13 Aug 2008
Typical Cannes day
Today was another lazy Cannes day. The routine gets repetitious, but seems to work just fine for us. It goes something like this:
- Breakfast on the terrace
- Exercise
- Lunch in a French/Italian brasserie
- Beach and/or shop
- Nap
- Dinner at someplace special
- Ice cream on the walk back to the hotel
We tried to break up the day today by running an errand. My battery charger wasn’t working and Allyn’s seem to have disappeared. We asked the concierge for a camera store to buy one and really just give us something to do. He took all the fun out by telling us that is not what they do at The Majestic Hotel; they do the errands for us. Oh well. They did get us a nifty universal charger.
Restaurant tip – For fresh shellfish everybody in Cannes goes to Chez Astoux. Get there before 9 pm. They don’t take reservations. 43 rue Felix Faure http://www.astoux.fr/angl.html
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12 Aug 2008
Forehead sign
Do I have a sign on my forehead that says “American Sucker”?
You may recall that we left off yesterday where they asked us to volunteer to room to an upgraded room, a nice suite, in order to accommodate some other guests. Always being happy to help, (especially since they gave us the night for free) we agreed and off we went to dinner. When we returned all of our things were moved in the exact same position in the new room. Then the problems started.
Now I must warn you that my boys constantly tell me that I just can’t
keep running into problems and incompetency. They think I expect too much from mere mortals. So let me give you a list of some of the room problems:
- Both doors to the outside accessible patio did not lock or have a lock
- The door to the room next door also did not lock, but has a lock
- The carpet was wet to the touch
- The toilet ran and made significant noise, but it did not flush anyway
- We had no Internet
- We had a bug issue
- The draperies were stuck ¾ closed
- They clearly have has a flood or something in the room and were not using it. Wood was stained and warped.
- The usual amenities were not in the room. A TV was haphazardly set on a refrigerator because furniture was lacking.
- It smelled moldy.
We spent the night there and moved again this morning. We now have a beautiful, newly refurbished top floor room, further discounted, thanks to Allyn’s assertiveness.
Restaurant tip – One of the most charming restaurant streets in the world is rue Saint-Antoine. You can’t go wrong anyplace there.
We ate at Le Mesclun, www.lemesclun-restaurant.com, tonight which is a bit fancier and mainly inside dining.
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11 Aug 2008
Breakfast sans croissant
I did it. I survived a breakfast with no croissant, pain au chocolat or any other bread. The trick was to order room service and not be tempted.
That handled, it was time for Allyn and me to head to the gym. Again, I was amazed because I actually was looking forward to it and then actually enjoyed it. It’s amazing what eating crazy for ten days will do to you with no exercise after having been on a program for a couple months.
About 7:30 pm the manager called and wanted to give us a free night and an upgraded room if we would move. It turns out that a shiekload full of Arabs wanted the entire floor we were on. No problem. We went out to a beautiful dinner and came back to a nice, new, larger suite.
Restaurant tip - Gaston-Gastounette , the most dependable fish restaurant down by the old port at St. Pierre
There is a pizza restaurant next door to Gaston-Gastounette that I have not frequented but it is always jammed and has a constant line. It must be either dirt cheap (which I doubt) or outstanding.
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10 Aug 2008
Goodbye yacht; Hello Cannes
We headed out this morning for Cannes where we had to give a final goodbye to our yacht-for- a- week, but gave a big hello to The Majestic Hotel which will be home base for nine days.
Michael is tooting off to Istanbul to visit friends and will hook back up with us for the next leg.
I barely had time to handle the room situation and then had to get back to Monte Carlo to play in the finals of the tournament from a few nights ago.
Tip – It is almost an unwritten rule that in the older hotels where most rooms are rather unique, that you must show displeasure with the first one that they put you in so that they will give you a better one, for the same price of course.
Cold decked in Monte Carlo - The tournament was a drag. I came fully prepared to win, but only mustered up a 33rd which got me my $4,250 back, but wasn’t enough to cover the $250 taxi ride back to Cannes. The JETSETWAY would, of course, be a limo but I assure you I wasn’t in the mood to spend the $400 for the 1.5 hour ride.
I had laid my trap perfectly and was cold decked by my target.
Definition – Historically a cold deck has been an expression for a deck of cards used by cheats that was brought in fresh to a game with the cards preset. The expression gets its name because the deck actually felt colder than usual because currently used cards feel warm from handling. These days it refers to a hand that plays out as if it were a cold deck.
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09 Aug 2008
Antibes
Today we moored at Marina Baie des Anges which is located between Nice and Antibes. According to their website it is the prettiest port on the French Riviera. According to others the concrete apartments here are an eyesore.
From a distance, the four pyramid-shaped huge apartment complexes offend the eye. Surprisingly, as we approached the Marina and then disembarked, the area was quite nice indeed.
The marina area is definitely lovely, surrounded by clean peaceful restaurants, bars and cute stores. I don’t find the apartments architecturally ugly, up close, but then I like big cities with big skyscrapers. Certainly everything is new here, which always helps.
Fact – All the way from the Italian border to Cannes the beach is rock, not sand.
That is not my idea of a good time.
Fact - The city of Nice sits on le Baie des Anges (Bay of Angels). It is so named because of the angel sharks that inhabit its waters and “protected” the denizens of Nice from pirates, back in the day.
Antibes – Tonight we went to Antibes to check things out. Like many other European spots, they have several blocks blocked off which really makes it nice for pedestrians. I highly recommend spending an afternoon or evening there.
Antibes restaurant recommendation – Michelangelo www.lemichelangelo-mamo.com
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