Anally challenged cocker to get come uppance?
I stayed at the airport and waited for the plane to leave, just to make sure. A small 4 hour delay was, I am certain, deliberately stage-managed by that nice lady decorator just to spite me.
So an eerie quiet prevailed over our household and I was under no pressure to go out anywhere for anything, bliss.
The hunting season has started with collections of motley French pastis-infused gun-toting peasants exercising their perceived right to shoot at all and sundry, whilst aiming predominantly at the sangrier, the local wild boar.
A number of deaths are recorded each year through hunting in France, some even of wild boar, but pets and also a few human deaths. Hunting is viewed as a traditional local lifestyle pastime. At least they seem to have abandoned their habit of shooting songbirds, although if they were to Shoot Lady Gaga the world would be a better place.
It is the done thing to buy and fit bells, a little like cow bells to the collars of ones pets if planning to walk in the forests. This is clearly designed to attract hunters. Obviously I have had one fitted to that nice lady decorator, but she won’t be needing it for a week or so, however, we also have two dogs, Max the faithful and obedient English Springer, and a rabid deceitful pedigree mongrel half wit and disobedient thief of an animal called Banjo, with whom I have a life long misunderstanding.
Max of course must have a bell fitted, but the vet only had one, – well I was only prepared to buy one of the many he had, as all the others were in my opinion unsuitable for purpose, so what is a man to do? Well, in my opinion, only one thing. The obedient senior dog who has consistently shown restraint in his ablutions anywhere near my hammock strategising area must have the full protection from the hunters that a bell affords, whilst the junior and fatally anally challenged dog must take his chances, which could be reduced considerably if I were able to paint a target on him as I would like.
Furthermore, it is merely coincidence that during the hunting season I feel compelled to go much deeper into the forest whenever walking, to keep up my fitness levels, so as they say in France ce sera sera.
Deeper into the forest tomorrow....
The next social engagement I am required to attend takes place at Les Ambassdeurs Hotel in Juan Les Pins tonight where I a guest at a dinner and “spectacle” courtesy of HSBC Antibes. They are so in awe of the benefits of the services of Currencies Direct that they now recommend their customers use their services when moving forex.
Amongst the great and good who will be there are my personal daring style and fashion guru Neil Humphreys and his gorgeous TV presenter wife, Helen. I have been seeking dress code guidance from him for some time now, but admit that the style statement he has suggested I make, may be a step too far for a crusty old git in his late 50’s. They say only a real man can wear pink, but thankfully I am now too old to worry about being perceived as a real man.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Marmalade and peanut risotto surprise
Perhaps you cannot see it from my picture below but the lovely Melissa Graves is wearing sellotape over her mouth last Saturday evening at La Kavanou wine bar in Valbonne.
Melissa Graves looking rather "stuck up"
I think she was of the opinion that she wanted to be sure that she did not say anything stupid that then would be deliberately misconstrued and appear in this column. However, I cannot be sure because here lips were sealed. She was out with her husband Nigel and their gardener Ieuan who has wisely decided to become a client of Currencies Direct and who was delighted to feature in these pages recently. It was the last night before that nice lady decorator donned her pointed black hat and cape and flew back to the UK for a week.
That was the reason I was dragged from my strategising area with a hangover only recently shifted by the application of a large Bloody Mary. Even the creation of that miracle cure was fraught with problems, as that nice lady decorator went into maximum crescendo decibel overdrive when she discovered that the vodka had been seriously watered down by our children. Now I know why the Bloody Mary’s offered to our guests last Sunday did not hit the spot!
This is of course outrageous behavior and cannot be tolerated. After all I was seriously punished by my parents. For a similar misdemeanour when I was their age, and the tradition must live on. The tradition of punishment I mean, not the watering down.
A good supply of pizza and ready-to-eat microwaved horrors have been laid in, so culinary standards will rise somewhat this week. My off-spring did not particularly enjoy my kitchen creativity the last time I was in charge but given the recent vodka watering down scenario, they need to know they have been punished. I think it was W.C. Fields who said “A woman should be like an angel to my friends, a gourmet in the kitchen and a whore in bed”. I was more of a whore in the kitchen. My children are really are very conservative, I was pleased with my snail liver kekabs and they wolfed down my marmalade and peanut butter risotto surprise, at least until I asked them to guess the ingredients.
Yesterday we had planned to drop into Cannes on the way to the airport to have a celebratory glass with Wayne from FR2day and Lucy from Red Radish events. Lucy had just finished the Nice Marathon in under 4 hours. She seemed a little put out when I asked what all the fuss was about, after all, its only a bit of a jog, just a bit further than normal. As I had not slept well the night before and was a bit tired, I asked if she could run around to the news agents to pick up a copy of the Sunday Times for me, but for some reason she was quite rude. I would have thought all that jogging would have loosened her up a bit whereas I was still a bit stiff from the night before.
