Celebrating 85 years in 2008 – putting it amongst the ranks of the world’s oldest airlines after KLM and Qantas – Finnair decided to look forward 85 years with an ambitious publication on the future of aviation: Departure 2093 Five Visions of Future Flying (Finland: Finnair PLC).

What does the world possibly look like in 2093?...
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Two American men are sitting on a beach when a scantily-clothed beauty lays down to suntan in front of them. One says to the other, “You know, in some European countries, it’s legal for women to go topless at the beach.” Both men smile in thought. Next image, two Italian men at the beach are disgusted when the obese woman next to them bares her...
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Wondering about climate change and what it could mean for this region? Patrick Middleton went to talk to Pierre Carrega, leading climatologist at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis

Faced with media treatment of climate change – the term preferred by most scientists to “global warming” – the layman reacts...
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Happiness is in the fields

Well, so goes the French saying but the countryside can be an uncomfortable place for an ignorant newcomer - or if you've recently arrived. Here's a look at exactly the book you should read before settling in the sticks.

There are a lot of books around about living in the French...
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Homeopathy? “Pure hogwash!” screams the Daily Mail. But the world’s leading brand of alternative medicine has long been well accepted in France and increasingly in the UK. Patrick Middleton finds out more.

I didn’t have to go in search of French enthusiasts to collect testimonies to the value of homeopathy. Des...
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So it’s going on for 11 o’clock and you really must have milk in your pre-snooze tea. Trouble is there’s none left. No problem, you think. Just up the road in Nice where you live there’s that late night grocery run by a cheerful Arab guy and his wife. It’s only a few moments’ walk.

But you’re in for a disappointment. Ali has closed his...
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The old British obsession with class reappeared during the election campaign, partly fuelled by John Prescott (Patrick Middleton, who’s interviewed him, says he’s as unlikeable as they say and, like Gordon Brown, has no time for dogs). I’m told by old hands here that 25 years ago class awareness within our community was much more evident than...
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Talk to the French, especially of the older generation, about the Second World War and you’re likely to feel in quite a lot of cases that they’re not comfortable with the subject. The reason’s simple: since 1945 perception of the war years has involved an ongoing conflict between satisfying myths (energetically sustained by de Gaulle) and...
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PJ Heslin takes the bus - and bike - challenge

A friend told me that you could take a bus from Menton to Cannes for just a euro. I was suspicious since the information was delivered by one of the Côte d'Azur's more shady characters. He's not on the scale of those who skip off to Spain with your life's savings...
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The expat life can have its darker side. Patrick Middleton finds out about a source of help and comfort.

Over the past thirty years or so Brits have come to France in increasing numbers; only the collapse of the pound seems to have slowed down this movement, at least for a while. Their experiences – especially...
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An update on some recent topics we’ve dealt with in the paper magazine

-Church bells rang and firemen sounded their sirens in Mouans-Sartoux when news came through that the official body that authorises retail development had thrown out the IKEA-sponsored plan for a Family Village, including a 17,000 m2 flat-pack store, in close by...
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Just three years ago locals and visitors were crowding into the Grimaldi Forum to see an exhibition, conceived by Prince Albert and created by Frederic Mitterrand, entitled Les Années Grace Kelly. Intended to mark the 25th anniversary of Princess Grace’s death in a motor accident, it was certainly worth giving time to. As we reported,...
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A surprising number of French government websites are partly or entirely translated into English. Here are some:

The French call these boats ‘paquebots’ which I’ve always thought appropriate – packing thousands of lazy...
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VAR Special Report / Bulletin from the BPCA to its clients

The Department of the Var has just been subjected to violent storms. Human and property losses are substantial.

Banque Populaire Côte d’Azur has decided to react quickly and provide a number of measures to help out those of our clients who were...
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It is not obligatory to register a foreign vehicle in France unless the owner is resident in France. A resident is someone who is domiciled in France for more than six months (183 days) per year, who is employed in France, or has made a recognised and deemed permanent move toward residency in France (ie has no domicile in the country of...
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Godfrey Corfield outlines the basics

According to its official mission statement the French social security system (la Sécu) “gives everybody the possibility to receive health care according to his or her needs, whatever his or her income level”. What this doesn't mean is that anyone can hop off a...
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So you’ve retired here from Widnes or Worthing and you’re living – partly – on a UK old age pension. That entitles you, you know, to get medical treatment when visiting Britain or any other EU state. All you need to do is flash your French CEAM or carte européenne d’assurance maladie. Wrong! As from now, you have to show the British...
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A nice little earner ... that’s what your Côte d’Azur home could be. Jill Penton-Browne has been reading a new book that tells you how

Jo Taylor’s Earning Money From Your French Home (UK; Survival Books) is the latest title from an imprint that specialises in really useful books for...
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It doesn’t need to stay a dream. Cressida van Zyl-Pithey explains

If you’re living in a house or apartment on the Côte d’Azur then you’re sitting on a goldmine. Well, let’s not exaggerate but you’ve certainly got an asset that could help you turn that dream holiday into a reality. Put simply, you can...
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That’s what they’re saying about the property scene here at the moment. But if you’re trying to offload a house or apartment home staging could help you. Phil Heinlein explains

A while back we were contacted by a couple who had worked as “house doctors” in Brussels and were thinking of launching into the same...
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In another in this occasional series Patrick Middleton visits Sospel in the Alpes-Maritimes

Sospel’s past ... written in stone

You don’t have to go to books to appreciate Sospel’s past splendour. It’s written in stone in the old town, an area with all the charm and interest of...
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