du cap, egyptian revolutionaries, and night two in cannes

Too tired last night to blog. Good thing. I avoided another 4am posting. The downside is it left me a day late and a Euro short on my personal Cannes diary. My Wednesday...

I woke up early and chatted with my Villa mates. I regaled John and Brent, my new BFF, with stories from the book I'm reading on the oral history of ESPN. We chatted sports, drank coffee and watched Tara work frantically on planning our party for 80 guests. None of the men offered her any assistance. We just kept talking. Regardless of the continent gender relations remain safely intact. 

There wasn't a lot of time to lounge. We needed to be at the Carlton by 1. The No6 folks, Toni Lipari and Jason McDonald, were kind of enough to invite us to Eden Rock for some food and swim. A rare moment where some else was paying. I jumped at the chance. 

Hotel Du Cap. Beautiful. Expensive. Players only. The ultimate symbol of excess in the Cannes experience. That's Lisa and Tara in the pool. They have a great job.

The lunch was a star studded cast. I had the pleasure to sit across from Scott Vitrone, from W&K NY. I ordered the grilled asparagus with a soft boiled egg. With the addition of the egg, it made me feel like I was kind of having breakfast before eating lunch. Scott started with the melon and prosciutto. It took quite an effort for him to eat since the melon wasn't pre cut off the rind. Call me crazy but for 30 Euros the dish could be a little more user friendly. Come to think of it, for that price they should've spoon fed him. 

We didn't leave Du Cap until 5:30. Not a good plan. We needed to be in front of the Martinez at 7 to catch the bus to the dinner party we were co-hosting with Human and Mass Market. We got further delayed when a guy on a scooter was hit by a car on the Croissette causing one side of the street to be closed. I felt bad for the victim who was obviously in serious pain. It did make me wonder why we don't witness more accidents such as this based on the toxic mixture of excessive drinking and lack of adherence to basic driving laws.

Meanwhile back at the Villa Rob, our partner in Epoch London, continued to work hard even whilst surrounded by so much temptation. I guess someones got to do it and Lord knows it can't be me. 

We finally made it back to the villa with barely enough time to get dress, grab a cab to the Martinez. and jump on the bus. Me and Lisa would've been stranded had it not been for the assistance of Rattling Stick El Presidente, Johnnie Frankel, who had his car and driver take us to the bus. This shows not only JF's smarts but also his experience. And off to Bacon dinner we went.

It was a majestic night. Great people. Great atmosphere. Great fun. For the record, Mark Altshuler and Tara did all the heavily lifting in planning this party while Justin from Mass Market pitched in. God bless them. I on the other hand did nothing but was happy to take credit whenever someone complimented us on what a magical evening it was. 

Meanwhile, Rob finally detached himself from the computer and joined us at the soiree. As you can see my partner has no problem making a smooth transition from hardworking MD to wealthy Russian oligarch. 

My big realization at dinner. Rose in Cannes is like the bottomless cup of coffee at a NYC diner. Once you order one, your glass remains perpetually full for the duration of the meal. Would appear dangerous however only in Cannes can you drink a gallon of Rose and only be slightly buzzed. At home, two glasses and I'm snoring on the couch.

After dinner it was off to the Carlton deck. Ran into a lot of friendly and familiar faces. Craig Marcus said I looked liked a Japanese tourist since I walked around the entire day with a camera dangling from my neck. I took it as a compliment.

Highlight of the night. 

My friend Fisher Stevens was speaking on a panel regarding the impact of social media on world events. They were using the recent revolution in Egypt as an example. He introduced me to two Egyptians revolutionaries/activist/filmmakers, Amr Salama and Karim Samer. For an hour and half we drank bottomless glasses of rose, spoke about politics, the rebellion, Al-Jazzera and the state of America. It was without question the single greatest conversation I've ever had a Cannes, or possibly anywhere else. 

Fisher saw how taken I was with the topic so he was kind enough to invite me as his guest to the panel discussion the next morning. I had to be at at the majestic at 9:45 am if I wanted to go. It was now 3:30. I walked home. Got in bed by 4 am. Too late to blog. I had to get up earlier than I ever had at Cannes. Long day. Lots of rose. And a precedent setting wake up call. 

Would I make it? Stay tuned.