Cannes Film Festival Round Two!

And one more time, we were able to get invitations to a showing at the film festival!

This time we went to watch an American film, named Foxcatcher, based on a true story about an olympic wrestling champion.  Although there were parts that were a little long, it was overall a good movie and the actors did very well. So....here we are...walking up the stairs again ^_^

A little rushed this time, didn't have a chance to take a better picture

Smile ^_^

Us inside the theatre

Look at that big screen!

 At the end of the film, people kept on clapping and cheering the director and the cast. We were in the same room as Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo! How cool is that??

The actors live on the big screen

They're sitting right there!!

And I realized the other day that I haven't posted a picture of our tree in a while, but look how much it has grown!

As tall as Germain now!

Cannes Film Festival

So what did I do this past week?

I walked the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival and attending a showing in the grand theatre.....

=P

The Cannes Film Festival started this past week and through a friend of Germain's parents, we were able to get tickets to the showing of "Mr. Turner" (a British film) for the main showing at 7pm on Thursday night. Although the film itself was not extremely exciting, the experience itself was worth it.

Since it was a night showing, dress code was/is very strict. Being a black tie event, men have to come in with bow ties and women in evening gowns. My only fancy long dress was my red chinese dress, so that's what I wore....but as usual, based on what some other women were wearing, they seem to be a lot more lenient for women. Still, many people dressed up quite fancy.

Selfie!

Not particularly a fan, but LOOK it's Blake Lively!

Darn guy taking a selfie!

Looking fancyyy

The red carpet from the top of the stairs

In the grand theatre waiting for the movie to start

Easter weeken in Cannes

For Easter, Germain got a extra day off of school so we went to Cannes for the holiday. Unfortunately the weather was cold and rainy most of our stay, but on Sunday, we had absolutely wonderful weather. We didn't do much over the break. I feel like all we did was eat! I guess that's the holidays. On Sunday, we went to the house of a friend of Germain's parents. She has a beautiful garden where we walked around a little.

Calla Lily

Pretty Garden

Reminds me of Florida

When we came back to Paris on Tuesday and it was still cold =( It was sunny out on Wednesday afternoon so I went out for a walk with a mission to catch some spring blossoms. Unfortunately tho, the spring is very cold, so not many trees have bloomed yet. I was only able to find a couple. Hopefully, it'll get warmer in the next couple of weeks and I'll be able to see some new bloom.

Almond Blossoms

Magnolia

I think this is a Cherry Blossom, I couldn't get closer

This last week

So this past week we visited the Notre Dame. It's a monument in which we always pass by and have visited several times. However, we rushed to visit the cathedral this time because they were in the process of changing their bells. They had all of their new bells displayed down the center of the aisle. They're huge! And to imagine that they are only held up by pillars of wood. Each bell is named after a saint and creates a different note. It was extremely crowded, but I still managed to catch a couple of pictures....ignore the strangers in the photos =P

Musical bells of the Notre Dame

The underside of a bell (See how big they are compared the that lady's head!)

This one is named St. Denis

There was also mass going on so we saw the first part of the service. It was interesting because the Notre Dame is in possession of 3 relics of Christ that have been passed down through the ages: a nail, a piece of the cross and the crown of thorns. During the beginning of the mass (at least this one) they had all three relics out and people went up to kiss the crown of thorns. We were only on the outskirts of the congregation so I could barely see it....here's a picture.....but it's miniscule.

The nail and the piece of the cross are on stage and the crown in somewhere in the middle of the crowd

This past weekend we went to Cannes to visit Germain's parents. It was a short and busy weekend, but we were able to fit in a good meal! On Saturday night, Germain's parents took us to a restaurant in Mougin to celebrate Germain's very belated birthday.

Seafood bisque in a flaky pastry (Vol-au-vent)

Filet mignon of Porc with a caramelized onion sauce; pumpkin puree, kale chips and sauted cepes wrapped in cabbage

Goat cheese, fig preserves, candied sage leaf and homemade cookie

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate........need I say more?

And surprising so, it was snowing in Cannes. Supposedly it is a rare thing for it to snow big flakes in Cannes....and for the snow to stick. So I wished for snow and I get snow in an unusual way!

It was dark so I could only take a picture of the snow on the leaves.

Olive Tree

I'm pretty sure it grew!

Olive Tree

Our Tree ^_^

It has baby olives!

Week in Cannes

I just returned to Paris today after spending a little over a week in Cannes. During my stay there, there was a heat wave in France so the whole country had record lows. Luckily I was in Cannes and not Paris. Can you imagine the packed metros in that weather?! Also, we got to enjoy a little bit of air conditioning in the apartment we stayed in. That is a luxury in France.

