Golf result? who cares?

A lovely summers day yesterday on the golf course was enlivened by some good company, but later in the afternoon, someone asked me, at a champagne and cakes party, if there was a result. But do you know what? I cannot remember. I do recall a fun round of golf and a very lucky Canadian chipping in at the last to deny me….nope, its gone, just don’t remember any more except that a very nice round of golf was enjoyed in great company in the Cote d’Azur sunshine, and that REGS organiser Steve “Dolly the Sheep” Weston was ecstatic, but for what reason I do not recall.

I saw no sign of those alleged lovebirds, Dave “Tripe” Goddard and the beautiful buxom bombshell, Maria. Of course their secret relationship (a secret shared by just the members of the REGS golfing group) if it exists, will remain just that, a secret. They may have been there (sic), but I am not certain as I was under strict orders from that nice lady decorator not to stay for one moment after the golf. In monopoly parlance the message was; “do not pass go, do not collect £200 (250 Euros at today’s exchange rate), go straight home, do not go to the bar, or else you will go to jail. Leave immediately you have finished your round, in order to attend a champagne and cakes party on Mougins”.

My life is worth little enough in any event, but I meekly complied, and what a lovely event it was, in a stunning garden beside a beautiful pool being served copious amounts of top quality champagne and home-made cucumber sandwiches and cakes.  A wonderful afternoon enlivened further by a very good Armagnac as the sun went down to send us on our way despite the presence of Mike “Quiz Night Preston”. Now he is a lovely chap, well-educated and widely traveled but he is far too interesting in his own mind for his own good. He was being so interesting that it seems that his current partner became so fed up with his interesting-ness, she left before we arrived, necessitating our continued receipt of just how interesting he can be. This continued all the way to his house, which was nearly a kilometre out of our way, but so interesting was he that it seemed more like 20km.

Mike is of course legendary quizmaster for his regular quiz night at Brittains restaurant where one might expect questions such as, name ten elements in DNA, or give the simple chemical equation for aspirin in Swahili. I was also not aware of who won the Lithuanian tiddylewinks cup in 1923.

My picture today was taken at the Antibes Yacht Show in Saturday where I snapped this guy on some kind of jet invention hovering above the harbour. Personally I can think of other ways of getting high that does not involve the wearing of a wet suit.

One way to around Antibes harbour, and no mooring fees...

Today we are once again invited to Mougins, this time to the home of northern man-mountain Peachy Butterfield for a barbecue. In order for him to maintain his enormous bulk, and with one eye on his great love of northern culture (?), I may eat before we go. I am not sure my delicate constitution is quite ready for pigeon surprise, or woolly mammoth steak in tripe dripping, or whatever other northern delight he has in mind. For all that he is a genuine and generous natured chap with a stunning wife, but given his self-professed love of wine in quantity rather than quality, I may take a nice 2005 Bordeaux to add a different dimension to his Matlock Merlot or Cumbrian Claret that will probably feature prominently.

I am also slightly concerned as to where he will source the northern peat for his barbecue, and do hope he remembered to light it last Tuesday in order for it to have time to reach the correct temperature.

After today, a day off tomorrow before Marianne Faithful appears in Cannes on Tuesday. I shall be seeking a mars bar to hold aloft in tribute.

Chris France