Day Three - Friday

MORNING EXPLORATIONS

My hotel in the morning. I'm on the top floor,

middle balcony (with the cement, not iron, railings).

After blogging, I headed down to Cannes with a couple of hours to spare before work and no real agenda. I got to explore the older side of Cannes, where the streets are cobblestone and very narrow. Getting hungry, I explored my food options and finally decided on a little hole-in-the-wall place that had one table and relatively cheap gourmet food. I ordered my food in French, though the owner spoke English, and he helped me learn a few new important words relating to food and money, etc.

After buying the most delicious lasagna rolls in the world, I walked around in search of a park or cute nook to eat my lunch. I finally found the perfect spot, on a stone staircase overlooking a small street that leads directly down to the Palais.

I sat on the side of the staircase, just a few feet

from the older lady sitting there in this picture.

The view from my lunch perch... That little blue square

at the end of the street is the giant poster above

the grand staircase up to the Palais.

WORK

As I haven't waiting tables and only running food (for the last three days--soon to change), my contact with people outside of fellow waitstaff is often limited. But I did have a couple gentleman approach me as I was attempting the classic stand-around-and-try-not-to-look-bored, holding out their laptop and asking if there was someone around who could help them fix their computer.

"Of course!" I said. "We have tech students in the other room who can help you. Let me find you one."

I took their laptop and went in search of a techy. None to be found. So I asked them what the problem was. They said that they were trying to upload a video to YouTube, but it was taking five hours and kept shorting out. Aha! *mental light bulb illuminates*

"Well, I might be able to help you out," I offered.

So we took the laptop to a nearby table and I explained to them that their video was probably in the wrong codec (compression code) for the internet. I felt very proud of myself, as I've never been the person known as tech-savvy. Ever. And here I was, explaining to them all this stuff like I was a pro. All I can do is thank the gods that I took a film editing class last semester... if for nothing else than that specific conversation today.

Also, it is absolutely freezing here at Cannes. It probably would be warm and sunny, if it weren't for the blasted wind. It's cold and sweeps across the ocean, blowing lettuce leaves off the plates as I try to carry them to customers. I'm pretty sure that those poor paying people are only getting three fourths of their greens because of the weather.

Someone the other day explained to me that the cooler weather is because of the volcano in Iceland. Apparently, all of Europe is seven or eight degrees cooler than normal for this time of year because of the cloud of ash blocking the sun's rays. While I can't verify the accuracy of that statement, it sounds plausible to me.

MY SOLO EVENING

I had considered going to see another film in the evening, but there really weren't any that I wanted to see, and I was pretty tired. Three nights in a row of only three hours of sleep starts to wear on you after a while.

Instead, I decided to enjoy my solitude and went to a small café for a cup of tea before heading back to the hotel. After ordering (more French!), I sat in this adorable little nook by the window, writing a couple postcards and people-watching.

While there, a young family of a mom, dad, and twelve-year-old boy (and another young couple) came and sat at tables right on the other side of the window. It was a little awkward at first, seeing as they were literally right in front of me, but I was writing and preoccupied, so it wasn't a big deal. The 12-year-old boy sat at the chair closest to the glass door, and some time after they'd ordered their food, he started peaking at me through the gap between the window and door.

Once he said something to me that sounded like hello, but I didn't pay much mind. Then he said something else through the space in the glass, but I didn't understand so didn't acknowledge. By this time the parents and friends saw what he was up to, but just kinda laughed at it.

There was a longer pause, and then the boy says, very clearly and as suggestively as possible for a prepubescent little kid, "Vous êtes célibataire?!" ("Are you single?!") I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud. His parents did too, while the boy grinned, obviously very proud of himself. It was a great moment-- understanding a joke in another language. I was also rather proud of myself.