Day 6 – Tuesday

We decided to spend the day at the beach. We didn’t want to go far, so we went to the hotel’s private beach. The way beaches are in Cannes are similar to the ones in Beirut, they are all in one row and you pay to get in. Even being guests at their hotel doesn’t get you in for free. The cost was 10 Euro for 1/2 day, 16 Euro for full day. Dad negotiated it down to 14 Euros, and said he is not going to go in the water, so (5×14 instead of 6×16).

We swam, Harry and Vahe went to a restaurant and had a couple of drinks and of course cigar. The water was very nice, it was too cool for Rosalin, but we managed to lure her in a few times. Alec would have taken about 20 minutes to get in Rosalin did it in 30 🙂 Anyway, we took it easy that day, then went to the hotel room and got ready to go to Mujin with Vahe Ammo.

Moujin is a quaint little French Village, it is very nice rustic and charming. We had dinner there. I couldn’t get my Coq Au Vin (Wherever I asked, they kept saying it is not Winter and they don’t prepare it in the summer, the irony is that it was always raining when I asked !!! So I substituted Beef Stroganoff Which is close to a Coq Au Vin but with beef. I had to be careful because I have heard they eat horse here and the funny thing is, they call the Hamburger a few different things like steak hache and something cheval, which means horse.

Anywhow, we came back and prepared to drive to Portofino and Pisa in the morning. So we put the rest of the wet clothes on to the towel warmer, oh yeah I forgot to tell you, We were using the towel warmer as a dryer for our clothes. Rosalin did wash a few loads there and we put it on the towel warmer to dry them out, worked fantastic.

OK, of to sleep. TTYL.

Day 5 Monday
10:30 PM Cannes Time

After being on the computer till 4:30AM, I had to wake up at 7:30 to go to the Avis office in town that opened at 8:00 AM. Believe it or not, stores open at 9:00AM the earliest. So I, along with Rosalin and her dad, went to office so all our names will be on the drivers’ list.

They don’t ave a parking lot, so they park the cars wherever they can find space. Ours just happened to be 3 Km down the road. After the three of us made it there, we saw the car had extensive damage. All along one side it is heavily scratched, Apparently the people before us had a little too much of a good time.

So I went around the car and found a lot of dents and scratches and had to ask the rep if this was really their car. I have never seen a rental car quite in that condition. Then it dawned on me, I got her to write down all the damages, I took the van and figured if we scratch it, it will not be apparent. Also, I can go back to the states and complain about the condition of the car, maybe I can get some of the money back (I took a lot of pictures). And a third point to keep in mind, the locals might not realize it’s a tourist’s car.

Oh, I forgot, this thing is huge, and it looks even bigger from the inside. It takes 9 people (3-3-3) plus a huge covered cargo area for the suitcases. This can easily be converted to a mobile home. Of course this is going to be a challenge driving it in Europe with all the tiny lanes and scarce parking spaces, but we’ll manage. Oh yeah, it takes diesel and sound like an 18 wheeler! Imagine the possibilities.

So we all piled in and went to Monaco. This independent country is so charming. It is small, but very vertical. A lot of buildings, sort of like Beirut. It has a couple of beautiful beaches (tine smooth pebbles instead of sand) and azure seas. I guess that’s why they call it Cote D’Azure.

Actually before Monaco, or I should say on the way to Monaco, we went through Nice, and Nice was nice, (Pardon the punnnn!, don’t you love this language?) The beaches have larg pebbles, Cannes has sand and Monaco has tiny pebbles. But all these pebbles are really smooth and feel great. But within a 50 Km raduis, there are 3 types of texture for the beach.

Back to Monaco, the city resembles the mecca of exotic cars. Anto was getting confused which car he should take pictures with. The 2007 Ferrari Scallietti or the 2009 one, the Porsche with the $200,000 paint job (Matte Black) or the Mcllaren Mercedes convertible or the numerous Bentleys. It’s a beautiful place, wish we could share it with others. I took a lot of pictures and video, I want to put them online, uploading took all night yesterday and it was only 75% uploaded.

The roads are nice, a lot of traffic, a lot of Arabs and of course a lot of Americans. I guess the French boycott is over, they are here in droves and eating the French Fries (Yummm). There is no recession here. I feel like I am in Beirut, or more like Jounieh or Kaslik. Delicious Sorbet & Gelatos on the beach. What can I say, it’s nice.

The way back a lot of traffic, it was rush hour. It was sort of like the traffic we have around 10-11 in the morning, yeah, it’s that bad, how can they take it? We will swim in the Mediterranean tomorrow, God Willing. It sprinkled a bit today, although it was hot and humid. But Cannes, amazingly, is not as humid as Monaco and definitely not as humid as Paris. Drink a lot of fluids and enjoy.

Went to dinner, Chinese#@&!? In France and we’re eating Chinese, well there is always tomorrow for my Coq au Vin. During dinner Rosalin received an SMS from Didi, Garinn’s eyes lit up, She wanted to read the text message and replied to it. She was very happy to get a message from her cousin.

Well, again, enough for the day. Signing off.