Stiff from the night before, now that is a phrase that could be misinterpreted, but not very often at my age, but I digress. Newer readers of this column occasionally ask why she who must be obeyed is called that nice lady decorator. Simple, at first I referred to her as the future ex-Mrs France, which she discovered and objected to, then the current Mrs France, which again did not please her when someone snitched and alerted her, then the in-house plasterer, which once again did not find favour, it not being “nice” enough and I have just about got away with her current title; that nice lady decorator.
At the worst, she is a sporadic reader of my writing so with her away for a week now, and with even less chance of her reading it, I have a new sense of daring empowerment this week.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Childbirth Trust alerted to man flu
I thought about it, and after a millisecond hesitation, I decided to approve the comment from the Childbirth Trust, alerting their database to the contents of my column a few days ago. I feel they need to know that man flu is worse than childbirth, and I consider it is my duty to educate people. I now expect a stream of enlightened comments saying “we didn’t realise”, “men need to be better looked after when they are ill”, that type of thing, or am I being a trifle hopeful?
Actually a Trifle Hopeful sounds like a good description of the last time that nice lady decorator tried to prepare a desert. As they say, hope springs eternal….certainly something was springing out of it. But of course the food at Frances Thompson’s supper club was at its usual high standard, however we were hijacked into the wine bar en route by Lin Wolff of the English Book Shop in Valbonne where once again I had to use all possible smokescreens and diversion tactics to ensure that the nice lady decorator did not read the last two days entries. The blog was mentioned once and I think I got away with it…
It is always a slightly nervous moment when my “pathetic scribblings” as they were described by my old friend Paul Kendall recently, become a topic of conversation. The phrase I dread the most starts with “Did you see what he said about you… ”
And so, on to the supper club. Amongst the diners were Bill Colegrave and his dusky goddess of a wife Soraya, and the equally delectable Lisa Thornton Allan who had wisely shipped her husband Paul off to Germany to make an exhibition himself. Not “of” himself you note, Paul is there to build an exhibition stand, something his company the Creative Village does very well.
So, after a really nice Indian meal, the Goan mussels being the highlight for me, and having finished the Chateau Gloria, we popped back for a nightcap with Lisa. Of course that nice lady decorator, as is her want late at night, donned her metaphorical hard hat and goggles and pushed her lever forward into the full throttle position with the result that we did not get home until about 3 am.
This was long enough to consume several more bottles of wine, and time enough for me to play two games of chess with Bill Colegrave whose book Halfway To Heaven is published this week. Modesty forbids me to reveal who won both games, but there is a former council house boy sporting a big smirk this morning and a doyen of Oxford and doubtless a top Private school who will be justifiably chagrined.
The strategising area, as it has become known
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Hat catastrophy, can it be rescued?
Church, at Cafe Latin on a Friday in Valbonne, where coffee is worshipped on market day, is a sort of ecclesiastical Sunday, and welcomed a decent congregation yesterday despite the wind and I don’t mean flatulence. It is a place to which I go regularly to rescue and convert the bank-trusting locals in the errors of their ways and to the joys of becoming a Currencies Direct customer.
As usual, I was there to seek for some fashion tips for the week ahead, and am usually there to check what Mr Humphries (“Mr Humphries, are you free?” “Yes I’m free”) is wearing, however he has become wise to the power of my camera and my pen, well computer keyboard, but you know what I mean, and had wisely dressed down for the occasion ( at least that is what it looked like to me!). However, I have found a new fashion icon to cherish and of whom I took this photo.
Oh, he's going to Barbados, underneath the palm trees, don't want to be a bus driver all my life...
Mike Allen is a British Airways 747 pilot and was sporting this very daring hat or err….leaf on his head which spoke loudly to me, and I hope to my assembled readers as well. His beautiful wife Nancy was also there, and is a regular, and aware of the column, and she should of all people should have known better than to allow here poor injured husband to pose for a photo for me, she at least knows what can happen being a regular at church. She has even read this publication.
Mike himself is a bit of a non believer, not often being able to worship as he is regularly flying the great and the good around the world. He had only popped in due to being unable to fly because of to a wrist injury and for which I believe he was looking for a cure, so I suppose in a way he was an easy target. I have some sympathy as I imagine a wrist injury could make all that flapping rather painful.
I asked him if he could steer planes with one hand, but he said it was tweaking the knobs that he couldn’t do. Now I am going to leave that one there, parked, a bit like his 747 (and a bit unlike fellow Valbonne resident and BA 777 pilot John Coward who crashed rather than parked his plane at Heathrow a couple of years ago). Suffice to say that I have a BA economy ticket for Australia in about 10 days time, and all my BA pilot friends know what is expected of them if they are to emerge from this column with any credit….so, Mike, let me UPGRADE this warning to you.
