Riviera Reporter Your Say - May 2009

Jolly Dodgy

Mike Meade — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. So said Oscar Wilde. But we’d say it all depends on who’s doing the talking and where.

We’ve just seen a recent issue of The Independent on Sunday in which a Dom Joly writes that on a visit to the South of France he picked up “a curious little magazine called The Riviera Reporter”. He then takes a look at the Damian Elwes column and with a couple of selective quotes tries to imply [...]

SCAMS AND FRAUD - Watch your credit cards!

MikeP — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

There are many urban legends circulating about 'a friend who' ..... and I've just received yet another one about 'A friend who went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker ..... he still had his credit card in his possession ..... a few weeks later his credit card bill came - a bill of £14,000 of which he had no prior knowledge!'

Most of these stories are based on facts, and probably happened to someone, so it might be useful to consider a few [...]

Is the French lifestyle really so wonderful?

MikeP — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

There have been many articles in the UK press recently extolling the virtues of the French life style, and presenting the usual statistics about how the French work less hours, but do more work, sleep more, have more fun (there may be a correlation there), eat unhealthy food but don't get fat, and so on. I suppose from the perspective of Gordon Brown's bankrupt (in many senses of the word) Britain, just about anywhere seems better these days, but is the French lifesty [...]

So why learn French?

Letters to Editor — Sat, 09 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Because it could save someone’s life – maybe yours! With reference to Jill Penton-Browne’s article in your June/July Issue 127, I totally agree with her comments and would like to draw your readers’ attention to the far more serious implications of not speaking French.

Many of us move here during our middle to later years, more or less at the same time as possible health concerns; strokes, heart-attacks, etc. Whilst it is easy to register with an English-speaki [...]

Taxing Time

Letters to Editor — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Coincidences can be strange. As I mull over my French income tax declaration I coincidentally have Larry King on the CNN satellite channel in the background. And what was his guest, the buffoon Michael Moore - I'm not his greatest fan - going on about? Comparing French taxes to American ones. According to Moore, Americans pay more tax than the French do.

Of course you have to use Moore's own peculiar calculator to come to that conclusion. He factors in the cost of college [...]

Short changed

Letters to Editor — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

When you buy something for €7 and hand over a €20 note you expect €13 change. Not, however, in Cannes during MIPTV. One brasserie-tabac this morning calculated my change as €3. Thankfully I only gave them a €20 and not a €100 note.

The lesson, I suppose, is to go to the till with the money and ask for a bill, hand it over while looking into the whites of the eyes of the recipient, not just wait outside and pay before getting a bill, both mistakes made this [...]

In defence of Emirates

Letters to Editor — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Having read your 'Travellers Tips' article in issue no 131 I feel I must respond to the article regarding Emirates.

We regularly use Emirates on our frequent trips to Australia and have nothing but praise for the company. A couple of years ago we were 'marooned' in Dubai airport as an accident caused the airport to be closed for 36 hrs. On our eventual return home we contacted our insurer who denied responsability. On contacting Emirates they immediately offered to [...]

Carnival getting better?

Letters to Editor — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

The Riviera Reporter has been critical of the Nice carnival in the past.

The first time I saw the Nice carnival seven years ago with some guests, we had great expectations based on Nice's reputation and that of the Côte d'Azur. Well, it was quite ordinary, even dowdy, and a let down for us all. I quite understand why you offered a similar opinion in your interview with M. Estrosi. In the following years I did not bother to go again and only built up irritation towards an e [...]

Nice Taxis & the "Rip-off Riviera"

Letters to Editor — Sun, 03 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100

Your interview with Christian Estrosi and the taxis in Nice was interesting reading and prompted me to the keyboard.

I live in Nice but work now and then in Stockholm so I often go by taxi between the airport and my home in Cimiez. Daytime, with an honest driver, the fare should be 18 – 20 euros. But if I am not watchful, the meter most of the time reads something between 28 and 35 euros when I have arrived. My wife has had it as high as 40!

Here is how they do it and how t [...]