A Nice Adventure in Nice

There was more security at the airport going from Paris to Nice, than there was entering France. I am going between feeling stronger and more clear to feeling out of myself and surreal. When I started writing this blog I never thought it was going to be such a confessional for me. I thought it was going to be a play by play of the goings on of Mighty Brave and the ins and outs of making films. Well it will be that, but I realize Mighty Brave is essentially run on my gas, with an extended creative family and support system behind me. So in order for this to be a full spectrum story of how we make films, I will write here honestly.

It has been suggested that I write only the positive aspects, and I can see how that makes sense. I suppose this is like my electric open diary. Instead of writing to someone, I am writing essentially to myself (and to all you PublicBroadcasting.com readers.)

I am on the plane to Nice and Carlie is sitting beside me resting her head against the window. The Easy Jet woman who booked us in was nice and let my luggage overage go because Carlie’s was under. I really appreciated it. Two other noteworthy items: the head steward looks like a smiley Boy George sans makeup; and the sign “Fasten seat belt whilst seated” struck me as poetic.

There is a screaming baby ahead of us by two rows and I find myself not annoyed by the screeching. My maternal instinct is kicking in, I suppose. I see myself with a baby of my very own on my hip sooner rather than later. I will run Mighty Brave with a dog by my side and a baby on my hip.

Since falling in love with Duffy, when I hear a barking dog I feel no irritation. I realize that dog is doing its canine job of guarding. When I see a picture of Duffy, my eyes well up with tears. That is either cute or um pathetic, depending on perspective. I’m going to opt for cute.

Soon we will land in Nice and then we have a car to drive to the condo. Carlie did a great job of booking the trip; all aspects have gone smoothly on that front. Then I will dress nicer (I am wearing my heaviest clothes to aid my overweight suitcase problem) and then we head into the red hot centre of the film market and festival universe. I am stoked to get my badge. I wonder what picture Carlie put on my festival pass (we had to email it in).

I am stoked to see THE GOSPEL OF PHI trailer on the huge SPOTVISION screens. I think it will remind me of my path and highlight how far I’ve come. I am happiest that I have the one-pagers for the three films I am most stoked about. CHASING ACES was written Ben Dugas for me, and I was surprised when I read it that is said “by Lisa Wegner”. This is true because I have not been so far able to get across what I am intending for it. So what is written on the page are aspects of my ramblings to Ben strung together into a story sheet. I am not a writer so it seems odd to see me credited as one. Despite being a storyteller by nature, I am surprised to see my writing credits on IMDb.

I am also proud of GOSPEL, I think it is a good indication of the work I like to do.

I feel more calm and inspired than I have in days. Although I could do without the body ache…

Carlie is sleeping now and hopefully things will get calmer for her sake. We are starting to land so I’m going to finish up here and post this when I get to the condo. This was a short and easy flight. It’s not called Easy Jet for nuttin’.

***

Now I am sitting in a beautiful country club in the south of France. Our Hotel is named Naeema is closed from noon until 4pm. This was the only place around that had water and food. Carlie has hopped the fence to sit by our hotel pool but I can’t stomach full sun at the moment.

The car rental was listed in our reservation at $289 Euros unlimited travel for one driver for the week. This sounds good. Carlie picked out hotel because it was in the mountains and cheap and then the rental car made sense. What they didn’t say was that car insurance in France is over $500 Euros for the week for limited insurance and one driver. So basically this glitch wiped out the remainder of my money, which was intended for food. We could have stayed right in Cannes for the combined price. The strange part was the Hertz lady did all these comparisons and for inexplicable reasons the car that was the over all cheapest was this really fancy leather clad black BMW.

I love driving the car however got lost a million times. The Google map that Carlie printed up was actually wrong. And it turns out I am driving the largest car on the road in France. We follow the map, which takes us to this gated community where there are Bentley’s parked on the road. We left the airport at 10:30 am and the twenty minute drive to our condo takes us two hours and then the hotel reception closes for a four hour lunch break. So here I am writing in this posh golf clubhouse. The waitress took pity on us and let me sit in the air conditioning as long as I want. God bless nice people.

The south of France is completely gorgeous and lush with beautiful coloured buildings with copper and ceramic roofs and amazing homes set on narrow sloping hilly roads. It’s now almost time for our hotel reception to open again. I am dying for a shower and a lie down.

I don’t think we’ll get to the festival today- these last two days were the longest feeling ones I can remember. I need to rest and not drive again. Carlie is also now having panic and anxiety feelings so I might send her home early. I understand how this feels! On one hand I want her to stay with me, on the other hand I don’t want her to be uncomfortable I am too fragile to have to look after anyone else.

Okay well I’m off to book into Hotel Naeema and get Carlie from the pool.

****

Well I’m in the awesome hotel. We got in to the place at 4:30pm. It over looks the mountains and is awesome. We have a pool, sauna, under ground parking (nice for the posh car). Heated towel racks are nice if it gets chilly at night. There is no internet password available today for us. The folks here are not the most useful or friendly folks I have ever met. I did meet a group of traveling students who were interesting. (I bummed an internet password of a neighbour to post this).

I think I might send Carlie home early. She is getting anxious and as much as I’d like her here, I think it might be best for me to be alone. Kim arrives in two days. We’ll play it by ear… once everything lines up and we’re settled in, I have a feeling she might feel better. Her being sensitive has gotten me stronger but I can’t cycle up and down with looking after her.

So now I am intending to take a bath and then we’re going to buy some groceries and sit on the beach by the condo. Carlie is concerned about earthquakes yet keeps watching the news because it is the only English television channel.

I wonder what Duffy is doing right now. Maybe he’s pushing the cushions off the couch looking for me. I hope he’s not pulling dreads out of his fur with his teeth anymore.

LAW