Last night to Frances Thompsons Indian night in Valbonne , but sadly I will not be here for her Sunday lunch or Thai/Vietnamese night, details of which you can find if you click on supperclub06 as I will be on my way to urge our boys on in The Ashes in Brisbane as long as the French don’t decide to stage one of their lovely National Strikes on 22nd November, and no volcanoes or terrorists decide to try to thwart me. A full report will be published tomorrow if there is any poor behaviour, tasteless clothing or other misdemeanours which I discover and feel I should share.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Remembrance, forgotten?
As I said to my dermatologist, don’t make any rash decisions, and it was not a rash decision to have lunch at Les Pierres Rouges in Valbonne with Pierre le Grande aka Peter Lynn and his delicious wife Judy.
The meal was exemplary as usual, my personal choice was the pea and ham soup, followed by a brochette de la mer, including very good scallops, gambas and monkfish. However during lunch, Pierre nearly alerted the nld (the nice lady decorator) to yesterdays picture, but somehow I managed to intervene and guide the conversation into safer territory. As I write this, that nice lady decorator is full of a great deal of wine (probably close to what was pictured yesterday) and is cursing the cd player and threatening it with spending the rest of its life in the bin, so I need to break off for a second to show here where the play/pause button is located.
OK, job done, I think the player has at least a temporary reprieve, although from what I can currently hear at this moment, it would have been a merciful release for it to die on the spot or to be dumped in the skip. Don’t get me wrong I think I quite liked Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells when I was 19 but I am now closing in on 57 and it is a dirge. Actually come to think of it I didn’t much care for it in the early 70’s either.
Valbonne, empty for the two minute silence except for the one lady who forgot to put her clock back recently
My picture today is of the streets of Valbonne quiet during remembrance. Earlier yesterday at 11.00, I called for 2 minutes silence to reflect on those who had died in combat. This is of course possibly the only time each year when even that nice lady decorator remains silent for an extended period.
My work of course does not stop, even whilst lunching, the relentless high-powered endeavour that is my hallmark meant that effectively, I was still hard at work, with two new customers signed up to benefit from the services of Currencies Direct via the email during lunch. This was as I was being reminded of Marc de Provence to which I was introduced by Peter Lynn some six years ago when I first moved here. It is a white spirit apparently distilled from all the old bits of grapes left over in the making of wine. So I was drinking essence of grape pips and skin, thus you can see it is not all wine and roses down here in the cote d’Azur.
It would be impossible to get through lunch without remembering at least one of the gags I recall from the best joke teller I have ever met. Women are like apples, they mostly stay at the top of the tree until picked by a man. Men however are like grapes, they have to be stomped all over to be worth having dinner with. Maybe that is what I should submit to Riviera Woman for my article?
An unaccustomed calm will descend on our household from Sunday for a whole week as that nice lady decorator will be flying to London. I am not suggesting that she will travel quidditch style if you get my meaning as that would be rude, and regular readers will be aware that rudeness is not one of my traits, no, this time she will use the more conventional method of flying by plane with my son James to do some err… decorating at our house back in the UK.
This means that as I write the pubs in Weston Turville will be re stocking and preparing with barbed wire, hard hats and earplugs in readiness for the inevitable onslaught and I will have whole delicious week to watch porn and sport work quietly and furiously and contemplate my forthcoming trip to Australia.
Nigel Graves will be disappointed to know that my tickets for the first day of the Ashes Test in Brisbane Test have arrived so I shall not have to watch the cricket from my hotel bedroom as he had hoped.
Tonight is Frances Thompsons supper club in Valbonne with an Indian theme, so I will get out my feathers and tomahawk….. Actually that is a terrible joke, I hope I have enough material by the time it comes round to publication to be able to edit (scalp?) that bit out. Oh bollocks I haven’t. Blimey, bollocks and scalp in the same sentence….
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Jewish man circus sized
Predictably, perhaps, I did not receive a response from on-line magazine Riviera Woman to my offer to write some misogynistic material for their publication.
Perhaps the implication that I may inadvertently have given in this column yesterday that women should be at home cooking, cleaning and looking after the children, leaving us chaps to do the business has something to do with it? I don’t know, it seems that some do not share or appreciate my sense of humour or more likely do not want to destroy their commercial success by accepting some material from a subversive, ie a man.
Today is a bank holiday in France, so there will be no strikes. They tend not to have strikes on bank holidays or half term over here, clearly principles which are strongly held must not interfere with leisure activities remembering those who fell in combat.
