Day 3 - Cannes and day trip to Eze
Todd awoke me with breakfast and we sat on our balcony overlooking the sea, enjoying our croissants and fruit. Life is sweet. We then prepared to go on our day trip to Eze. We walked to the train station and it took about 30 minutes to arrive in Eze. We passed many towns on the way. Beaulieu-Sur-Mer looked the most picturesque and the beach looked lovely. When we got off the train, we took a taxi up to Ezz village. We shared the taxi with a nice couple from Connecticut. Unfortuantely, it was an extremely hazy day. It was so foggy that we could actually see the fog covering the peak of the mountains. When we got out of the taxi, we entered into this make believe world called Eze. I have always heard about French villages perched above the sea and now I was actually here! I was warned about the hoardes of tourists, but luckily it was not bad at all. The part that amazed me the most was that the entire village was stone. I felt like I entered a Shakesphere setting. Every doorway was arched and many stores had to be entered by walking down a few steps into a "cave." There were many ledges that looked out over the sea. Unfortunately, our pictures are not going to do the place justice because of the haze. This village is perched so high up on this mountain with the sea below. All of the doors looked medieval and were shorter and windows were also very small and square. Did I mention the entire village was stone? So unique. Ivy and bourganvilla went up almost every hamlet. Now, these streets were narrow! It was almost like we were in a maze and were excited to turn the corner because we didn't know what we would find next. It made us feel like children discovering something for the first time. Villages like this just don't exist in America. I want to etch Eze in my memory forever. What a beautiful thing for me and my husband to share. We then took the train back to Cannes. We were going to continue to Monaco, but the beach in Cannes was calling my name. Plus, I didn't want to overexert myself since I was still feeling a bit under the weather. We were very hungry at this point and our front desk lady recommended the "best pizza in all of Cannes." I can confirm that she was right. This pizza was mouthwatering and Todd was in heaven. Actually, we thought Cannes had the best food out of all of our cities that we visited on this trip. Of course we sat outside and people watched. We were suppossed to meet up with some friends while we were in Cannes, but they didn't end up in Cannes, instead they are in Prague now. We then proceeded to head to the beach for some more relaxing time. I could have stayed on that beach for a week, reading books,and enjoying the perfect weather. After seeing some beaches on our train ride over to Eze, I must say that Cannes seems to have one of the nicest beaches on the Riviera. A lot of the beaches looked rocky and full of hard pebbles. Cannes sandy beaches are a must for this Florida girl. Todd also loved the ocean and just relaxing. Cannes was a perfect destination after our very busy, sore feet, Paris trip. After a few hours at the beach, we sadly said goodbye to our beach and headed back to the hotel. Gosh, we loved Hotel Splendid. It made evreything so convienent. We went to bed early that night because I wanted to make sure I was well rested and feeling 100% for Venice!
Goodbye to 80's glam and the flamboyant people of the Riviera!
Todd awoke me with breakfast and we sat on our balcony overlooking the sea, enjoying our croissants and fruit. Life is sweet. We then prepared to go on our day trip to Eze. We walked to the train station and it took about 30 minutes to arrive in Eze. We passed many towns on the way. Beaulieu-Sur-Mer looked the most picturesque and the beach looked lovely. When we got off the train, we took a taxi up to Ezz village. We shared the taxi with a nice couple from Connecticut. Unfortuantely, it was an extremely hazy day. It was so foggy that we could actually see the fog covering the peak of the mountains. When we got out of the taxi, we entered into this make believe world called Eze. I have always heard about French villages perched above the sea and now I was actually here! I was warned about the hoardes of tourists, but luckily it was not bad at all. The part that amazed me the most was that the entire village was stone. I felt like I entered a Shakesphere setting. Every doorway was arched and many stores had to be entered by walking down a few steps into a "cave." There were many ledges that looked out over the sea. Unfortunately, our pictures are not going to do the place justice because of the haze. This village is perched so high up on this mountain with the sea below. All of the doors looked medieval and were shorter and windows were also very small and square. Did I mention the entire village was stone? So unique. Ivy and bourganvilla went up almost every hamlet. Now, these streets were narrow! It was almost like we were in a maze and were excited to turn the corner because we didn't know what we would find next. It made us feel like children discovering something for the first time. Villages like this just don't exist in America. I want to etch Eze in my memory forever. What a beautiful thing for me and my husband to share. We then took the train back to Cannes. We were going to continue to Monaco, but the beach in Cannes was calling my name. Plus, I didn't want to overexert myself since I was still feeling a bit under the weather. We were very hungry at this point and our front desk lady recommended the "best pizza in all of Cannes." I can confirm that she was right. This pizza was mouthwatering and Todd was in heaven. Actually, we thought Cannes had the best food out of all of our cities that we visited on this trip. Of course we sat outside and people watched. We were suppossed to meet up with some friends while we were in Cannes, but they didn't end up in Cannes, instead they are in Prague now. We then proceeded to head to the beach for some more relaxing time. I could have stayed on that beach for a week, reading books,and enjoying the perfect weather. After seeing some beaches on our train ride over to Eze, I must say that Cannes seems to have one of the nicest beaches on the Riviera. A lot of the beaches looked rocky and full of hard pebbles. Cannes sandy beaches are a must for this Florida girl. Todd also loved the ocean and just relaxing. Cannes was a perfect destination after our very busy, sore feet, Paris trip. After a few hours at the beach, we sadly said goodbye to our beach and headed back to the hotel. Gosh, we loved Hotel Splendid. It made evreything so convienent. We went to bed early that night because I wanted to make sure I was well rested and feeling 100% for Venice!
Goodbye to 80's glam and the flamboyant people of the Riviera!
Sep 10th, 2010, 05:03 PM
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Micheline - It seems like a catch 22, because I wasn't overly impressed with Cannes architecture, but the beaches were incredible. I bet you Nice is the reverse....
I will be going to the Amalfi coast next year, so I need to mentally prepare myself for the rocky beaches. I think the stunning scenary will leave me to not even think about the pebbles.
Thanks for reading my report Micheline! And thank you for your advice in the past.
I will be going to the Amalfi coast next year, so I need to mentally prepare myself for the rocky beaches. I think the stunning scenary will leave me to not even think about the pebbles.
Thanks for reading my report Micheline! And thank you for your advice in the past.
Sep 10th, 2010, 05:06 PM
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Cannes and Eze sound lovely, wish I was there now!
I looked at your bag online, it is beautiful. I have the Sarah wallet in that colour. You will get years of enjoyment out of that bag.
Looking forward to your Venice report.I want to go back there sometime when it isn't summer.
I looked at your bag online, it is beautiful. I have the Sarah wallet in that colour. You will get years of enjoyment out of that bag.
Looking forward to your Venice report.I want to go back there sometime when it isn't summer.
