Erring on the side of caution

I think it was after the fourth time that nice lady decorator had torn up my proposed speech for my book launch on Monday, that we got the call confirming that the deputy mayor of Valbonne would be delighted to attend the sold out low brow literary event. I now have a speech in tatters and that nice lady decorator has to undertake a desperate reorganisation of the table plan to see if we can squeeze her in. Yes the deputy mayor is a woman. That she was very late in replying can have nothing whatever to do with her gender..

Actually I am enormously impressed that the mayor’s office decided that this bench mark event should be sealed with mayoral approval. The mayor’s office in France carries much more power than back in England, covering most aspects of daily life including granting planning applications, so with our grandiose plans sitting on the mayors desk as we speak, you will understand why it will be important to accommodate his deputy

This is one of the scariest things I have ever had to do. Standard advice, if in doubt, is to err on the side of caution, but on the run through this evening there was so much umming and erring it looks like I shall be taking caution to new levels. I think I must have been a member of the rock group Golden Earing in a previous life (Sorry, you need to say earing in a Merseyside accent for that joke to work).

With the onset of winter in the form of demonic thunderstorms marking our departure from summer and a rather mice autumn, attention will soon turn to winter sports, and with Isola 2000 opening in under a month, I picture a couple of grown up children eagerly practicing their snowman making skills ahead of the season.

Two little boys with a new toy

There is very little to be done when the weather is this foul, so in some ways I am pleased to have something to focus on, that is trying to find a form of words that will work for Monday. Not being an accomplished public speaker, indeed I cannot recall ever before having to make a speech,  when one is to be sandwiched between two long-term professional performers the pressure is really on. Another piece of advice is to keep it short, but “Thank you for coming, please buy my book” has been rejected by that nice lady decorator. Perhaps she thought it could be sweeter? It could hardly be shorter.
Tonight we are invited to the Bastide St Mathieu by owners Bill and Soraya Colgrave and then Sunday the real carnage begins. John Otway and Stephen Frost, the token celebrities for Monday (blimey if Stephen in particular reads this I will be in for some serious stick) arrive together at Nice Airport where after we shall all go to lunch somewhere. The plan was to head up to a restaurant in the wonderful village of Cipieres high in the hills above Gurdon, but unless the weather improves, and the forecast is not hopeful, we shall probably settle on the Auberge St Donat, although I have never eaten there on a Sunday, I wonder if they do the dame deal as in the week?

Then its the big day, but by 3 30 it should be all over bar the shouting and I am looking forward to the shouting part. I believe the shouting may continue into that afternoon at the nearby wine bar La Kavanou which is opening especially for the occasion.

Some people may have to return to work, and here I am thinking of some of the staff of Currencies Direct who having networked ferociously at lunch time will no doubt continue their good work into the afternoon and beyond.

Chris France