Cannes and The French Riviera

Bonjour everyone!
Today we decided to drive the French Riviera southwest towards Marseille. We started out by driving to Cannes and stopping at a Boulangerie for our morning cafe and croissant. Cannes (pronounced CAN), has only around 72,000 people. It's famous for the International Film Festival which occurs every May. It is a city in which there is tremendous wealth. If you drive along the main road that runs by the water, you see endless rows of condos which look out to the mediterranean. You will also see Yacht stores, real estate places, Limousine service and rentals, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and I'm only mentioning a few. If you look towards the water, you see boats and yachts. If you want to find Cannes in anyway interesting, you have to turn off the beaten track and soon you'll discover the very old part of Cannes with the cool, narrow streets, tiny shops and cute little restaurants perched just about everywhere. So, after giving Cannes a second chance, we decided it wasn't so bad as we first thought. Don't think anything of the fact that you may drive by a restaurant & lounge that is actually called "Privilge", or that you see a lot of men wearing fuchsia colored sweaters. You know the style when they drape the sweater over their back and the arms of the sweater dangle in the front? Also don't think anything of the fact that scarves are worn year round here, even on a very warm day. For instance, you will see a woman wearing a halter top and then you stare in disbelief when you see there is an actual wool scarf wrapped around her neck. But the strangest? A guy (bare chest) out for a run, wearing white shorts, fancy running shoes, and around his neck, a blue scarf, flapping behind him. It must be difficult to look cool ALL the time...
We drove along very winding roads, and all the while, could see the blue Mediterranean. We stopped again, this time at a tiny beachside cafe called Le Lagon for yet another coffee, and we sat a stones throw from the Sea. It was wonderful sitting there and watching the water and listening to the waves crashing in. On the beach, it is all sand - no rocks. There were boats out in the distance. Strangely, I felt like I was in Mexico at a resort, because beach vendors started to stroll by selling things like beads, sunglasses, large hats and jewellery.
As we drove towards Saint Raphael, we noticed the rock seemed to turn a reddish-orangish color. This area was near Le Trayas. The soil and rocks of the area have a volcanic origin and the red colour comes from a rock called porphyry. When we saw this, we were reminded of the village of Rousillon in the south of France which is characterized by red rock. We stopped to take several pictures of the bizarre red rock formations. Little yellow daisies grew everywhere, as well as a few red poppies here and there, and Queen Anne's Lace. At one point we climbed down to a jagged inlet by the sea.
One thing about driving these winding, little roads, is that you have to stop and take breaks, first because of the stunning beauty, and second, because you get tired of the winding roads, and third; because you hate to pass up a place that sits very high up and overlooks the water.
And such a place was called La Cabane - a rustic, little snack bar that seemed like it belonged on a beach near a lake where I grew up. Only it was a snack bar overlooking the Mediterranean. We shared an omelet and some fries with sparkling water. The waitress brought some bread to the table, which somehow you just didn't want to eat, especially when we noticed birds flying in and landing on the breadboard and then hopping onto the baguettes. When it was time to go, the waitress brought our bill, and simply picked up our basket of uneaten bread, and plopped it on the next table, where a couple had just been seated.
We left, and she smiled and waved...Merci! Au Revoir! Bonne Journee!
So, we made it all the way to Saint Raphael. We looked around here and went for a walk. We were near the harbour and Ron took pictures of some of the yachts. We decided that we would not go on to St. Tropez, because it was already around 5:00 pm, so we started back to our bed and breakfast. When we arrived, we freshened up and went to dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by Pierre, our host.
The restaurant was called Bijou Plage in San les Pins, near Vallaurus, where we're staying. It was a beautiful place right near the water. Ron had oysters to start, followed by bouillabaisse soup, and I had a fabulous vegetable salad to start, and that was followed by vegetable risotto.
Just a note about bouillabaisse soup. It's a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse: typically red rascasse, sea robin and European conger. Vegetables such as leeks, onions, tomatoes, celery and potatoes are simmered together with the broth and served with the fish. The broth is traditionally served with a rouille, a mayonnaise made of olive oil, garlic, saffron and cayenne pepper on grilled slices of bread.
We had tiramisu for dessert, and the palest rose wine I've ever seen. It was delicious food and a memorable evening. While looking out onto the water, we could see five yachts which were clearly visible and one had turned on blue and purple lights which glittered and shone in in the dark...