JAMIE’S IN TOWN!

Guess what? Jamie’s in town. My granddaughter Jamie and her special guy Aymeric are in Antibes! OK, that is a different town, but it is in the neighborhood. A bit of foundation: Jamie is my son Craig’s 24-year-old daughter. After she graduated from San Francisco State…

…, she decided to spend a year in Paris before pursuing her career in hospitality. Last August when Steve was in the hospital, she and her friend Aymeric…

… came for several days to help me when I needed it most. Plus, they visited him during one of the few days he was conscious. Aymeric shook his hand. That made him smile. He always called her “the Jamester” and was proud of her.  We had hoped to visit her while she was in Paris, but after Steve’s death, I was in no shape to travel. They tried to come for the holidays, but other considerations kept that from happening. Then, I planned a trip to Paris in March, made the reservations, and cancelled it at the last minute because of my knees and financial considerations. The next thing I knew, I got a message from Jamie. She and Aymeric were in Antibes. Did I have plans for Sunday, Mother’s Day? No. Would I like for them to come on Sunday, and we could have brunch and hang out for a couple of days?  YES.  You bet!!

I knew the perfect place to hang – one of my favorite spots in all the world, the restaurant at the Club Dauphin, by Pool and Sea at the Four Season’s Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat.  I called for reservations. Did they have room for three?  Yes. What time?  You see, I was afraid they would not have room because everyone would be out with their families. Well, duh, Mother’s Day in France is Sunday, May 28th (which is also the day of the Grand Prix in Monaco).  However, this Sunday was problematic because the Hotel AND the Hotel’s Michelin-starred fine dining La Véranda were booked for the Cannes Film Festival.  Plus, the patio restaurant Le Cap (where Steve and I had lunch last June) was not open. It would be opening for the summer on June 15, 2017.  No problem. I wanted the Club Dauphin – the Hotel’s Swimming Club/Pool/Restaurant on the grounds but outside the gates and closer to the Sea. Gorgeous and less formal. Better for us young people! Haha.  

After a long lunch and photo-ops, we planned to walk the grounds. Not to be. The Hotel and its grounds were on lock-down from 3:00 p.m. on May 14th until 3:00 p.m. on May 20th. What??? Why? Celebrities? (sigh). I kept trying to think of ways to gate-crash.

Jamie and Aymeric accepted the closure more gracefully than I did. Bottom line – everything was perfect. It could not have gone better.  

Beautiful setting.

The kids stayed overnight. Next day, we lunched on the beach at Plage Beau Rivage. I kept looking for celebrities at tables while Jamie explained the word “tacky” to Aymeric. Haha. A lot of people looked like celebrities to me. Aymeric, born and raised outside of Paris, France, wasn’t impressed by the word “tacky”. A shrug of the shoulders like … ‘who cares’.

 

That afternoon, we planned to go back to the condo to watch “La Belle et la Bête 2017” on the Eurobox. But, I did not have it. I thought I did, but I had the original cartoon. The 2017 film came through the next day after the kids had gone back to Antibes.

Tomorrow, Jamie and I are going to Cannes. I am a member of The American Club of the Riviera. The May event is a reception and lunch with Club members and guests “at the 3.14 Plage Restaurant on the Croisette beach just in front of the Carlton Hotel, in the middle of the 70^th Festival activities.” That works. This is the description: “At noon we will gather for aperitifs enhanced by palm trees, white sand and azure sea.  A fine 3-course luncheon with all beverages will follow, augmented by insights from film industry professionals, as well as the famous film quiz. And we will have our favorite film buff, Jonathan Lippman, who will talk this year about Italian actresses to support the Film Festival poster.”  That works, too. Stay tuned.

Best, Jay