Festival Fever

My parents have a lovely pied à terre right in the centre of Cannes, which makes for the perfect weekend getaway and a suitable escape from the drizzle, the cold and the greyness of Angleterre en Mai (nothing nicer than typing up a blog entry on a sunny terrasse with a sea view!)

Cannes in the days leading up to the Film Festival is very much like St John's in the days running up to the May Ball: there are white tents everywhere, people building stages, sound tents, lots of fenced off areas ("non, Madame, c'est interdit!"), people with walkie talkies looking important and of course lots of diversions (or, deviations, as the French insist on calling them). The photo below is of the Palais de Festival, which becomes the centre of Festival activity in the second half of May.


Being me, I can't help playing Spot the Celebrity. No sightings so far but I am particularly keen to spot George or Brad (here to promote Ocean's Thirteen) or QT, who I think is here too.

As I write this (though not as I type it), I am sitting at Café 72 on the Croisette drinking a double express. The café is really in the perfect vantage point - next to the Martinez (the obvious lodging choice for the discerning celebrity) and just down from D&G, Céline and Ralph Lauren.

I have had no such luck so far but then everyone is so glamorous in this damn town that it's hard to distinguish between the celebrities and the civilians...

As for why I get so excited about star spotting, I don't really know. Celebrities, after all, are no different from the rest of us. Maybe I like to name drop. Maybe I am just fascinated by all people and love to know everything about everybody, celebrities not excepted. Stay tuned for spotting updates.