Getting to & from Cannes was no easy feat. Our little bed & breakfast hotel was a good 15-minutes outside of the city, which meant we were traveling by bus, a SUPER expensive cab ride, or hitch hiking. Since my friends and family had terrified me with stories about young, pretty girls being kidnapped and never seen nor heard from again, Reena and I opted for public transportation. This particular night, we were lucky enough to catch a ride with our hotel's concierge--a plump french woman in her 20's who's name completely escapes me right now.
Anyway, she gave us a ride (for the bargain price of 15 Euros) and dropped us off at the Casino next to the marina. Reena and I decided to freshen up inside and try to get ahold of the guy she'd met at the Internet cafe earlier that day. After 3 attempts on the Casino pay phone, we'd almost given up when a pretty & drunk young American girl named Katie offered us her cell phone. Katie was in Cannes working on a privately owned yacht for the festival. Basically, Katie and her crewmates travel all over the world aboard this yacht and they work private functions--business meetings, wedding receptions, celebrity parties, etc. Katie was a waitress on the yacht and with her one night off, she was ready to party!
When the dude from the Internet cafe didn't pick up Reena's 6th phone call, I suggested we hang with Katie and her crew. She took us onto the casino floor and introduced us to Seth-a sweet, Indian guy from South Africa, Kelly-a tall, blonde Australian girl, and Jim- a portly fella from the U.K. Most of her friends were exhausted from working an event the night before, so it only ended up being me, Reena, Katie, and Seth left to explore Cannes' nightlife.
We all agreed to hit a trendy club called the VIP ROOM, I'd seen profiled on celebrity websites. Once we reached the club, Reena and I worked the guys at the door for a few minutes, and got all of us in for free. By this time, it was Midnight, but that's early by European standards. In Cannes, the party doesn't even get started until 1 or 2am. There were MAYBE 100 people wondering around, and we had the entire dance floor to ourselves. The dj was fantastic, and after jammin to a couple of songs, we made friends with some German guys in the VIP section (yes, there are VIP sections in the VIP Room), and we all toasted to a fantastic night. After that, Reena and I decided to explore the clubs different rooms.
The outside patio was a circus-LITERALLY. There were people dressed up like acrobats, and animal tamers inside of cages with lions, horses, and camels. We wondered over to pet the horses and llama, and take pictures with them. Poor things! The animals looked like the LAST place they wanted to be was taking pictures in a nightclub in the south of France :-( The little mini-horse even tried to bite me when the flash went off.
Around the perimeter of the patio were food stations, bars, and boutiques selling apparel with VIP ROOM emblazoned across the front & back. I'd already decided I was going to stick with red bull that night, so I skipped the bar and decided to pull out my video camera and record some of the craziness.
As I made my way back into the club, the party was really starting to pick up. The circular dance floor was now rotating and packed with beautiful, model looking people from all around the world. Everytime a table in the VIP section ordered a drink, the servers ran out with flaming bottles of liquor, followed by these alien looking stiltwalkers who were dressed in head to toe silver body suits.
Time check- 3:30am. DAMN I was tired. And I wanted to spend some daytime hours on the beach tomorrow. But Reena was busy being chatted up by some tall, good-looking European guy. So I sat down & chilled with the group of German boys and noticed that a show was about to start on stage. And who waltzes out but International burlesque star Dita Von Teese. She gave a 6-minute shower show performance to the screaming crowd. Apparently, Tom-the German guy sitting next to me had gotten REALLY excited by Dita's show.
"Shannon, you are most beautiful woman I ever meet. You pick one place on da world you dream to go, and I will take you there. ANYWHERE! We go."
I squint my eyes wondering if this man was on something. "Um, thanks. I'm really flattered. But I don't even know you. I make it a policy not to travel to foreign countries with men I've only known for 4 hours."
He poked out his lower lip feigning sadness.
I smiled. "But we can be Facebook friends!" Hey, he seemed nice enough, and that was the best pick up line I'd EVER heard.
At this point, Katie and Seth were nowhere to be seen, and Reena was still screaming back & forth with the European gigolo. So, I pulled her aside for a second and told her I was ready to leave.
"No! Not yet. The party is still going on," Reena yelled over her shoulder walking away from.
"Reena, no really. It's 4am. I'm exhausted. I'm ready to go." I turned her towards me and pulled the strap back up on her blue dress. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll meet you back here in 10 minutes."
10 minutes later, Reena was nowhere in sight. After checking the patio, the VIP section, the bathroom, and even inside the lion's cage, I finally saw her walking by with Sir Humps Alot.
"Reena! There you are. Let's go."
"Shannon, I'm not ready to leave yet. Come on!"
"Fine," I said annoyed. "Then give me the keys and I'll take a cab."
Reena reluctantly fished around in her purse. "It's only 4:30. And the German crew has an after-party that starts at 7am. Plus a cab is gonna cost you like $75."
"I don't care," I said taking the keys from her. "I'm exhausted and we've been out all day. You can stay with them if you want to, but do you even know the address of our hotel so you can get home in the morning???"
"No," she said. "But I could just meet you on the beach in Cannes."
"Reena-seriously? These people barely speak English. You don't know them. And neither of us has a cell phone, so how can we meet up in the morning? I don't feel good about this."
"Fine! Let me just say good-bye." She stomped away as I turned to walk out of the club. A few minutes later, she came outside where I was hunting for a cab.
"I can't believe you wanted to leave so early. It's a PARTY for God's sake!"
"I know Reena. Life is just a big party."
"Are you being condescending? What are you trying to say? " she said trying to balance herself in her stilettos.
"Nothing. I'm just tired. It's almost 5am, and I wanna go to bed. Do you want me to leave you here with people you don't know and can barely communicate with? You're drunk. If something happens, it's on my conscience. But if you REALLY want to stay, you're a grown ass woman-so STAY!"
I started walking towards the main street, since there wasn't a cab in sight where we were standing. Reena ran in front of me and grabbed me by my shoulders. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm just drunk, and I want to have a good time. But let's go home." She hugged me really tight, like how my dad used to after he'd gone through a case of Budweiser.
Reena finally let me out of the hug, but held my shoulders. "Are you mad at me?"
"No, Reena. I'm not mad at you. Let's just get a cab."
We started walking down the street again.
"Who was that guy anyway?" I asked.
She shrugged. "I don't know. He was friends with the German guys and he kept asking me if I was a fluffer."
"Oh God, Reena. What an asshole! Why were you talking to him for an hour then?"
"I was trying to set him straight. But I don't think he spoke English very well."
"You should have slapped him and walked away," I said.
Reena looked at me and laughed. "You've gotta admit he was cute though."
I smiled at her. "Yeah. He was hot."
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