Cannes Lions Dispatch Week: Exchange Rates and the Velvet Rope

Filed Tuesday, 6/21/2006, 4:23 PM by Kirin Sapporo
Location: Cannes, France

It's 75 degrees, humid, and the scenery looks vaguely like Florida. I'm in Cannes, France, home to Greek shipping tycoons, playboys, and stupid visiting Americans like me. We landed in Nice at 9am after a rocky start at JFK.

(Note to Delta: stick with domestic.)

I just ate a a 7 dollar panini and had a 3 dollar coffee, which is pretty much par for New York. No wait... that's 7 EUROS for a panini and 3 EUROS for a coffee, which is roughly 15 dollars. God, I am the poorest schmuck here.

[Ed. note to self: teach Sapporo about currency exchange rates BEFORE he leaves.]

Parties here are big and extremely exclusive. Getting on a list isn't enough; you have to physically have an invite. I asked one of the agencies to confirm a rumor that they're having a big party and I was told "yes, but we have to arrange for you to pick up the invites at a specified drop-off point at a specific time."

WTF???

I know we're on the French Riviera but what's with the James Bond shit? I cut to the chase and asked the president of the agency who then handed me a necklace that is apparently the "invite."

Hmm, nice touch.

[Earlier - Muk Report: Cannes Lions Dispatch Week: Our Correspondent Arrives (?)]