Have you ever gone somewhere and thought to yourself… I am nottt quite sure I’m meant to be here?
Try going to the Cannes Film Festival.
I will quickly tell the story of how I snagged our entry to the event – because it was and always will be my only time finessing via a dating app.
Quick note on that. I HATE dating apps. Fortunately I am no longer single and won’t be using them again, but I was single at this time in my life. When we got to the South of France I thought it would be a good way to meet some eligible bachelors.
Spoiler alert: the men aren’t great in France, either. No wait, the French men were actually lovely and very generous. This was a British fellow I matched with.
Thinking back, I can’t even remember his name (how’s that for a good impression) BUT basically after a bit of chit-chat he asked if we were free this particular night (Ness and I were a package deal in France bc safety first) and got our names on the list for a Campari event at Palais Beach Club.
We headed in with no clue what to expect, and despite a scary end to the night – which we’ll come back to in a min – we ended up having sooo much fun.
But first, a girl’s gotta eat.
Obviously weren’t doing anything without having dinner and drinks first. We arrived in the stunning town of Cannes from Nice (it’s about 30 minutes by train) and wandered around aimlessly for a while. Mostly admired the beautiful stores while also trying to pick which restaurant had the best vibe.
We could have chosen anywhere, but since it was our first time in Cannes we wanted to be in the busy area and get a good feel for the atmosphere.
We ended up at Cafe Hoche – which has TERRIBLE reviews online but we absolutely loved it for a few drinks. Maybe the vibe was better because of the festival?
Either way, we settled in and sat here for ageeesss. The food and drinks were great, there was excellent music and superb people watching – as is the case anywhere in the SOF.
When the espresso martini’s started to hit, it was about 10.30 and we walked down towards the beach and to the event.
Glitz, glam & a whole lot of Campari.
Now, we knew the event was hosted by Campari, but we didn’t realise this would be the only beverage available. I don’t know if that was naive of us… but this drink is strong, and it’s incredibly bitter. We didn’t drink much at the event.
We did, however, love taking in the spectacle of the evening. I’ve been to really fun events in Melbourne, but the only thing I could compare this to would be Glamour on the Grid for F1… but even more chic.
Oh – now is a good time to revisit the British boy. We found him at the event (after he was very unhelpful getting us in) and LOL, he was so rude. It’s actually so funny revisiting this night because I haven’t thought about this guy and actually believe I blocked him.
Mainly because he said I was ungrateful because I don’t drink Campari – but also because he was just an idiot.
Suffice to sat we didn’t spend a lot of time with him and his group of friends.
Instead, we mingled with a plethora of interesting guests and admired the incredible gowns and beautiful models. We danced on a very fun and packed dance floor, took plenty of photos, met a lady who was in charge of the PR list for the Elvis premiere. Yep, Austin Butler was in town.
It was essentially two girls enjoying being in a world that was so far removed from their own reality.
Things took a ~slighty~ bad turn at the end of the night.
The event started wrapping up around 1am, and didn’t love the vibe of the nightclubs, so naturallyyy we went looking for food.
It was around 2am by the time we found the kebab ship. We made friends with a guy while we waited in the line- hi Eric if you’re reading.
While waiting for our food, I was approached by a very scary man who had clearly bad intentions of taking me. It got so bad with him refusing to leave (even with Eric pretending to be my husband) that the sweet owner of the kebab store had to come out and intervene.
Feeling a little shaken up, we parted with my fake husband Eric, found the first cab that would take us back to Nice – since trains don’t run past 11pm – and felt relieved to finally be back home and tucked into bed.
It was a night full of memories and potentially once-in-a-lifetime experiences, that’s for sure. You can watch my TikTok about it here!
Love,
Kelly x
