The Carlton does not disappoint

It was my fault that, in the rush to get ready to go to the airport to fly to Nice, a bedside cup of tea was knocked over ? But not by me. “why can’t you just drink it when I give it to you” said That Nice Lady Decorator. She seemed to have lost sight of the fact that I had been dug from my pit before I had a chance to drink it, so I could use the toiletries before she packed them. Yes, I can see now, it was my fault all along.

Reasonably benign weather at Gatwick was apparently going to give way to yet another howling rain storm last evening in England, so I was delighted to be jetting off to the south of France to escape it. I was not prepared to consider the possibility that it is as bad in Cannes (our ultimate destination to take part in MIDEM) as in the UK, certainly not whilst I partook of the now traditional scrambled egg and smoked salmon breakfast at the Caviar House in North Terminal, whilst browsing at brochures of Barbados, which is the next trip on the bucket list tour in March. I have almost as much enjoyment flicking through the Currencies Direct brochures. They can be so rewarding.

I was right to be cynical of the claims. That Nice Lady Decorator and I arrived at Nice Airport in some rather balmy afternoon sunshine and once installed at the fabulous Carlton, even when has a room overlooking the side street, took a stroll along the Croisette to the Palais Des Festivals to register at MIDEM. Before that, I decided that both Sprogs, one of whom lives in nearby Antibes and had picked us up from the airport, and the other who happened to be flying in for the weekend to visit the boy friend, should experience having a drink in the bar at this iconic seafront hotel. One drink each and 56 euros later, I quickly came to the conclusion that this particular box had now been ticked.

A room with a view, sort of

It was that twilight time. Sensible people may have gone back to the hotel, freshened up, perhaps had a short nap, ready for dinner somewhere nice in Cannes. The less sensible decided to have a couple of pints of Guinness at Le Bureau (The Office), a bar just of the main drag which we had discovered in previous years. By that time we were ready for dinner and partook of some not very French tapas at a restaurant on the way back.

Today the whole MIDEM event, which is so much smaller than in its height in the early 1990’s, gets underway. In the old days it took over much of the largely unprepossessing Palais, but now is pretty much limited to a section on the sea front. I shall be down there later this morning, trying to earn sufficient to keep pace with that Nice Lady Shopper, who loves to come to the sales, which traditionally start in France at this time of year. Curiously, unlike in England, the shops are not allowed to have sales generally exception extreme circumstance, instead, these are held at designated times, and this is one of them. A 4 week window of opportunity for an intrepid shopper, a period of worried contemplation for an ageing author and music business impresario.

Once my working day is complete, culminating in a drinks party at the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) stand, the music industry trade association, I shall allow myself a little time off to watch the France versus England 6 Nations rugby match, almost certainly with French commentary, the one time when I shall be pleased to see screens in bars, an insidious trend in France in recent years,

Chris France
@Valbonne_News