Expat IssuesHow to become naturalized French Phil Heinlein, 2008
Imagine you come across a guy with a Brooklyn accent, a beer belly and too short pants who’s drinking a coke with a very well done steak. Must be an American, you suppose. Maybe, maybe not. Actually, according to his passport he’s French. He could be one of an increasing number of Americans, here and elsewhere, who have traded in their US... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Profiles of ResidentsPeter Watts: curé of Grimaud Riviera Reporter
But who does he pray for during the Six Nations?
When a parish is told a new priest has been assigned to them there’s always speculation about what he’ll be like. The good folk of Grimaud in the Var were rather surprised about a decade ago when their new curé turned out to be Welsh. “Surprised,” recalls Fr. Peter Watts,... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Eye on FranceThe PM's wife: From Monmouthshire to Matignon Riviera Reporter
With her five children, five horses and a husband who’s Prime Minister of France Penelope Fillon is one Welsh immigrant who has settled in well. She talked to Patrick Middleton
The Welsh seem less ready to leave their native country than their Celtic cousins the Scots and the Irish. When the young Penelope Clarke –... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Doing It in FranceRetrieving lost objects Riviera Reporter
WHAT NOW? In a new column about what to do in unexpected situations, we look at retrieving lost objects
Supermarket or shopping centre: objects that are turned in are usually kept on the spot for about 5 days. They’re then passed on to the police or the Service des Objets Trouvés (lost and found... Read Article... Add a Comment |
TravelA kick in the leg for O'Leary. Riviera Reporter
 New Airport access measures for the handicapped.
In the airline industry the lowest denominator are the low cost
carriers who weren't properly catering for handicapped passengers
because they get in the way of making money. Until now,
wheelchair-pushers were provided by the airlines at their expense -- or
in the... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Profiles of ResidentsPhilip Fowles of "Holiday Marina" Ro Matthews
 "Holiday Marina", the popular family campsite on the road between La Foux and Port Grimaud, has undergone a transformation in recent years.
Philip (left) celebrating his 10th anniversary
at Holiday MarinaThe person responsible is Philip Fowles, who purchased the... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Outdoors and NatureCreating a Butterfly Garden Peter Tunbridge, The Var Reporter
 It is not hard work and does not have to cost a fortune to transform your garden, or even the terrace of your apartment, into a haven for butterflies. The Var Reporter's Wildlife & Nature correspondent, Peter Tunbridge, explains how to go about it.
In order to have... Read Article... Add a Comment |
MotoringChild passengers on scooters Riviera Reporter
The rules in France concerning the transport of small children on scoooters and motorbikes is a question submitted by one reader.
You can transport a child of any age but if he's under 5 he must be strapped into a child seat designed for the purpose and certified (Article R431-11 du code de la route). This seat must have a... Read Article... Add a Comment |
TravelTo Tozuer with Tunisair Nancy Wilson
 Nancy Wilson reports on new direct destination
from Nice: Tozuer, Tunisia
For those, like myself, who wish to explore Arab
culture and language without finding it totally opaque, Tunisia makes for a
great stepping stone. Hospitable and humble, Tunisians speak Arabic, French and
English and with 300 days of sun... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Expat IssuesPoor but Here Riviera Reporter
The French government is wary of immigrants (including those from the EU) who can't demonstrate they're financially solvent.
The referring laws are:
Code de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile : partie législative, articles L121-1, L 121-2 et L122-1 à L122-3
Code de l'entrée et du... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Outdoors and NatureGardening : “Going up!” James Hartley
I’m sure almost everyone at one time or another has wondered how to soften a corner or an unsightly wall. Often the solution to these types of problems can come in the shape of a climbing plant, nature’s garden gymnasts. With a vast range to choose from, they offer a plethora of differing interests: from size and habit to leaf colour and form,... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Pets and AnimalsZoo time Riviera Reporter
We first visited the Monaco Zoo in these pages some twelve years ago. We weren’t impressed: “Cages are cramped, barren, ill-lit, dirty and show little evidence of care for the specific needs of their occupants.” None of the animals looked happy, most wretched of all was clearly Nina, a Bengal white tiger, “who paced endlessly up and down a... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Eye on FranceBoulez, did you say? Riviera Reporter
A few years ago we ran an interview with British writer Peter Mayle in which he was asked to sum up the appeal of France. His answer: “In one word – lunch.” This drew irritated comments from French readers who wondered why he hadn’t talked about the country’s culture and its contribution to world civilisation. In a token way, at least, this is... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Eye on FranceSarko : Not quite what we expected Riviera Reporter
A year ago we hailed presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy as a welcome change from the usual run of French politicians – those making up what an American observer has called “that snooty, elitist, humourless governing class” so well typified by Dominique de Villepin. Sarko’s immediate predecessors were essentially rather grey men with,... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Local LivingBones Riviera Reporter
