Pat Buchanan has said that any American who opts to live abroad for a significant length of time can’t be a loyal citizen of the United States. That opinion would certainly evoke angry snorts from members of the revived American Club of the Riviera. An impressive 130 of them showed up for the club’s Thanksgiving lunch. We talked to Vice President Burton Gintell: “Well, first of all let me say that of course our American members are all loyal citizens but about half of those who’ve joined the club since we relaunched just over a year ago aren’t American. We’ve got a much broader view of what we should be than those who ran things earlier. We recognise that Americans who choose to live abroad are keen to get to know people of other backgrounds and then we find that quite a lot of local French are interested in the United States and want to get to know us. We’ve also affiliated to the Association of American Clubs which links groups in some fifty countries and so allows us to share the experience of other communities.”

The club has also diversified its activities: “Yes. It’s no longer just a matter of having lunch in a pricey restaurant. We go for a convivial meal with something else. We had a wine tasting in the Var, a day at the races in Cagnes, a lunch on the beach in Cannes where an LA-based entertainment lawyer gave a talk about his work. We’re always happy to have suggestions from members, American or foreign, for events we can enjoy together.”

From Riviera Reporter Issue 131: Feb/March 2009

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