Clap in the Sun

A moment's respite from buying, selling and screening

18.05.08 / Strolling — yes, strolling — down the Croisette on the first sunny day of the Cannes Film Festival, an Englishwoman who sounded like she knew her way around said, without much conviction, “You know, Cannes is also about having fun.”Ah, yes: Fun. For most of us, of course, Cannes is about our many failed attempts to have fun before or just after we remember we have to be somewhere to buy or sell somebody something. A lot of that buying and selling occurs in the aisles of the Cannes Film Market, buried in the basement of the Palais des Festivals.This morning we decided the Film Market could wait. We turned our back to the Palais — a hulking cement building Cannes veterans call “The Bunker” and which invites a certain amount of back-turning — and headed for the sunshine. The Plage des Palmes is an outdoor café behind the Palais where the smart crowd gathers to drink Nespresso coffee, watch the boats go by and, yes, enjoy themselves for a moment. One of the main attractions at the Plage des Palmes is the Clap, a Nespresso cocktail consisting of champagne splashed with some “coffee caviar”. Beats sitting in the dark any day. — R.K.