Sing, Breathe, Repeat: Pirates of the Caribbean Red Carpet Night

WOW...

There were so many things to do today that I am surprised that I stayed awake for it all.

I got up really early this morning so I could go down and get a Red Carpet Ticket to the World Premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I got down to the young actors' corner at 8:30 and was number 5 on the list. Which is somewhat of a feat because the whole building itself doesn't open until 9 in the morning so I had to do a little sneaking in to get in there before the big rush of people. But you see I wasn't the only one if I was number 5 to sign up on the list. So I was clearly not the first one to break the rules.

After I signed my name at 8:30 I had to sit around until ten, which was when they actually released the available tickets for that night. It went a lot faster than the first time I stood in line at the desk because I actually knew people standing in line so I didn't have to wait there all by myself.

One of the people I was talking to in line was Vincent van Ommen. He was actually in Amsterdam Heavy with me and since we were both going to the red carpet we decided that we should just go together. It turned out to be a lot more than I bargained for.

When I got my ticket at ten I headed down to the International Pavilions, where I usually spend my day, and was working on my computer in the Media Pavilion. I only worked until 3 because I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to get back to my apartment, shower, change, and look fabulous before heading back down to the red carpet. I was also really excited about the red carpet because I had bought this amazing red carpet dress last year that I didn't get a chance to wear because it didn't arrive in time. But now was my chance to wear this dress and walk the famous red carpet.

This is where the problems started happening.

I am just about ready. My hair was cooperating with me so I thought it looked good, my dress looked nice and the shoes I was planning on wearing were comfortable. Just as I am about to leave the apartment, it starts to rain. And not just a light sprinkling of rain, a massive heavens-are-falling-apart type of rain. Trying not to panic I called Celine and asked her whether or not she was going to be home soon, I was kind of banking on her giving me a ride if she was home. She said that she wouldn't be home for an hour, which at this point would have made me very late for the red carpet. So still not panicking I tried to find a number for a taxi that would pick me up and take me, but that was a fail as well. By this time, fortunately, the rain had eased up a bit so it wasn't so bad but, unfortunately, it was now 5:15 and the red carpet would close at 6:00 and I still had a half hour walk which would most likely turn into a forty minute walk because I would now have to wear heels, carry an umbrella, carry my purse, and keep my floor-length dress in my hands because I didn't want it to get wet on the long walk. I would have cried if I knew it wouldn't have ruined my makeup.

So I started on the long, tedious, wet walk to the Lumiere Theatre. I got stares of laughter, pity and empathy. It was awful. But the closer I got the the Theatre the less it seemed to be raining, but no matter how high I held my dress, it was still getting wet.

I had finally made it to the entrance to the red carpet and I was sweaty from the brisk walk. Now I had to wait for Vince, who had called me twice on the walk down but i couldn't answer because my arms were full and there was no way I was letting my dress run into any puddles.

Walking the red carpet was a lot more difficult than I thought. Vince had all these tricks and which cameras to look into and he was directing me the entire way. When I see the pictures that Vince got from his publicist I am sure I will look tense and uncomfortable but it was an experience in itself.

Right in front of us on the red carpet was Robert DeNiro and coming up five minutes behind us was Jude Law and Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. Pretty surreal.

But when it all came down to it, the carpet was fun and seeing all the people was great but what I really wanted to do was see the movie. But since Vince told me to meet so close to curtain time, by the time we got in there, our seats were given away because they overbooked the theatre. I was devastated, and I even tried pleading with the doorman just to let me in but he said I would have to go into the next theatre where they were sending all the other late arrivals to see the movie in the smaller theatre. I would have sat and watched it but Vince said he had a whole bunch of parties to go to so I felt that I should go with him. Which turned out to be good because I met some really cool and funny people, but I really would have loved to see the Pirates movie because that series is just so entertaining to me.

So I met up with these friends for drinks, and then we went to a place called "Pepperoni" which had the most delicious 5-cheese ravioli I had ever tasted.

By then it was time to meet up with the "Amsterdam Heavy" crew at the South African party and that turned out to be A LOT of fun. There was so much dancing and singing that I totally forgot about my little disappointment early on.

But today it seemed that when things started to look up, something had to come and bring them down. By a curse from a higher power, my right eye started doing things it had never done before. It turned bright red and just started watering the whole night, same thing goes for my right nostril. I am sure I looked like a freak of nature. And then I lost my camera. Somewhere in the midst of trying to hold my dress up while dancing I lost it in the sand.

I left the party feeling sick and rather depressed. What I had hoped to be one of my best nights in Cannes was rapidly becoming one of the worst. When I got home Celine helped me with the eye problem because she said she had something like this happen to her and she had some medicine to give me. Well see how this turns out tomorrow. But here are some pictures of my night!