Indeed, as many of us know, the French love a good march and they also like a good strike, it being seen as a good social occasion, however they don’t need to strike if they manage to get their enjoyment from a good march without having to strike, So actually if you take that argument further, I think the government could eradicate all strikes if it made one day a week a National Holiday on condition that people march in protest at something. Maybe they should protest about women in business?
A holiday also highlights the Provence pastime of lunch. As I am determined to enjoy as many French customs as possible now that I live here, (although not marching or striking) today I will lunch at Les Pierre Rouge (meaning red stones) with Pierre Le Grand. Les Pierre Rouge is a restaurant in Valbonne famous for being the place where a notorious crime of passion, a triple shooting, took place about 20 years ago. In that context I may have been tempted to change the name, or perhaps it is an allusion towards the spiritually communist leanings of the local population?
Pierre le Grand a.k.a Peter Lynn is my favourite joke teller, and the tallest 70-year-old I have ever met. His offer of high fives to anyone under five foot five (which includes his lovely and very much younger wife, Judy) which is hysterical as he must be six feet six with great long arms almost as long. Being jewish, he is very circumspect (I know I have used that joke before, but I like it) and given his height, in olden times he may have been able to secure gainful employment in a circus, as one also might truly describe him as circus sized….
That nice lady decorators personal drinks table laid as as usual at the Riviera Business Club event recently
The wheels of industry turned a little more quickly yesterday than recently as I have been energised by the Rachel Elnaugh story, that, and the pounds recent recovery against the euro or throwing off the man flu, or merely the requirement to earn some more cash has driven me into yet further pastures new, however the faster the wheels go round the more likely they are to fall off!
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Banjo to get arse kicked?
As the plastic surgeon said, this puts a whole new face on it. My grumpy old git blog called ironically Happy Mondays for angloinfo seems to be getting loads of hits, I have had top spent lot of today moderating comments from people laughing at it. Have they no shame? Actually I have thoroughly enjoyed being grumpy, and it seems it comes naturally, especially on a Monday. I thought I had overdone it, but now I can get really grumpy for next weeks column!
My picture today is of our faithful retainer Max showing his understanding about my forthcoming trip to Australia to see the cricket by chewing up my cricket ball.
Max, doing a bit of ball tampering
Luckily the other dog (squatting quite literally in our household) despite my express instructions that he was not welcome) is the an anally challenged 35 kilo cocker spaniel(!) mutant Banjo, is out of shot (out being shot if I had my way). Banjo has taken to chewing bits of wood. First he selects a log from the top of the wood pile, then climbs up destroying the carefully stacked wood, mostly taken from the wing commanders store before he realised the value or cost of delivery of firewood. Then he takes it off to the only piece of lawn he has not shat on, (which means nowhere near my hammock) and chews it into little pieces, not that hammock, the wood. Note, he doesn’t eat, merely chews it to make as much mess as possible and make me grumpy. There is a saying about not being able to hit a cows arse with a banjo, but I would sure like to try.
And so to the dragon’s den, well the Skeema school in Sophia, scene of last nights presentation by Rachel Elnaugh, former dragons den presenter for the Riviera Business Club. This sold event was a joint effort with a very worthy group called the European Women’s network. Some may think some of these ladies might not have been better employed at home with their knitting, but of course I do not. Rachel was very honest about her rise and fall in building Red Letter Day from nothing into an £18million turnover company in 7 years, before going bust 4 years later, a fascinating story, although how she managed to give birth to 5 boys during this process raises a slightly uneasy thought process for a good male chauvinist like myself. Please feel free to enter any comment you like. I am sure that the editor of the on line Riviera Woman whom I met last night, may regret inviting me to write something for her website!
Today, the wheels of Valbonne commerce will continue to turn, I shall be collecting payment from Greg at Cote d’Azur villas assuming he does not see me coming first, then meetings with the great and good, and also some of my sleepy Currencies Direct affiliates, so sleepy that they fail to read this column and have no idea I what I say about them. I cannot mention names but Riviera Realty and John Taylor Real Estate should be concerned. That means if any of them wake up before I see them this morning, I may have some apologising to do.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Conker season coming to climax
Allergists may be scratching their heads about it but there has been much interest in the flowery shirt worn to my lunch on Sunday by Tim Bascaye, so it is the subject of today’s picture. Clearly I have a hitherto unrecognised gay readership, although maybe there are just a lot of Mr Humphries fans following his every fashion movement. Perhaps they all thought he should be wearing it, judge for yourself below;
You have to be a real man to wear that especially if you resemble Chris Evans!
Lucy from red radish is going to run the Nice marathon shortly in aid of Cancer Research. Now astonishingly in her 40’s she is hoping to break 4 hours and if she does it will be a fantastic achievement. Even I have donated to the cause, and you can as well by clicking here I just hope she decides which hat to wear before setting off.
