Day 8: {Cannes, France}

Today was our final port day, and we were thrilled to get a flavor of France here. We've seen and heard so much about Cannes whenever we watch the coverage of the annual Cannes Film Festival on television, so needless to say, we were excited to know that we will get glimpses of the pre-setup today since the festival will officially start next Tuesday. I was disappointed that we wouldn't get to be at the actual festival, but Alan convinced me it was just as cool to see the setup.

Cannes was every bit as beautiful as we remembered it to be on television, with a beachfront that seemed to go on forever. Indeed, much of the sandy beaches were closed as the immense effort of setting up for such a huge event was in progress. We saw tent after tent, stages, and even the red carpet being laid out in the opening theatre! It was hard to believe that in just a few days, stars like Brad Pitt and George Clooney may be walking on that very red carpet!

I felt rushes of adrenaline as I watched the crew setup the stages and lighting...imagining the logistics involved in pulling off an event at this caliber.

As we strolled down the shoreline, we decided to find a totally different type of transportation for ourselves today. So far we've tried the segway, bicycle, small taxi, taxi van, tour bus, and a convertible. What else is left? Leave it to my husband to suggest a motorcycle! Let me share a little secret with you. My sweet, quiet husband is actually a die hard biker! He has owned a sports bike for many years and have taken it down to race tracks to get his bit of adrenaline rush. That's probably his number one hobby...one that he hopes to pass on to our daughter!

I agreed it would be fun to rent a motorcycle since the weather continued to be just PERFECT (May seems to be the best month for Europe travel!) and a ride along the coast sounded tempting. After asking around a few locals, we finally found a company that rented scooters which was as close to a sports bike as we could get in short notice! My hubby was okay to settle with that, thank God! I hated having to wear a helmet, but safety comes first for me these days.

I had a great ride to Nice, which is north of Cannes, and being in the backseat of the scooter reminded me of the days when I first met my hubby and he used to take me for rides on his sports bike all the time! So nostalgic....I was loving every minute of it, except when he started going over 70 mph and I had to remind him this was not a sports bike.

When we got to Nice, we stopped first at their local farmer's market and just roamed around a bit watching the locals do their grocery shopping. I just love experiencing the life of locals in a foreign country.

After that, we drove down to the beach and found a nice restaurant right by the water for our lunch. We just couldn't seem to ever get tired of being close to the water.

We walked off our lunch by strolling along the beach, before getting back onto the scooter to make our way back to Cannes. There was an open air market there that featured local artists, and we got to enjoy that a bit before heading back to the cruise ship. Oh, and I ran into a bride and groom!

Ahhhh, another super relaxing and fun day for us--the perfect way to end our lovely vacation. Tonight, I couldn't help feeling bittersweet. Our vacation is ending, but we cannot wait to get home to see our little Bridgette!