Day 4 Sunday
2:00 AM Cannes Time

We woke up at 5:45 AM because our train leaves at 7:45 from the Gare de Lyon, about 15 minutes away. We came downstairs, I went across to get 2 taxis, and 5 meters (that’s about 15 feet for you yanks), so 5 meters from the taxi, I found $14.077 cents (Actually it was a 10 Euro note, I figured you Americans will understand $14.077 more than 10 Euro, go figure!), it was just laying on the floor, letting me know that we were going to have another good day.

So we made it to the station (Gare de Lyon), Apparently I got so good at decyphering their language and train schedules that I started helping a Japanese guy that spoke no English, and an American guy. (Don’t tell anyone but I found out later that I gave them the wrong information). I had no time to go back and tell them that I was worng. That taught me a good lesson, never help someone unless you know what the heck you’re talking about. Oops, I hope God will forgive me for this.

So we made it into the train. found our seats, we were going backwards, so switched seats with Rosalin’s Mom & Dad, because we were motion challenged enough as it was, we did not want to push our luck.

about 100KM down the road of our trek from Paris to Cannes, a russian guy came to me and asked me this question, “alewhjlk, jskjdhjh RUSKY??” I caught the rusky part and I knew he was mistaking me for his uncle Vladimir, because I have that kind of face. Anywhoo, he heads to the restaurant car(yes restaurant car!).

Our friend the Rusky comes back 10 minutes later, still drunk, and drops 90 Euro at my feet. Of course we call out to him, “Davaresh, davaresh”, actually Rosalin’s dad called out, “Sir, Sir” I saw the money and we gave it to him. He looked at me and yelled “Spasiba” I am thinking this means thank you. OK I’m sticking to thank you.

I got a visit from our friend the Rusky again. He started speaking Russian again, aparently he thinks I picked up Russian in the last 30 minutes. Anyway, afraid that he was going to either propose or ask for something, I looked away towards my beautiful wife and he mozied on along. The rest of the trip was calm.

Anto & Garinn are doing great.

Rosalin decided she was not going to apply for the TGV Train conductor position. Motion sickness resistance is a pre-requisite apparently. The way she handled it was going standing half of the trip. We were on the second floor, so each movement was multiplied (I guess). The whole cab was moving a lot, apparently the wheels needed balancing, someone needed to tell them, but I figured I was not that guy (Nayeen eahgahrag). BTW, the trip was 5 hrs and 1 minute. We were travelling at 180 Mph (300 Km/hr) It was amazing.

Anyway, we got to Cannes, it is such a beautiful place, I want to retire and move here. I think it is the most beautiful place overall, from all the places I have ever been to. I have been to better beaches, and maybe better areas, but the combination of the people, places and beach is amazing.

We walked up and down PCH, except they call it the Boulevard De La Croisette,figure that arrogance, they’re are still French you know. This is the main strip along the beach. We walked all the way to where they have the Cannes Film Festival, it only took 15 minutes, stopping and looking at impressionist paintings and getting a gelato and all.

There were a lot of stores that we do not intend to support by not buying anything, like Salvatore Ferragamo, Hugo Boss, Jimmy choo or jillian choo something like that. (I told her not to pin her hopes on me to make her rent. That was a lot of pressure off my shoulder. She can sell that shoe to someone else now.)

Here is a link to the Boulevard de la Croisette you can even see a street view if you drag the little man on the map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4ACAW_enUS300US300&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=cannes+croisette&fb=1&split=1&cid=0,0,3640694005873023922&ei=6vBHSp_CKp_MjAf3j91i&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1

Vahe Ammo (Hagop’s dad) came and picked us up, we went to a cafe called Festival Cafe, then he took us to Vesuvio’s Italian Restaurant (1st rate) and I ate an unbelievable Pizza. Vahe ammo is like a Mkhtar here, everyone knows him and he knows all the right places and the best food. He will be taking us to Monaco tomorrow, we will see the sights and swim there. As I understood, they have Meduse-s in the Cannes beaches (I guess Meduse means Jelly fish).

Anyway, we walked back to the hotel, It’s a nice hotel, sort off like the ones in Beirut, in the middle of a residential area, but the two bedrooms we have are like luxury penthouse apartments. It has a kitchen, a room, a living room, a dining room and everything. Verrrryyy nice.

One thing I forgot, when we got to the hotel, we had to walk a block to the Bd de la Croisette, we had to cross under a small bridge that they have for the bullet train to pass over. At the instant I was under it, I heard this loud roar over my head, it was 100 tons of locomotive going at over me @ 100 Mph. Needless to say, I might not have any more kids beyond this point.

Well, that was enough excitement and enjoyment for today. Signing off, talk to you tomorrow if I can. I sprang the Euros to get the Internet in my room because there is no internet in the loby here in Cannes. We will be visiting the country of Monaco, and going to Monte Carlo to tell them we were here.

-Diran

Day 3 Saturday

We are packed up and almost ready to go. We leave the hotel 6:30AM. Our train is at 7:45 AM from Paris to Cannes. A 5 hour trip on the 180MPH TGV bullet train

But this morning started when we went to Zoravar Antranig’s Kerezman today, it was impressive, but a loooooottttt of walking. Then we came back to the station and went to Verailles (Outside of the city of Paris. Very impressive place, but a loooooooottttt of walking. Did I mention there was a looooottt of walking? Anyway, there was a looooooottt of walking..