Lucy from Red Radish, in deep training for the marathon. Now which hat will it be??
Tomorrow evening I am preparing to meet a dragon. It’s not what you think, that nice lady decorator will be accompanying me, but I don’t recall ever before being in the presence of 2 dragons at the same time. The Riviera Business Club event features Rachel Elnaugh who appeared as dragon on the popular TV programme Dragons Den where budding entrepreneurs presented their ideas for new businesses. She will be at Sophia talking about her experiences. I shall be there in my capacity as a regional coordinator for Currencies Direct, so I shall be able to advise here on the best way to move her Euro fee back into sterling
That nice lady decorator has become a little fed up with some of the things I write in this column and has told me I should grow up, become less immature and try to spend some time in the adult world, but I told here there was no chance if that until after the conker season had finished. As Sigmund Freud once said, “I had some words with my wife and she had some paragraphs with me”
This is an early warning of the Christmas fair at Le Bastide St Matthieu on December 2nd. Backsliders will not be tolerated, this is a first warning, expect more…names will be taken and the guilty, i.e absent, noted and castigated.
I hear from my even less well-educated than me, lager swilling friend in UK, Paul North, who makes a ridiculously good living from selling fridge magnets. His knowledge of and interest in wine is zero, and he has some unrepeatable comments to make about my local wine drinking fraternity, often featured in this column. I believe he thinks a Bordeaux is where two borders meet and ventures the opinion that a chateau is something cat owners should use to collect their droppings. Did I really need any other reason to have moved to France?
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
“Are you free My Humphries?”
Earlier in the week I had said to Mr Humphries, our resident magistrate, fan of the gay cult UK TV comedy “Are You Being Served?” and martial arts expert “Are you free?” to come to lunch on Sunday. He had replied “I’m free”, so he and his lovely wife Helen joined a select group of thirsty revellers at ours yesterday.
It was the normal ribald affair, staged partly outside in the pav for pre lunch drinks but with lunch served inside. A bit like a July day in England but as it is November I suppose I should not complain, if only it had been Friday, we would have all been in shorts!
The happy throng helped reduce the existing stocks of a Grand Cru Haut Medoc 2004, several magnums of which were emptied very quickly before festivities were properly underway. Mr Humphries, who regularly gets a great deal of well deserved stick in this column due in part to the particular fashion statements he makes by wearing some rather eclectic, and in my opinion, somewhat effeminate items, once again attracts my attention. I watch closely to find out what should be in my wardrobe for any up coming social events.
By that, I mean that if I have any items vaguely resembling anything he is wearing, I know to leave them in the wardrobe. Anyway, I took this picture of Mr Humphries shoes, just so I have some idea of what to wear, or rather not to wear for the coming week.
This weeks fashion hint from Mr Humphries
Simon Howes, another guest to the towering France lunch suggests, during a discussion about the upper limits of wine consumption, that in his opinion, two bottles a night between husband and wife should be an upper target limit, however, when pressed admits that he has not factored in the luncheon intake. Clearly after the Howes left he and his lovely wife would have been testing the upper limits of his suggested daily quotient, however as the beautiful Sarah does not drink a great deal, I assume that Simon will be “mopping up” to ensure that upper limit is reached?
Failing to take account of lunch in the Cote d’Azur is a mistake that may be punishable under local by laws, so important an institution has it become. I am surprised therefore that one of the best lunch staging specialists in France could overlook something so important. I still recall that Grand Cru Classe Chateau St Julien 2000 a few weeks ago.
Also amongst the revellers was new boy Tim Biscaye who made his own daring fashion statement by wearing a shirt covered in very fetching pink flowers, for which he received a serious hard time, before his lovely wife Jill admitted she had bought it for him. His work requires him to spend 50% of his time in Africa, so perhaps her involvement in his wardrobe is intended to keep him monogamous on his trips abroad, in which case I think she has it right. If the rest of his clothing is of a similar standard then I suspect he will remain a lonely man when away from home.
Also revelling were Paul and Lisa Thornton Allan, Paul deciding the start the cigar smoking before lunch, and Lisa, last to leave, but not before having ensured the last of the Sancerre was exhausted.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Aloe, Aloe
The man flu relapse was nasty. It was sufficient to scupper an invitation to a surprise 50th birthday party for Marion, wife of Greg, head honcho of Cote d’Azur Villa Rentals up in Bar sur Loup last night, so no bar and not in the Loup.
Instead that nice lady decorator and I stayed in and sipped lemsips and tried to re-gather all our strength for a luncheon at ours today. I have a particularly fine Bordeaux which I will be opening and am hoping I will be able to taste, then there are oysters, snails and a nice Sauternes for later on after the lamb and chicken (not a pub, that’s what we are eating).
