Our next day in Cannes was much more relaxing. Reena and I did the tourist thing and wondered around the city with our cameras pointed at everything and everyone. We photographed each other all over the boat docks. We pointed out which yachts were our favorite, and which were too over the top. We took pictures of a french man who sunbathed like only Europeans can--oiled up and wearing a thong. In the middle of one of our photo shoots, a group of 15 photographers mistook us for "somebodies" and started snapping OUR photos as we sat on the merry-go-round.
"We're not anyone important," Reena said to them.
"Reena! Yes, we are," I said. "Now pose!"
We did our best America's Next Top Model poses that would have made Miss Jay proud.
"So what should we do tonight?" Reena asked me as we walked away from the papparazzi.
"After last night, DEFINITELY something low-key," I said.
"What about Nikki Beach?"
I lifted my sunglasses onto the top of my head. "Why don't we check out Nikki Beach now and see what all the fuss is about."
Nikki Beach is the daytime playland for all the celebrities and beautiful people in Cannes. DJ's pump house music, while the young, rich & gorgeous lounge on cushy white beds that dot the pier. Unfortunately, those swanky beds run about $300 a pop (and that only comes with 1 bottle of champagne.) I definitely wanted to enjoy the whole Nikki Beach experience of sunning myself by the ocean with a tropical drink in my hand. But I wasn't up for the hassle of scouting someone out to buy me drinks all afternoon. So Reena and I decided to try and get a VIP bed of our own, without paying the $300 price tag.
Once inside of Nikki Beach, we scoped out a good looking waiter. Mustering up my best French, I asked,
"If we order two drinks, could we pretty please (insert eyelash battting here) relax on one of the empty beds for just a 1/2 hour?"
He looked at Reena and I and smiled. He said it was cool, as long as we didn't tell his manager.
In less than 5 seconds, Reena and I were out of our sundresses and applying lotion. As I expected, our one drink turned into complimentary shots from the bartender, then one of the VIP beds next to us ordered us a round of drinks. We ended up hanging out until long after the sunset. A little TOO long actually, because we missed the last bus back to our hotel.
Annoyed at myself for not keeping an eye on the time, we decided to head to McDonald's for some food while we tried to figure out how to get back to our hotel.
"Hey-is everything okay?"
I rolled my eyes at the British guy sitting at the sidewalk cafe. I REALLY didn't feel like being chatted up right now. Reena and I kept walking towards Mickey D's.
"I'll take a Happy Meal," Reena said as we stood in line.
"Make it two," I told the woman behind the counter.
All of the sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Excuse me, Miss?" I turned around to see the British guy from the sidewalk cafe. Apparently, he'd followed us the two blocks to McDonalds.
"What?" I spat at him.
"You looked kind of upset when you passed me. I wanted to see if everything was ok."
"Is everything ok?" I repeated. "No! Everything is NOT ok. We missed our bus back to our hotel, and we don't feel like paying an arm & a leg for a cab to get there. Is everything ok with YOU?"
He smiled at me, completely ignoring my rudeness. "Do you need a ride?"
"You want to give us a ride to our hotel?"
"Sure," he said. "Where is it?"
"We're staying in Mandelieu de Napoule. It's about 15 minutes from here."
"Sure. My friend and I can give you ladies a lift. We were just finishing up dinner. You saw where we were sitting right?"
I nodded.
"Just come on over when you're done here and we'll take you back to your place."
I decided he looked harmless enough, so I agreed. Besides, I'd studied some martial arts, so if he pulled anything, he'd be heading home to the U.K. with one less testicle.
"Wow! That was nice of him," Reena said. "Maybe we can hang out with him and his friend tonight.
"We'll see," I replied taking my Happy Meal and grabbing a seat.
We downed our food within minutes and headed back to the sidewalk cafe.
"So what's your name anyway?" I asked the Brit.
"I'm Blaine. And this is Ryan. But we call him Harry...as in Harry Potter. It's a long story."
"Nice to meet you, Blaine. And you too, Harry Potter. Thanks for helping us out."
On the ride to our hotel, we found out the guys co-owned a photo agency back in the UK and were in Cannes with their photographer friend to cover the film festival.
"So basically, you're paparazzi?" I asked.
"Pretty much," said Harry.
Blaine looked at me through his rear view mirror. "So what are you ladies doing tonight?"
"We're not sure yet," Reena replied sticking her head between the seats. "We were thinking maybe heading back to Nikki Beach for drinks."
"What about the VIP Room?" asked Harry.
I nudged Reena. I really didn't feel like hanging out with these guys tonight.
"We did that last night," I said. "We want do to something a little more low-key tonight."
"Aw, you should come with us to the VIP Room. We were there the past 3 nights, and we're going to get a table again tonight. Come on! It'll be fun. Drinks on us all night."
"We'll see..." I said.
Reena leaned over and whispered in my ear. "How are we going to get back into Cannes tonight? Maybe they'll come pick us up."
"Hey-where is your hotel?"Blaine questioned nervously. "These roads are really confusing. I don't know how we're going to find our way back into Cannes."
"You're fine. Just keep going straight," I said.
Harry turned to Reena and I in the back seat. "So Nikki Beach, huh? We could all go to Nikki Beach together. We have to pick up our two photographers from a bar in Cannes, then we can all hang out together."
"Well, we still have to get ready," Reena responded as they pulled up to our hotel. "Maybe we can just get ready at your place."