Afterwards, we came to the hotel, and after a half hour break we (Rosalin, I and the kids) went to Champs Elysees,and the Arc de Triumph. You’re not going to believe this but they have copied the one in the Paris hotel in Las Vegas to the “T” but made it much much bigger of course to relive the suspicion. Can you believe how these French get away with doing something like that

We ate at the Champs Elysees, 3 pizzas 5 Pepsis (each 10 oz). Paid 98 Euros ($140). Anyway, We made it back, all this while making extensive use of the Metro system. I know this by heart now. We get in get out change trains change routes, speak our version of the French and everything.

We walked roughly between 5.1 and 36.7 miles (yes on foot, I’m not good at approximating this when I’m hot and sweaty and am surrounded by 187 other sweaty people), so like I said, somewhere between 7.3 & 32.4 miles, I don’t know exactly, depends how much you can walk in about 10 hours!!! I did sweat like between 3.2 to 18.1 gallons (Sorry liters) of perspiration, I’m sure I was smelling like a ghawaffah. If you don’t know what a Ghawwafah is, you’re lucky. 3 showers today. I hate New York in the summer, except this is Paris.

Anyway, It was long, but I typed it fast so you can read it fast 🙂 Hope all is well there. God Willing, we’ll see you soon.

-Diran

Day 2 Friday

Anyway, we are having fun, we went to the Eiffel tower today using the Metro, then we took a 1 hour boat ride tour of Paris (Notre Dame, Little bit of the Louvre, The Eiffel tower again from the river etc.). Rozig was fine with the bonine and the bracelet even in the boat.

The Eiffel tower is huge, not quite as high as the one in Las Vegas but I think if they add an antenna, watch out!! The tower was interesting, I was a bit worried that a tower built 120 years ago, was holding a few hundred people that high off the ground. Bravo Gustav, inch es lan toon??? yes peskelet meh geh nergem, 2 dari verch jankeroo ashkhar gellah 🙂

We walked a lotttt. But apparently it was nothing compared to the next day. (Insert commercial here to add to the suspense!) After all the walking, Rozig’s dad gave up on going to Versailles tomorrow. We had even bought the Metro tickets to get there, he said, “You go, I’ll stay in the hotel”. Of course that might still change. (I was right again).

We came back to the hotel, the kids slept in the afternoon clear across to the morning of the second day. I checked my emails in the evening till 2:30AM of course and Anto woke me up 6:00 in the morning, needs to borrow my laptop and go down to the lobby.

Day 1 Thursday

We arrived at 7:30AM and got a Mercedes shuttle van (Very cool, we don’t have that in the U.S.) to take us to the hotel. The guy was not supposed to pick people up at the airport (Airport cab union doesn’t allow competition), but he did anyway, and he took us on inside streets and we saw a lot of the city from a local’s perspective. It was very nice.

It was a tiring day, we took it easy. We went out to lunch and then relaxed at the hotel. The hotel is nice and it’s the Meridien in MontParnasse, it is a bit (maybe 1-2 miles outside of Paris) but it’s a very beautiful area with a lot of people and excitement. The hotel is very close to a hub type Metro station, so I’m exploring the possibility of traveling to all destinations with the metro instead of taxi, we will save a lot of money.

We went to get a GSM chip for the phone we got the unlock code for from AT&T. These people are soooo lost. It took 1 hour 10 min to do this. Anyway we got it, but we don’t know what to do with it. It’s a bit like a dog chasing the car. What does it do with it after it catches the car???

Anyway, we only have Free Internet in the lobby, (it’s 30 Euro per day in the room), The lobby resembled the computer room at Stanford. I was glad I wasn’t the only cheapskate in the hotel with my netbook and slippers sitting and answering emails @ 1:00AM.

Europe trip

Day 0 – Wednesday

We had a 1 hour delay, it turned out to be 45 minutes. We enjoyed the AA lounge, thanks to Rosalin’s dad’s Platinum status. On the airplane. We have nice seats, 2 across, three rows one after each other. I was trying to figure out what the delay was going to do to our connecting flight from Boston to Paris. But it worked out fine, we hardly had to wait and we were in the air again.

After taking off from Los Angeles, and reaching a comforrtable altitude, the captain said it’s ok to turn on electronic devices, so I started taking them out one by one. The most interesting was the GPS. I measured our speed and kept track of the course we were taking. Speed 599 Mph, heading East (a bit NortEast), anyway, the GPS was working great, loved it.

We had a nice ride all the way. 5 hours 25 minutes from Los Angeles to Boston, and about 6 hours and a half to Paris from there. You have to buy food on the LA to Boston flight, (Did I say food? Sorry, snack! it’s a croissant with a couple of slices of turkey). But the flight from Boston to Paris had food, (Did I say food? Sorry, I don’t know what it was, I think it was acvtually a Lean Cuisine mascarading as food. Anyway.