One of us for many years had a very bad-tempered dog. For some time he was treated for a chronic ear infection by Nice vet Jean-Louis Turquin. “He had a magic touch with animals,” recalls our colleague. “He’d pat my dog’s head and he’d become as calm as you’d like.” Most of this animal doctor’s clients were surprised when they heard one day... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Local LivingThe taxis: they’ve won again Riviera Reporter
There was once an adjoint at the mairie in Nice, Me Rouillot, part of whose brief was to deal with the city’s taxi drivers, including complaints against them. One of us attended his vin d’adieu or retirement do and was assured by the tough old lawyer: “I’ve been involved with them for sixteen years and at the end of... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Local LivingOn the sidelines Riviera Reporter
That’s where most of our readers have been during the just-ended municipal elections. Of EU citizens with the right to vote only a small number had signed up by the cut-off date of December 31st, less than 700 Brits in the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var, for example. But it’s been an entertaining campaign, especially in Nice and Cannes; sadly, we... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Local LivingNice-Riviera Airport: Is it safe? Riviera Reporter
Aviation in Nice has a long history. It all started in 1901 when Captain Ferber took to the air in his tethered flying machine. Within a few years the city was a recognised centre of leisure flying. The first scheduled commercial services began in 1936 when Potez Aero-Service opened routes to Toulouse, Bordeaux and Ajaccio. In 1944 the... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Expat IssuesM&S: Of shirts and sarnies Riviera Reporter
Back in 1993 this magazine welcomed Marks and Spencer to Nice (it was our cover story, Reporter n° 39) and this very British retail presence was welcomed with enthusiasm by many readers, including some French women who had frequented the Marble Arch store and others (they were known as the most persistent shoplifters after the Iranians). People... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Expat IssuesBoneheads to vote? Riviera Reporter
A few issues back we carried an interview with Francis Maude on expat voting. Will the system change? Brian Cave has drawn our attention to this boneheaded contribution from a Professor Blackburn to the proceedings of a Westminster Select Committee on the subject: “There is no reason why an expatriate living hundreds or thousands of miles away,... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Expat IssuesWhat's that in French? Riviera Reporter
Fewer and fewer Brits are acquiring foreign languages. At the beginning of September 2007, only 5 out of 10 school pupils were learning another tongue, down from 8 out of 10 a decade previously. Since 2004 a foreign language has no longer been obligatory in secondary schools. High profile expats don’t give a good example: after four years... Read Article... Add a Comment |
Eye on FranceThe luck of the niçois Patrick Middleton
“It’s an immense disappointment,” so said Nice’s mayor Jacques Peyrat when the city failed to be shortlisted for the final selection process of a European Capital of Culture in 2013. Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? As we wrote in our news columns before Nice’s proposal was tossed in the bin, the whole ECC circus bears some likeness, on a... Read Article... Add a Comment |
More- Fido as fiscal protection
- Notaires online
- Need help? Dial 112
- All I heard was this heavy breathing
- Tips at La Poste (I)
- EU Driving Licences valid in France for residents also.
- Watch out for those caterpillars
- Dutch medicine for that Social Security deficit?
- So you want to show Fido around Fulham?
- The UK: That madding crowd gets bigger
- Increasing purchasing power: another solution
- Carla and Nico: The show must go on!
- Sarko: What next out of the hat?
- Sue Dunnachie, municipal councillor
- Riviera Democrats turn out in Nice
- Me? Elderly? ... Don’t know the word!
- The Inadequacy of Public Transport...
- Ars Longa - Vita Brevis
- Benvenuti al Palermu
- Up and Away with Air France
- Entrecasteaux, from Medieval Times to 2007
- What's New, Pussycat?
- Mediterranean Garden - Putting Worms to Work
- Mediterranean Garden - House Plants
- Gassin - A Visual Feast
- More Local "X-Files"
- Winnie Rinck of Rinck Travel, Antibes and Lorgues
- A Glimpse Behind the Scenes at Le Parc Zoologique de Frejus
- Exotic Pets in the Var
- Invasive Species in the Var
- Sharks in the Mediterranean
- Var "X-Files"
- Provencal Markets? Actually, I think I'll pass...
- Should "Transhumance" be Banned?
- Is Living in Provence Overrated?
- Tuna Crisis in the Med
- The Malpasset Disaster
- Buy, Sell, Rent... and maybe take a trip to the cleaners
- Monaco: Good marks and bad marks
- Destination Dublin, with Ryanair
- The Bailiff (l’huissier de justice)
- It really is easy to look good ...
- To breed or not to breed?
- No more "baccy for the parson"
- UNICEF on the Riviera
- Stress can kill!
- Of Dog Bites and Bullfights
- On camera
- Geoffrey Rowell, Bishop of Gibraltar
- Dealers rather than healers?
- Suicide, my Friend
- Stranger means danger
- Tax reform: Merci, Monsieur le Président!
- Getting that deposit back
- What to do with granny?
- Lesley Joines: Making democracy work
- Dreamboats
- High flying a low cost
- No low cost for canines!
- Peyrat's YouBoob
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