Paparazzi dive

Rémi · #1 May 23rd, 2005

Yesterday, the Monaco F1 GP reminded me of a pretty cool spear-fishing day I had exactly 5 or 6 years ago today !
As always (when I am in Nice at this time of the year) I went to Monaco the Thursday before to see the F1 practice sessions then watched the qualifying and GP at home as it is far too expensive to go there on Saturday and Sunday (specially as I was student at the time).
On Monday I went spearfishing at the "Cap d'Antibes" between Antibes and Cannes. On this peninsula, there is a very luxury and expensive hotel, l'Eden Rock where all the stars are going during the Cannes Festival. And actually it was also the week when the festival was starting, which I did not think of.
So there was quite a lot of cars parked there for this time of the year, which was a surprise, and in fact it was dozens of paparazzis who were all along the coast trying to have a view on the terraces and swimming pools of the hotel.
I went in the water, started to swim along the coast to go on the nice spots I know there and I could see all these paparazzis on the rocks 10 m above me with there big cameras, trying to get a pic of one of the cinema stars.
If you stay on the land, you can't get very close to the hotel, the way it is built on the peninsula, but being in the water I was really next to it.
I did not care to much about this, and went to a small bay which is the swimming area of the hotel. At this time of the year nobody is swimming yet (imagine the water is only 18 C, who wants to get in this?) so I was spearing in that swimming area which I know is very good for sea-bass.
I could see a few people next to the changing rooms doing some pictures, but I could not recognize anybody.
There was a pontoon, from where people from the hotel could get in the water, and thought it was a nice place to do an aspeto. while I was ventilating for the dive, I could see someone coming to the pontoon, and then I went.... did not see any fish, but when I came back up, I looked above me to see Michael Schumacher on the edge of the pontoon, bent forward to see what I was doing there... wondering what I was doing underwater, and hopefully, how I could stay that long underwater

at least he did look impressed

We said Hello, and I was gone.... But I thought it was really cool specially as I am very much into formula one.

So, since, I have been doing the same dive, every year the same day, as long as I was living in Nice. The year after I sow Sharon Stone, but from quite far.

Anybody had the same kind of experience?

Naim · #2 May 23rd, 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rémi

(imagine the water is only 18 C, who want to get in this?)

I looked above me to see Michael Schumacher on the edge of the pontoon, bent forward to see what I was doing there... wondering what I was doing underwater, and hopefully, how I could stay that long underwater

at least he did look impressed

We said Hello, and I was gone.... But I thought it was really cool specially as I am very much into formula one.

Anybody had the same kind of experience?

Of 18 C water in the UK

no mate!! But I did meet Michael Schumacher last year at the Bahrain GP, a really nice guy, nothing like I had imagined him to be