It is two weeks today that I set off for Australia for the first Ashes Test, but Nigel Graves rather ungallantly asks if I have Sky TV, in which case why bother going? Why not watch it at home and save several thousands of pounds ? (to find out how much that is in euros click here for £ euro exchange rate). He has no idea of the tension and spectacle that awaits me, however part of that tension which I had not bargained for has already started in that I have yet to receive my ticket to the opening day’s play. If it all goes wrong I may still end up watching it on TV in my hotel room in Brisbane, but as Nigel helpfully pointed out, at least it won’t be in the middle of the night.
We have for several years been half heartedly trying to come up with a name for our house, as it has hitherto only had a number and yesterday I think that nice lady decorator came up with it. We have a large number of aloe’s growing in the garden, one of which is pictured today, so can you guess the name she has come up with? Listen carefully, I shall say zis only once, “Aloe Aloe”.
Aloe Aloe, what have we here then? despite some Resistance, we may have a new house name
Some of you will know that I moonlight as a Regional Controller for Currencies Direct, a very worthy organisation that will save you loads of money on any foreign exchange deal. They are very fast as transferring funds, but I have found a quicker way of transferring these funds, its called marriage.
The Riviera Business Club event with former dragon Rachel Elnaugh in Sophia Antipolis is close to being sold out, click here for details. I believe it will be an interesting event, and will not drag on (geddit?) for too long. Look, before you start complaining its Sunday morning, I am 50 words short of finishing today’s blog, which has been a bit of a struggle from my death bed and it seemed funny to me, until I read it back (I can hear Peter Lynn incredulous “he reads it back?” from 4 miles away). Quantity over quality always, and only five more words needed, that’s it done for another day!
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Man flu worse than childbirth – official
Church at Cafe Latin was very poorly attended yesterday, I am sure that had our vicar the Reverend Humphries turned up, there may have been a gathering of some sorts, but alas he was also absent so now I have no idea what I should be wearing this week, except, inevitably it will be purple.
Last night to La Kavanou, the new wine bar of choice for that nice lady decorator, note that the choice part of this sentence has nothing to do with me. It may very well be that I might choose to go there if I understood the concept of the words “choice” and “my” in the same phrase.
Despite the man flu that has literally plagued me all week, that nice lady decorator is determined to keep an appointment. It is bristling with people, and that does not mean all the people had moustaches, well not all the women anyway, and where we are to meet Melissa and Nigel Graves and their gardener Iueun whom they are tending for the evening.
Melissa is Irish, Nigel is Irish by penetration, and Iueun could only be Welsh with such a silly name. So I think you will quickly understand that it was not a high brow evening. Melissa for instance claims that very time she bends her elbow her mouth opens! All I can say is that her elbow must be very sore this morning, or perhaps it is permanently bent?
The Irishness started at the wine bar. “What a lovely wine bar” she said, “I will have a vodka and coke”. But its a wine bar, selling, well, wine, so they don’t have vodka. Ok she says “I’ll have a gin and tonic”. Suffice to say that after a couple of drinks, under pressure from Melissa who has given up drinking wine we adjourned to the Cafe Des Arcades where they do sell vodka, and where Melissa promptly ordered some wine.
I cannot recall what poor Nigel’s voice sounds like, her elbow was bending so much. He is however delighted for me that I am going to Australia for the First Test, at least I think that is what he meant when he said “bastard”. Their faithful old retainer Iueun, tells me that there is an official EEC map that has air brushed Wales out of existence and seems hurt when I suggest it’s the only useful thing they have ever done.
I fear this morning however that I have overdone it and that a man flu relapse is underway, which if one continues with my analogy about man flu being as distressing as child birth, would be like having twins, two days apart.
My picture today is of me. I was asked for a photo for my up coming Angloinfo blog to be called Happy Mondays, in which I have been encouraged to be grumpy. They wanted grumpy and I have found it surprisingly easy to write, and as you see, very easy to look the part.
Glass half empty, I think
Finally today, one of my public service announcements; Frances Thompson is starting her fab supper club again with Indian, Vietnamese and Thai offerings coming up. For details go to supperclub06.com
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Temperance wagon wheels loosen
I take a recce into Valbonne in the warm sunshine on foot to Cafe Latin yesterday morning by way of preparation for “Church” tomorrow. I am doing everything I can to throw off this appalling affliction and the walk helps downgrade my man flu into mere extreme pneumonia, which given my constitution I should able to shake off in a couple of years.
I believe my immune system has been broken down because of the lack of strong drink, and now that realisation has taken hold I am certain that my time on the temperance wagon is coming to an end, the wheel are loosening as I write.
