Yes, the first official proposal came, on my first day of site inspection in Cannes. No, not to organise an event, but to travel together in my van with another man. Just one but (more than one actually) he’s just 87 years old, sitting in a wheelchair and has a dog… :-) He told me if he was 20 years younger he would have joined me (still too old for me!).

The first man who wanted to kiss me was an 84 years old man, now another offer from an 87 year old man. Do I see a trend here? The next man would be 90 years old I guess…

Anyway we had a nice conversation, and people are always so open to me, about their feelings, love life, incredible. He told me by the way that for every French man there are four women… Interesting facts! Apparently, I’m not in the right country ;-) Anyway, I will see what happens and that I will enjoy my time here in Cote d’Azur. Carpe diem!

One of my first impressions of the city. Welcome in Cannes!

Program

On Monday I started with a visit to the Island St. Honorat, just 30 minutes by boat from the harbour of Cannes. A beautiful start to my first week in Cannes. I had an appointment with Samuel who showed me around. The purpose of my visit was to get an impression of the island and to see if it would fit for my target audience, the grievers. Yes, absolutely! A perfect match of peace, tranquillity and spirituality. The island has only 25 inhabitants which are all monks and take care of the production of wine and olive oil. 

Afterwards, I decided to stroll further along the harbour and the boulevard with the famous shops like Gucci, etc. and across the street, the beach. It was lovely weather, it felt like it was summertime. And between the harbour and the boulevard the perfect location of Palais des festival, where Heavent will take place. Heavent is the event for everyone who’s working with events, this can event planners, destinations, hotels, venues etc. The red carpet was present, ready for my act de presence. I’m not a glitter and glamour lady, but it was nice to experience the atmosphere of the beautiful mix of all sorts of people along the boulevard and feel the vibes of the city myself, finally. From botox to perfectly dressed ladies in Dolce Gabbana clothes, and people like me… jeans, sneakers… I felt totally relaxed, it’s a great destination, I like it :-)

My first MICE event 

Heavent was my first MICE event in France. An excellent start as this event is mainly from and for the French market. Heavent is professional, well organized just for the industry profs amongst us, much smaller than the exhibitions like IMEX and IBTM. If you want to do business with French suppliers in the events industry, destinations, hotels, technology providers and even furniture, caterers and more. And not to forget the translators, very important if you do business in France. I’m privileged that I speak the language and make things easy mainly for the social talks with the locals. But also for business, it opens doors. Yes, of course people from our industry do speak English. I just want to challenge myself to speak the language because it’s been a while. I was more German and English oriented the past years.

PS My compliments for the security during Heavent. I have been to many exhibitions and events in differerent countries and continents as you might know. At the entrance you can’t enter if you are not registered. They don’t let you in! It sounds very logical but at many events you can ‘complete’ your registration inside. Not here! New to me :-) Even if you go out they scan your badge. 

Press conference - Canneseries

I was invited to attend the press conference for the Canneseries. Something totally new for me. You have the Cannes Festival for the film, which is known all over the entire world. And you have the Canneseries, same concept just for series & documentaries from the entire world. It took place in their studio Hi5 which was created during Covid. A high level professional studio, super well equipped, and the conference was broadcasted live. A great occasion to see the studio in action.  

After the press conference I was invited to attend the lunch on the terrace of Palais des Festival together with the team of Palais des Festival, and journalists of Heavent. Thank you for the invitation! A perfect spot, outside on the terrace with a view of the sea. Mr. Jean Michel Arnaud, President of Palais des Festival, explained that the city wants to be known the entire year round, not just only for the Cannes Festival. The city wants to focus on cinematography and creativity the entire year round, supporting the local economy, and involving the locals. Around 140 events take place in Palais de Festival. I’m pleased to see that the city (called themselves the village who hosts the world) is very well aware of the impact of the MICE Industry. And for every euro spent, the city gains 20 euros! They have an excellent network of partners and create long lasting collaborations which is key for the presence of the city. 

Cultural differences

When I entered the showfloor of the exhibition Heavent, after attending the press conference and lunch, it was almost empty. A bit strange I thought, what’s the time? Of course it’s lunchtime! I can’t imagine that I have attended an exhibition in the past which is almost empty around lunchtime. The French lunch. Of course this is a perfect business moment. I just couldn’t imagine that this would happen during IBTM or IMEX. 

It was nice to meet new people live, also from the client side as we only have spoken via Zoom or phone. And to catch up with industry friends.

On the beach  

On Friday I visited the Mondrian hotel, which was just open after a huge renovation and name change. Perhaps you are familiar with the old name : Le Grand Hotel Cannes. 

Loekie was outside and I received a call from my client. I wanted to take the bus but I was afraid of arriving too late, so I wanted to order a taxi. I called Loekie to get in the camper so I could leave. Cats are cats and just do what they want! As Loekie is evolving as a real camping cat, she refused to get inside. 

I’m thinking, what shall I do? I can’t call a five star hotel and say, sorry I can’t come because my cat is still outside. Perhaps I would be recognized for the most original excuse but not for my image! OMG! I ordered the taxi and spoke to Loekie; you have 1 minute left to jump in the camper and otherwise you will stay outside. Of course she refused! So I left her outside my camper for the first time since I was traveling with her. Put her food and water outside and took the taxi. I wasn’t really relaxed but what could I do?

I had a nice visit, a fabulous hotel, and an excellent location. And the garden, which makes the hotel really unique in Cannes. The hotel hosts a lot of car events because they can park them in the garden in front of the hotel, with the sea in the back. And that in the middle of the city, a unique combination. Jennifer, the sales manager, invited me afterwards for lunch on the beach, in their private beach club, which I happily accepted. And despite it’s a five star hotel, again a relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps I had a totally wrong image of Cannes, but I feel really at ease here. Do you know that 50% of the customers are coming from France? I thought that the destination would host more international clients than locals. You see now why it’s important to visit the destination!

After lunch, I took the bus back to the camping and as soon as I arrived at the camping I called her name. She sat next to my camper, looking totally relaxed! Saying like, what do you think? That I would leave you? If she could talk…

Just a first impression of my first week in Cannes, more to come!