View from the apartment

And of course we had to go see our tree. Not sure if it grew very much, but it had 3 little olives!

Maybe it grew a little?

One of the main event for this week was the wedding of a friend of Germain. They were friends from college. The wedding took place in Aix-en Provence, which is about a hour/an hour and a half from Cannes. They had the wedding ceremony at the town church and the reception in their parents' garden.

Church of Puyricard

Germain with the house in the back

Me in theyard

Before I left Cannes, Germain took me to one of the local markets. He knows how much I like just looking at the fresh fruits and vegetables. They're all from local farmers. However, they were unusually expensive because it's tourist season right now =P

So many tomatoes!

Fresh fruits

So many Olives!

Fresh herbs and peppers

Different types of mushrooms

Back in France

After a 9 hour flight from Miami to Paris, followed by a 5 hour train ride from Paris to Cannes, I am staying put.....for the next week at least.

Coming back to France I was greeted by some lovely treats and trinkets left for my by my sister. Amongst them, of course, are chocolates from her travels.

During her visit to Brugge, she bought me some chocolate and boy are they good! They should be since Brugge is known for their chocolate!

Look they didn't melt!

There's a heat wave in France right now. It's so hot! I miss a/c. Luckily the apartment has an a/c unit in the living room. However the bedroom still gets really warm at nights. After walking about downtown this morning, we wanted a light and cool lunch followed by a cool dessert!

Tomato and mozerella and prosciutto

Tiny ice cream cones!

Vacation isn't over yet! Stay tune for more of my summer adventures!

Cannes Weekend

This past weekend Germain and I took the train back to Cannes. We arrived Thursday.

Friday morning we ran some errands around town. We picked up my early birthday/anniversary present from Germain ^_^ He bought me a fancy camera. The same one that dad has along with the nice lenses. There was a very good deal at a store; plus, we will be able to get the taxes back since we are heading to the states within three months. It's a very early present because it's on sale now and we will have it when we travel this summer and take lots of good pictures. We also went to a store (it's like a huge target store...it has everything......fresh fish and meats, plants and gardening stuff, school supplies, etc) to buy a fan for the apartment in Paris. It's getting warm and nights will be tough. So we bought a fan.

After that we went to the village of Biot. It is a village about half an hour from Cannes. They are known for their glass and ceramic work. I really like pottery and table ware. The village itself is very cute.

People making glass work

And of course we walked in the garden to see our olive tree ^_^ I'm not sure if it has grown any since the last time we saw it.....

Our Olive tree

Friday night we went to a restaurant in Nice with Germain's parents. It's called "La Maison Blanche" (The White House). It opened about a month ago and it is owned by friends of Germain's parents. It is a very nice restaurant....pretty fancy. It is three stories high. The first floor is the dining room. It has industrial ceilings and cushioned walls. The bathroom is pretty fancy too. The water of the sink falls down a ledge like a waterfall into your hands. The second floor is the lounge/bar. There are comfortable seating areas as well as tables and chairs. The third floor is the open rooftop seating area, used for apero (drinks or cocktail before the main meal). They had a live singer that Friday night. They usually do over the weekend nights. The food was good, a little pricey, but good.

Foie Gras with onion preserves appetizer that Germain and I shared

My truffle risotto.....look at all the truffles!

Germain's cheese crusted lamb with fried cheese

The dessert of the day. Raspberry macaroon with lychee ice-cream. All homemade.

On Saturday we went out on a boat. Germain's parents' friends have been inviting us since we were in Cannes last September to spend a day on their boat. It was very nice of them, but we didn't have time back when we were preparing for the wedding. However, we didn't really have an excuse this time so we had to say yes. It was nice, but it made me a little sick. And the water was too cold for me, but it was a nice day and we had some very beautiful views of the city.

View of Cannes from the Mediterranean Sea

Germain driving the boat

The monastery and fort on Saint Honorat Island

The next day we went on the Saint Honorat Island. We have been wanting to go for a while now. It is one of two small islands off the coast of Cannes. On one of the island there is a 1500 year old monastery. There are still monks who live there. The perimeter of the island is open to the public, but the interior is where the monks live, grow their plants and make their honey and wine. We had a very relaxing promenade around the island. Then we ate lunch at the restaurant on the island that is open to the public.

Wild flowers

A church on the island

Field of Lavender

Me in front of another chapel

Us by the sea

Our dessert - raspberry tart

Now we're back in Paris. The weather is definitely not as nice as Cannes. But hopefully the weather will be nice in Italy when we go next week!