Finding Friends in France

2019

The French are friends… and food, except not at the same time, tu comprends? Anyways, visiting the French Riviera was always one of my goals, especially as a photographer. I’m sure you’ve seen some stellar photographs of the Mediterranean coast, whether it be in France, Italy, or Greece. Those beautiful images always inspired me to see this part of the world for myself in the hopes of capturing those views as well. The time I spent here was very rewarding in a variety of ways, and I was also fortunate enough to be here during the Cannes International Festival of Creativity for a study abroad course. There are few places I could imagine being better for finishing my degree and getting a job.

My week-long stay in the south of France allowed me to see many of the popular places along the coast such as Nice, Cannes, Èze, and Monaco. While there are bound to be similarities, each town and city is also unique in their own way. The medieval village of Èze as seen above is situated on top of a tall hill and filled with narrow streets that my Uber driver expertly navigated. The small shops and slanted streets there are quite different than the marvelous markets and seaside seating for dinner that you can find in Monaco or Nice. The country of Monaco is also full of glitz and glamour, parties and Porches, and ridiculous ride-share rules. The latter caused me quite some trouble, but also allowed me to meet an amazing person and his family so I guess I can’t complain too much.

It’s been an absolute pleasure having the opportunity to meet new people during my time abroad, but I’ve never been so surprised by the way an acquaintance was made. I’ve always enjoyed making conversation with strangers I meet along the way whether they are giving me a ride, my AirBnb host, or even the waiters or baristas I meet, but they never intentionally invite me to their home, especially seeing as I’m someone from another country. I was thankful to meet this man, Mr. Jean-Luc, and even more thankful to be his acquaintance, even if only for a short while. This was all made possible by Monaco and their laws so Monaco, if you’re reading this, I appreciate you, but you’re quite a pain.

I had hoped to take a few pictures of Monaco I could be proud of because there was a lot to see in this city-state, but my first excursion there was on an extremely cloudy day which resulted in bland images. Therefore, on the day I made the trek to Nice, I decided to make a pit stop in Monaco one more time to capture the scenes I saw above. However, I overstayed my welcome and when I decided it was time to go, I discovered that I has missed the last train of the night, which meant it was time to either find a ride or start hiking. Having become rather tired since it was my third town of the day, I was hoping to find an Uber ride back to my hotel which was up on the mountainside. And this is where it got complicated.

You may or may not know that Monaco does not allow Uber drivers to pick up passengers within their borders. In fact, the Uber app won’t even work when you’re in the area. This meant that I had to hike uphill and make my way outside of their border in order to use other cell towers to use the Uber app. After hiking through narrow streets and up many stairs, I found myself on a corniche which is a scenic highway along the coast. Now that I was out of Monaco I could call an Uber to come alleviate my stress, but I was unaware of how difficult it was to reach my location by car. Although I had been canceled by two drivers, I continued sitting, waiting, and wishing someone would take me back so I didn’t have to hike. Thankfully, I was found by Mr. Jean-Luc who was kind enough to consider my plea in Google translated French.

During my conversation with Mr. Jean-Luc, I told him that I would be moving to another hotel closer to the Cannes Festival the next day when he told me that he actually lived in Cannes. Upon dropping me off at my hotel, he handed me his business card and told me to contact him so we could chat some more and I could meet his family when I too was in Cannes. So on my last day in France, I caught up with him, helped him walk his dogs, and pushed his son along in a stroller until he kindly invited me into his home. It was so nice to learn more about him and spend time with his adorable son. I have to admit it was hard to say goodbye, but I will always have this fond memory and a picture with his son he took for me to cherish.

While meeting Mr. Jean-Luc was definitely a highlight of my time here, it would be impossible to forget my time at the Cannes Festival and the hosts of my second hotel stay. My first hotel stay was on a mountainside so I could witness sweeping views of the Mediterranean Sea and coastline, but the second one was right by the coast and inside a cozy home which also served as a restaurant. I had the pleasure of talking to my host family and having dinner with their dog. That’s where I stayed for almost a week so I could easily take a train to the Cannes Festival every day, the place where I finally found out I would be working for Princess Cruises.

The Cannes Festival is held every year, but I never thought I would get to go myself. I enjoyed the opportunity to see Jeff Goldblum, Jenna Lyons, John Legend, Big Sean, Laura Dern, Rainn Wilson, and Camilla Cabello. However, I’m not sure if Camilla Cabello was happy to have me there because I made a small scene during her talk with Spotify executives. As I was sitting on the turf in front of the stage half listening to their talk, I received an email from Princess Cruises. Now, it should come as no surprise that I had been checking my email perhaps every twenty minutes since I finished my interview in Vienna. The excerpt in the notification made my heart sink because it wasn’t very clear, but once I opened it, I squeaked and jolted up as if a rat scurried by, which was unintended. Apparently that’s what a mix of joy and relief looks like — who knew?

It’s been said many times many ways that you shouldn’t look back, just keep looking forward. However, as much as that’s peddled as sage advice by the successful, I don’t necessarily think looking back is always detrimental. As I reminisce on my time in France, I see it as a culmination of my many life lessons and an opportunity see how far I’ve come. Through time and practice I learned to take better photographs and be a better traveler. Although some lessons I had to learn the hard way and others took me out of my comfort zone, all those experiences helped me grow as a person, and for that I am grateful. Life is an adventure and you never quite know who you’ll meet or where you’ll go, but if there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that there’s a whole world out there — let’s go and see it.