Our journey to Cannes started a few months back; it actually began in Geneva in a workshop of craftsmen, spending countless hours making this year’s precious Palme d’Or Chopard so proudly bears the honor of crafting each year for the Cannes Film Festival.
I had a lot of expectations for Cannes – how could you not with such a famous and star studded event? I can remember as if it was yesterday sitting at the breakfast bar of my parents’ house in Texas, getting ready for school and watching the Today Show cover the red carpet of Cannes. My eyes were fixated on the screen… and now I am here. Beyond the glamour and the evening gowns, the faces of such notable actors and luxury brand names, the Cote d’Azur, our French Riviera, was also the view that inspired artists such as Matisse, Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald. I couldn’t wait to see it, to taste it, and to just watch it all with my own eyes and not those of a child in front of a TV set.
The day started at the Chopard Lounge on top of the Hotel Martinez: a sweeping terrace with views of the Promenade de la Croisette. Yachts smiled in the harbor as the crowds of photographers swam around waiting for pictures of celebrity arrivals in the bustling streets. It was a very strange sensation from up on the terrace and laying in bed at night to all of a sudden hear screams from a crowd – ah yes, another celebrity has emerged.
The rain came and went and with each pop of sun another beautifully dressed guest would walk through the doors, glittering in diamonds and sapphires, French perfumes dancing through the air, entangling itself with the smell of fresh cut roses. The distant sound of champagne being poured and glasses clinking, the faint smell of cigarettes over whispers and laugher, and that view… I’ll never get over that beautiful view.
As the day came to a close we attended the official dinner of the opening ceremony of the festival at the Agora. The Great Gatsby had just finished premiering and as we sat for dinner, in poured the cast and an excited air filled the room…but it was not until Steven Spielberg walked in that the space erupted in applause. He was magnanimous.
The first day at Cannes…despite being jet lagged and just coming off a week long shoot in LA, I lay in bed and thought about how the little girl watching the TV became the woman walking in the room tonight.
MAIYET hand block printed in Jaipur, India maxi dress to blow around in the Mediterranean wind.
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