Who’s in charge ?

In another of this series about those who run some of our local clubs and associations Patrick Middleton talks to Richard Alexander, President of the Var International Aperitif Club (VIAC)

Richard Alexander, like Benny Hill, was born in Southampton. “I pretty early on knew what I wanted to do and I duly qualified as a vet. After a few years I opted for adventure and went out to New Zealand as a farm vet. I was based right up the top of the North Island, working mainly with Maori farmers. I loved it but after four years I had to return to the UK for family reasons. I did some local work and then I settled on the Isle of Wight where I stayed for thirty years. I lived through a substantial change in the veterinary profession. When I set up my practice on the island I was still in the world of James Herriott – a lot of farm work, some with horse breeders and the rest caring for domestic animals. By the time I retired the balance had altered and I was seeing far more poodles than pigs. Frankly, I regretted the change. The work became less varied and interesting.”

“Easing into Var life”
And how did Richard and his wife come to be in the Var? “When I was still working we bought a mobile home at Gassin where we used to spend a few weeks every year. When I opted for semi-retirement this extended to six months and then three years ago we decided to make the Var our permanent home. We bought a house in Clavier and we’ve become adoptive varois. I think the way we came to settle in France had a lot of advantages. I sometimes hear of people who find things difficult when they’ve made a sudden decision to move here. We eased slowly into our life in the Var, getting to know the country and the people over quite a long period before finally deciding that this was where we belonged.”

And VIAC was a great help in that process of easing into Var life. “Very much so. We joined when we were still just occasional visitors. It gave us a ready-made social life when we came down and from the people we met we learned a lot of useful information. Better, I think, than just reading one of those ‘How to live in France’ books.” Richard is now President of VIAC. How would he describe the club? “Well, basically it’s there to enable people who speak English to get together over lunch and, as I suggested, exchange experiences and opinions. I’m also a member of the British Association which is excellent but there are two differences. Firstly, and that’s something I very much appreciate, we’ve got a mix of nationalities – Brits, of course, but also Dutch, Scandinavians and others. Secondly, we are purely social and we’re going to stay that way. The British Association, as you know, does very good welfare work but that’s not our remit. We just want to get people together to have a good meal ... and maybe make some friends.” 

From Riviera Reporter 117 - Oct/Nov 2006 

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