Day 10_Cannes

Cannes is a little bit younger than Nice at 200 B.C.  It's name comes from the word "canna" or reed, which is a plant that grows in swamps.  No longer a swamp, but an elegant city of Medieval and Belle Epoch buildings (circa 19th century), we wandered the old city, visited its 11th century castle then analyzed the design of the boardwalk called the Promenade de la Croisette.  The city certainly takes full advantage of all of its land and has restaurant seating all the way to within 2 feet of the tide.  This is me having a lunch of white fish, sauteed vegetables with a condiment bottle of olive oil for the fish and bread.  (I was waiting for the students to complete their assignment).

The pace of Cannes is very laid back and relaxed and my white dressed, shoeless (but wearing sunglasses) waiters were called "Beach Boys" by the host at the restaurant.  At lunch I was surrounded by mainly Italians on vacation as Italy is only miles away and the Monday after Easter is a holiday.  English is widely spoken here as the British have had winter residences here for 200 years.  Yachts were moored on both sides of my view with children in the ocean, playing tag with the waves (I guess that game is in all cultures).  Unlike the Central Coast which is primarily a grass landscape by the sea, the hills next to the ocean here are covered in evergreen vegetation, mainly pines and evergreen shrubs.

Closing the windows.....An interesting French behavior has to do with closing the windows.  Every window has either shutters or a metal "garage door" on the outside.  Whenever you leave your home, you are supposed to close the outside protection for the window.  I have a 4th floor apartment in Nice and Spiderman is the only person who could get onto my balcony.  Nevertheless, I was instructed to close the garage doors whenever I leave.  In Marseille, I left the windows open "American-style" so I could see the view when I came home.

Some neighborhood pictures in Cannes: