MIPIM Blog
Emily Pallot, Associate & AJ Blogger
16 March 2019
Having never been to MIPIM or Cannes before, I was unsure of what to expect. The place has the feel of a buzzing seaside town but come Tuesday afternoon, it’s flooded with a sea of blue and black business wear – except for our favourite orange friend:
We rolled into Cannes late Tuesday afternoon, having completed the Legal & General Real Assets Cycle from London. After taking some team photos and reuniting with friends and colleagues, we headed to the JLL Welcome Drinks where I celebrated with a nice cold Fanta. My teetotalism didn’t last long, however, as there was a bottle of champagne waiting for me at the Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt residence.
The first night in Cannes was my favourite as we headed to Bar Lau Lau (a tiny quirky bar with what looked like a dentist chair in the corner) to celebrate with the other cyclists. We exchanged stories and ordered far too many bottles of rosé. The highlight of the evening was definitely when pizza was delivered to the bar via moped:
I woke up feeling fresher than expected and, after my Wednesday morning meetings, I headed to the Henman Lunch. Despite Tim Henman not making a celebrity appearance, I enjoyed some interesting chats about build-to-rent, co-living, room layouts, amenities and cycle storage. After lunch, I went to Rosé on the Beach with Conisbee, followed by the HTA and Rockwell parties.
On Thursday morning, I joined a colleague on the 5-mile property networking run. Having completed 956 km of cycling two days before I was feeling surprisingly energetic (!) and the run was at a manageable pace which allowed us to chat along the route. I found myself applying peloton cycling techniques to running in a group – “Change 1!”
Refreshed by my early morning jog, I really enjoyed attending the Develop Croydon Brunch. The council has an exciting vision for the borough and they are working with some excellent partners to regenerate the town. Having proudly worn my cycling medal all week, I also managed to get some more donations from the people I met.
My final afternoon was a bit of a whirlwind. After enjoying a delicious lunch in the old town, I headed to another meeting (where I think I managed to recruit another cyclist for next year’s ride), followed by a 10-min pause by the beach, onto the RPS drinks, and then to Caffé Roma for some informal drinks with our clients, collaborators and friends. We had a great evening catching up with familiar and new faces and the evening ended up in a Karaoke bar (naturally).
Having enjoyed peaking at my seemingly ‘spritely’ run on Thursday morning I woke up on Friday with aches and pains and real signs of post-MIPIM flu. Although it will be great to be home again after nine days away, as I sit on the plane in a sea of blue and black business wear, I am already missing Cannes and MIPIM and the challenging journey we took to make it here.
TAGS Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt, MIPIM