AHHHHH! I wanted to scream. WHY did she say that?
"That's a great idea!" Blaine exclaimed. "That way we won't get lost on our way back to Cannes."
"Awesome!" Reena opened the car door. "We'll go grab some clothes and be right back."
As soon as we were inside of our hotel, I gave Reena the death stare. "Reena! Why did you tell them we'd come back to their place?"
"Because now we don't have to pay a cab to get us back into town. We can always ditch them once we're there."
"Whatever, "I said throwing some clothes into a bag. This night had better not be a bust.
Once we picked up their two friends, we arrived at their rented condo in the hills above Cannes. I had to admit, their place WAS really nice. They made us a few drinks and sparked up some hashish, passing it around between them. After about 3 hours of hanging around, everyone finally got ready to leave.
"So, we're going to the VIP Room, right?" asked their weird paparazzi friend.
"NO!" I said. "Reena and I have to check out of our hotel at 9am and catch a train to Rome. We have to be back at our place no later than 3am to get some sleep. Let's just go to Nikki Beach. It's so much closer."
"We'll have you home in time," the creepy guy said. " Don't worry about it."
I crossed my arms and looked at everyone in the room. "I just want to go to Nikki Beach," I whined. Looking at their faces, including Reena's, I realized I was outnumbered and outvoted. Five minutes later, we were off to the VIP Room.
Once inside, I became more and more agitated. Our new friends not only DIDN'T get a table, they also couldn't get their whole group in. I quickly realized that they had used Reena and I as arm candy to get two of them through the door, but the other two guys were not allowed in by security. Blaine was running around the club like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to find the manager (whom he claimed he knew), to try and get his friends in.
Reena ended up finding a guy she'd met earlier at Nikki Beach, and was hanging with him at his VIP table. I just walked around the club wondering how I was going to get my bag of clothes out of Blaines car.
Over an hour later, Blaine was still trying to get his friends in. I decided I'd had enough. Reena found me standing against a wall. Seeing the look on my face, she immediately took pity on me. "Let's get out of here."
We found Blaine standing out front negotiating with security.
"Blaine, we're leaving. We need to get our stuff out of your car," Reena said.
"No, don't leave. They're gonna let them in in the next 15 minutes.
"That's great, but we're leaving, " Reena said putting her hand out for the keys.
All of the sudden, a fight broke out right next to us. In the melee, Blaine's two friends ran around the fight and snuck into the club. Reena and I followed them, not sure if the fight was going to turn dangerous for everyone standing there.
"See, we're all in now, "Blaine smiled. "Let's go dance."
"No, man. We've been waiting around for over an hour." I smiled. Look at Reena getting all tough!
"You guys DIDN'T get a table. You didn't even buy us a drink. You've had us standing around here for nothing. And the club sucks tonight. Either give me the keys to your car and we'll bring them back, or you can walk with us."
"Fine," Blaine relented, following us back outside.
The entire walk to the car, Blaine huffed and puffed about us leaving. All of the sudden, our sweet British guy had become a REAL jerk.
"Look," I told him. "We told you guys we couldn't stay out all night. It's already 3am now and your friends just got into the club. We should have just went to Nikki Beach like I said, so we all could have gotten in without a problem."
He grabbed my arm. "Well, can I call you?"
I pulled my arm out of his hand and grabbed my bag out of the car. "No thanks," I said.
As Reena and I left him fuming, I realized that we were now about 30 minutes away from our hotel and I didn't see a cab in sight.
"What do we do now, Shannon?"
"Start walking," I said.
After 10 minutes of carrying my duffle bag, all thoughts of being ladylike went out the window. I pulled off my heels and tried to wiggle life back into my baby toes.
"Look at all these people driving by. They probably think we're hookers," Reena laughed.
"If I saw us, I would think we were hookers," I giggled.
After 15 more minutes trudging down the street, we finally waved down a cab. I was so tired and annoyed, I didn't feel like translating, so I just sat in the back rubbing my feet. Reena sat in the front and did her best job communicating directions to the driver. And after getting us lost twice, we pulled up to our hotel.
"You said it's 20 Euros, right?" Reena asked him.
The cab driver looked at Reena. "Oui. Or, for my pleasure, I lick your feet."
Did he just say what I think he said?!? I was so tired and annoyed, I must have imagined that one.
Reena stared at him wide-eyed. "You want to WHAT?"
"For my pleasure, I lick your feet," the cab driver said again.
"Um, no thank-you. We'll just pay you the 20 Euros. Shannon-do you have 5 more Euros?!?"
At this point, I was laughing so hard I could barely open my purse. I handed Reena a coin, as tears started streaming down my face. She handed him the money and jumped out of the cab, leaving me in the back seat in hysterics.
The cab driver turned to me. "And for you-I lick your feet?"
I looked at my feet, black with dirt from walking the streets of Cannes. "I can NOT believe you just said that," I said wiping the tears from my eyes. "You have lost your DAMN mind! You are a freak." I grabbed my bag and slammed the door behind me.
Reena had already run to the door of the hotel and was standing there in horror. I walked up to her trying not to pee myself.
"I can't believe you left me in there with him," I said still laughing.
"Hurry up! He might try and follow us, " Reena squeaked pulling my arm.
We got into our room and both collapsed on my bed laughing hysterically. Hey, a foot in mouth, has got to be worth a ride for two in a cab. But NOT tonight!
0 comments:
Post a Comment