Cinquante Cinq for lunch?

Normal everyday tasks were taking longer than usual today due to the hangover in both senses of the word from the flying visit of Mr John Otway combined with the delights of D5 London and lunch at the Petite Plage in Juan Les Pins. The invite to the forthcoming and eagerly awaited Literary Lunch took the most time to create, but it is awaiting approval at a meeting of great literary minds in the Cafe Des Arcades this morning before I can unleash it on you all over the coming days. Matt Frost, from French Mortgage Xpress who is sponsoring the event by supplying the champagne for the reception went back on his solemn word that the next meeting would be at La Kavanou or The Queens Legs to enable a drink to be taken to aid discussions and the decision-making process, but right now I am delighted that only coffee will be on the agenda.

That is of course the refreshments agenda, there are any number of issues to settle on the practical agenda, such as the menu, the wine (and the whining?) and how the whole event will work and what the output from my very special guests will be, or more  especially how will they upstage me, with no stage presence or experience of public speaking to fall back on. We have seating for around 80 and I know of at least 90 people I think will want to attend, so first come first served system has to apply. You know the old adage, the early bird gets the worm, and this case the worm is me. I just hope I buy my own ticket in time.

I took the picture today about two weeks ago of this lovely sailing yacht just off Port De La Rague during the Bistro Rally. As a non sailor myself, I am not able to understand why on what I presume was a good sailing day, no sails are deployed. Perhaps the crew had stopped for lunch.

Maybe the sails were out for mending or something.

Tennis is potentially scheduled for this evening assuming there are no back sliders as was the case last week. If it happens again then there may be some white feathers appearing about the place, or certainly in one particular tennis bag, which may or may not be the property of a certain villa management boss.

Thereafter there is a huge empty space in my diary for two whole days before a big day out on Saturday. A yacht trip in D5 from Antibes to St Tropez for lunch seems to me to be the perfect way to spend a Saturday. Particularly as the plan is to then to have lunch in Cinquante Cinq the well-known restaurant for the rich and famous with a patchy reputation for its food. Happily, as I am almost certainly destined to be at least a little famous after the launch of the paperback version of Summer In the Cote d’Azur, my biggest problem will in fact be keeping the lunch down if there is any sort of wind, other than of the sort I seem able to generate in huge quantities and at will. I can almost hear Peter Lynn typing the remark about hot air and my writing as I write this.

So for two full days I shall do my best to be an exemplary Regional Controller of Currencies Direct and may even venture out to see some of my regular affiliates. Cannes will be lively this week as MIPCOM is coming to an end, so perhaps lunch on the beach in Cannes on Friday should be inserted into the empty diary?  I shall consult that nice lady decorator and seek guidance.

Chris France