I pop into Cote d Azur villas to try to collect payment for all my writing (50 articles last month) but am distressed to find the curtains being drawn and lights switched off as I near. Once I had made it clear that I wasn’t leaving, I was welcomed in, with the explanation that the curtains were being drawn against the sun and the lights had coincidentally fused at that moment, and had I collected my cheque I would have believed it with all my heart.
The head honcho Greg is apparently still on holiday, at least that is what I am told, but I fail to see why he would leave his car in the car park, (and still warm) and his hat and coat on the coat stand, and a hot cup of coffee on his now unattended desk, but I am easily fooled. Actually that reminds me that Mark Gurdon once persuaded me that the word gullible was not in the English Dictionary.
More of my gullibility was on show yesterday when I was fooled into Peter Lynn’s spoof exchange rate blog, I was fooled because he even had a UK company registration number on the “press release”. I believe my mental faculties have been damaged due to the man flu.
Mike Hardacre (with a K) from Angloinfo has revealed that amongst his talents is a grasp of greek, the language that is, and greek websites have the suffix .gr He has registered a greek domain called www.jag.gr solely it appears so that he can have an email address which is mick@jag.gr. If ever there was a cry for help from a failed pop star, this must be it!
Wayne Brown founder of FR2day and Mike Hardacre (with a K) co-founder of Angloinfo looking like Mick Jaggar?
Mike Preston tells a story about wine tasting in Stellenbosche – which is clearly in Germany not South Africa as he implies. When asked if he wanted to spit or swallow, he is slightly disarmed (so to speak) until a pretty young girl in his group said “I always swallow”. This made me all the determined last evening to do some swallowing of my own.
And then it happened, at 6.30pm, when I was losing hope, Wayne Brown from FR2day called to discuss some new projects. Where shall we meet I asked? How about the La Kavanou, the new wine bar in Valbonne? he said, and so it came to pass.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Monthly Riviera News? www.rivieratimes.com
Local ex pat information resource? www.angloinfo.com
Man Flu Strikes
Man flu is still upon me yet I receive little sympathy from that nice lady decorator. Can she not see my suffering? Does she not remember how I looked after her when she was suffering similar levels of distress during childbirth? It is so selfish it is an outrage.
The rapids of The Brague, well, water running over a couple of rocks anyway
But despite my illness, I was still determined to undertake my normal morning constitutional in the Valmasque and along the Brague River where I took this picture. That nice lady decorator declined to push my wheelchair, so I had to walk, another outrage, has she no sympathy?
My Happy Mondays blog for Angloinfo is all agreed, and will appear next Monday, assuming it does not end up on the cutting room floor. I have supplied a picture, but curiously I have been asked about “panoramic jpegs” but don’t remember them, were they a sixties supergroup?
My writing tentacles are spreading as my article for The Riviera Times was published yesterday, click here to view.
With FR2day awash with my scribblings and having mopped up all the major local on line portals (with the exception of the Riviera Reporter, but they will come round), the next logical step is the book. Chris France, author, sounds good, I may have to get my passport changed, there is considerable difference between the terms “writer” and “author”, especially if you have an ego the size of Devon like I have.
Now that the sunshine has returned, and to celebrate a npb (a new personal best for the year) of 3 full days without a drink, which I would like to call teetotalitarionism (I think I will submit that to the Washington Post for their annual competition of embellishing existing words to give new meaning). I think it would be unwise to delay taking the opportunity for a beach lunch this week. Perhaps today?
From that you will have realised that we did not go to the new wine bar in Valbonne as I distinctly overheard in a phone conversation between that nice lady decorator. I can only assume that the hallucinations continue.
Hot news is that the French unions have just cancelled their strike today, so it looks like Sarkozy has got his own way about raising the retirement age. So what will the unions do now? Watch out for a union strike protesting about their strike failure?
Looking forward to the weekend, when I will be attempting to catch up on my secret alcohol consumption plan, a surprise party on Saturday, but it would not be a surprise I revealed for whom or where, I believe we are staging lunch for a few drunkards on Sunday before a day of rest, and then on the the nearly sold out Riviera Business Club event at nearby Sophia Antipolis on Tuesday for Currencies Direct, where former dragon from “Dragons Den” Rachel Elmaugh is talking. I do hope Lucy at red radish will be responsible for the food.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Unwritten rule transgression
It has been suggested that this blog may convert well into a book, but the bookie in me wonders what are the odds on that? I would not have to create any characters, they are all here in front of me, no invention needed!
That nice lady decorator has been, well, decorating, apparently a couple of walls and some furniture needed painting, and I am in trouble because I didn’t notice, either that they needed painting, that they had been painted or indeed that paint was still wet.
