Getting with the Programme

On my fourth day in Cannes, I finally started to get the hang of things, even if it was mainly coincidental. After a day spent mostly on the beach, we went for dinner at Vesuvio, on the Croisette. The restaurant was packed with lots of festival types and although we were fairly sure there were at least some famous people there (directors, in particular), not anyone we recognised.

After dinner, though, we walked down to the Palais des Festivals, where we could see the red carpet was in action. We managed to find a pretty good place to stand and then watched and waited, wondering which film was premiering and which actors we might see. It was obvious that the main person of interest was a tall woman with short blonde hair. The big screen showed that she was much further down the red carpet and it took a good 15 minutes before she reached the steps, where we were standing and finally they announced her, along with the rest of the cast. It was Cécile de France (of Hereafter and Mesrine) and the film was Le Gamin au Vélo.

I was relieved that we saw someone at least I had heard of. Tomorrow, though, it's the première of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. We're hoping that if we head for the same spot about 45 minutes before the film starts, we'll get a good view of the two of them. This would probably be a much more impressive sighting — at least to cinéphiles outside France...