Day #6 Cannes and Wine Tasting

Happy Day #6! Today was walking around the city of Cannes (the Cannes Film Festival starts next week, by the way) as well as a visit to a local winery. The highlights..... 

Cannes was a great city to see, but other than the film festival there's nothing that differentiates it from many of the other beautiful cities in the area. Please don't get me wrong, I'm glad I went, but you could also likely see the beautiful streets, shops and market square in other cities as well. The main difference was all the prep work for the film festival starting next week. Lots of white tents, BIG yachts moving into the area, and fencing going up. There was no red carpet available (despite what the website said, which was a bummer). Definitely a decent excursion, though. Gorgeous pictures are below.... 

The island and the winery area we visited was absolutely gorgeous. It was so very peaceful, I can see why it was also home to an abbey. Two interesting notes: 1. This was the first wine tasting I've had that was actually in the vineyard. It made for interesting atmosphere. 2. Many wineries in France use volunteers to harvest the grapes in season. This winery is the only one that has to turn away volunteers - they keep a wait list. A wait list to do sweaty, all day work. Fascinating concept. 

Oh, and one more! Funny story....when we first got to the island we paused for a potty stop. Several people went, I didn't. Later, I was told to WAIT and NOT use the toilets there. The reason? They may have been in a separate building and had a door, but were little more than a hole in the ground. Not good for those with difficulty balancing.......

Dinner tonight was at Le Sens.....a tasting menu and my first Michelin restaurant. Sad I couldn't finish all the food, it was yummy! 

......and now, the pictures! 

Funny story: I ordered bouillabaisse (fish soup) for lunch. While we were waiting for our meals, the waiter dropped this off at our table and walked away. No explanation. We decided it was a free appetizer and split amongst the table. Nope - it was the accouterments for my soup! 

One of the walkways on the island. Beautiful! 

Gorgeous day, pretty vineyards.  :) 

This was one of the "tasty snacks" served with our wine tasting. Southern friends, what would you call this? 

The sea in front of us, the vineyard behind us. Not a bad place to drink some wine. 

Me!

The ladies. It's a fun group. 

Worth enlarging the picture to look at the size of the boats and the coastline.... 

More of the ladies We keep each other laughing..... 

.....because I've seen many celebrities take pictures up at the Cannes sign. I was a little further away, but that meant I could actually tell what it was..... 

This was a recumbent bicycle! The gentleman you see in the corner had driven it there, and was enjoying his espresso and newspaper. He looked at me like I was a little mad when I asked to take a picture, but it was so cool! 

Worth enlarging the picture to see all the characters painted on the wall.  I couldn't name all of them, how many can you name? 

An American standard, here in France. I've also seen several Shake Shacks. Gotta teach the French about quality burgers....this ain't it. I miss Fuddruckers. 

Atmosphere pictures. I keep talking about "normal".....amazing to believe this is someone's definition of normal, everyday life. Beautiful. 

The couple having breakfast on the balcony..... 

Shopkeeper and his dog. The dog had a brother that was store security, but could easily be bribed by pets and ear scratches...... 

Loved the sign......