Dear Gossips,

The thing about the people at these fancy Cannes parties is that I’m not sure they stop to appreciate the cocktail napkins. I’m serious. Someone with a tray comes ‘round offering a cube of delicious goat cheese topped by a piece of bacon over a light wafer and then hands you a square napkin to wipe your mouth. Normally it’s paper, right? You crumple it up in your hand and try to make eye contact with the next server for another bite of the new surprise they’ve just sent out of the kitchen. Only the napkin feels different in your hand this time.

Because it’s LINEN.

I told Lorella they were linen. She didn’t believe me. Then we tried to rip it apart and couldn’t. Everywhere around us they were tossing away their linen cocktail napkins. My Chinese Squawking Chicken immigrant mother and Lo’s Italian immigrant mother, they did not raise us to throw away linen cocktail napkins at a party. Crisp white, stitched at the edges, perfectly ironed, and meant to be discarded after one use? Please. Since we seemed to be the only ones indulging every time they passed by with food, it was also our duty to save as many linen cocktail napkins as we could. Disposable linen cocktail napkins just about sum up the excess of Cannes. But who are you if you don’t even notice anymore?

Have a great long weekend to those of you celebrating it in Canada. To those who don’t get a long weekend, it’s business as usual here from Cannes on Monday. I’ll be blogging, please come visit!

Yours in gossip,

Lainey