Clearly I had transgressed the unwritten rule in the same way as the victims of the Piranha Brothers in Monty Python. The exact interpretation of the unwritten rule is unknown because it is unwritten, at least in her fit of pique she didn’t try to napalm Cheltenham, like the Piranha Brothers but a similarly fiery response was received by me for this clear transgression.
Moya Janko yesterday praises me for irony in this column, pointing it that Americans would not get it, and indeed I don’t went Americans to get it. It would be deeply ironic if any of my regular readers were American. Dave Worth, my token Americal reader is not really American in spirit, and far too well educated to be included amongst his fellow countrymen for the sake of my humour. I don’t know why but I have in my mind Dick Van Dyke singing “any old iron(y)”. I must keep taking the tablets.
My picture today was taken on my morning constitutional along The Brague, with the river still high after the weekend storms.
A tributory, just as it joins the Brague River near Valbonne
I have now survived two whole nights without a drink and thus am approaching uncharted waters, water being the operative word. My imagination is running wild and hallucinations are regular, I even thought I saw Neil Humpreys (he was free) in a sober suit and tie, with no purple anywhere, so I know I was hallucinating.
This week as in most weeks I will be continuing my work for Currencies Direct and as such I am required to watch the news to find out if there are factors which may affect the exchange rate, and last night I watched in horror as England and France agreed to effectively pool their armed forces. Now I am not old enough to remember the 2nd world war and the way the French collapsed and I am aware of the phrase “cheese eating surrender monkeys” because I heard it from Rupert Scott every day fro 2 years.
Now it seems to me that this is a recipe for disaster. Who is in charge?what language will prevail? when the order comes to charge, will the French all rush for their calculators and claim service is not included? If not, then in which direction will the French charge?
Tonight I have discovered by way of an overheard phone call, that we are more than likely going to La Kavanou the new Valbonne wine bar this evening. I did not overhear enough to be certain or to find out who we are meeting, doubtless all will be revealed by decree or fatwah at some stage later today.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
Wet weekend, dry week?
I have now abandoned the building of my ark. Some blue sky this morning has caused me to down tools. The storm was of biblical proportions, according to local sources as much as 40 cm’s of rain in some places, with 33 cm measured on the nearby Plateau d Cassouls, a new record for the area.
I see on Wayne Browns’s Facebook page that he was yesterday offering three ten metre berths…at his house in the hills at Chateauneuf.
My picture today shows the damage done by the rain to my neighbours drive. He is on holiday, so has the joy of trying to get to his house when he gets back awaiting him.
Drive might need a bit of work
This is clearly nonsense as she is able to undertake cooking and her normal daily chores, where as I have been bed ridden for most of yesterday. At one stage I suggested I needed a drip, but she snorted and used the word drip in an entirely different and not very complementary way. I think she was referring to me but I was too ill to be certain.
Despite my affliction, and the scorn I received for my contention that time spent in bed yesterday was still used wisely, underlines the fact that she does not understand the importance of planning. In these circumstances I find that lateral thinking can be very useful. I also believe that lateral thinking in its truest sense can only be fully effective if one is in a literally lateral position. Hence I spent a lot of yesterday in bed, planning.
Planning how best to mop up not only the house, but the last poor souls in the area who are still losing money on foreign exchange transfers. To aid this movement I have set up a Facebook page called “don’t get ripped of by your bank on foreign exchange deals” should any of my newly content Currencies Direct wish to join this movement, or indeed anyone else who are unfortunate enough to use a rival organisation (there are some friends I cannot mention whom still have not seen the light but Peter Lynn in particular should be hanging his head in shame when he reads this) just click on the title to register your unhappiness with the way banks deal with forex transactions, or click HERE
An early walk along The Brague this morning is the reason for the late post, and if I had finished the ark, by the look of the damage visible on the banks of the river, the ark could well have been washed away. I can tell you, that there is a certain spaniel who would not have made the final guest list in my ark. Banjo, the evil cocker is a good swimmer and I feel he would have wanted to show off.
Chris France
Buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance
Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/
Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/
Best French Riviera Property Agent?
http://www.afa-international.com/
http://frenchriviera-properties.com/
Rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514
Rent a private villa in Provence? www.cotdazurvillarentals.com
Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/
Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/
Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/
Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com
Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/
John Otway’s New Book? www.johnotway.com
Modular portable exhibition system? http://www.creative-village.co.uk/web_ads/bigger_picture.html
Living France, Le Blog http://livinginfrance.mon-coach-langues.com
Best Estate Agent in Mandelieu? www.chrisma.com
Ceramic Cafe in Biot? www.latassedecouleur.com
Rent a villa in Cote D’Azur? www.myperfectvilla.com
Find A House in Cote d’Azur? www.frenchrivierapropertysearch.com
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