Shopping Festival in Cannes

If you associate Cannes with the film festival, you are absolutely right - and from May 13th until May the 24th we'll celebrate the 62nd edition - presided by Isabelle Huppert by the way.
It will be fun and I'll dedicate posts to that when the time comes...

But did you know that Cannes has another festival - a really nice one too, that is very well visited: the Cannes Shopping Festival!(thanks to David for the picture)
That festival has gala parties, fashion shows, openings and auctions, all in the classy, elegant, luxury spirit of the great city of Cannes. I was there one Saturday, and it was so good!

Right now - it is "Soldes" in Cannes. Imagine all that high-quality elegant and fashionable stuff-be it clothing or accessories- for so much less than usual... I must sincerely warn you, it is very dangerous for your wallet right now to go to Galerie Lafayette! Anyway - another great perk of living here, all that glam and glitter is just around the corner when you need it!

And a great distraction from that sunny seaview from the terrace of your villa (just kidding of course!)

Valberg

And David Prince continues his snow report:

"This year the snow in the southern Alps ski stations north of Nice is “the best for 50 years” they say. This is Valberg, one of the prettiest ski towns:

Valberg has a good selection of hotels and restaurants to suit all budgets, and all the shops and amenities you need.
Plus it's a picturesque place with a friendly family atmosphere..."

Amazing but true - you can have everything of the Côte d'Azur - the lifestyle, the sunny benign climate, the palm trees, the mimosa and the bright blue skies (to mention just a few) and still go out for a good bit of snow and ice, all within hours from each other.

I'll be off to London for a couple of days - and I'm sure I will have a great time - but just enough to appreciate the Riviera even more when I return!

Riviera - Snow and Sun

Here is some information for you about another wonderful advantage of this part of the world.... RHF's agent for the St Paul area (and part time snow correspondent) David Prince reports....

"One of the great things about living down here on the Riviera is that you can be here in the morning:

… and have lunch here, just 1 hr 20 mins drive away:
… and do this in the afternoon: ..."
RHF's David and his wife were skiing in Valberg, famous and attractive for all kinds of wintersports - his next report will be about Valberg itself...

St Tropez IV

RHF has a very nice office on the 3 Place Celli in Saint Tropez, where, even in the winter, the deals are HOT! My colleague Pia Frei just sold this wonderful beautiful terrific luxurious multi- million euro villa... I had the honours of painting it, which I enjoyed enormously - so much detail and such a fabulous pool! And there's more where that came from... at RHF we have the most stunning properties in that area! Check it out on our website...

Nice IV

...and David Prince ends his tour through Old Nice in the winter - on the beach...

The sea was sparkling this morning off St-Laurent du Var - just to the west of Nice - and it was easily warm enough to eat lunch outside on a restaurant terrace without a coat :"

Nice III

...and more pictures of old Nice from our special reporter david Prince, RHF's agent for the St Paul de Vence area...



One of the ornate antique lamps outside the Nice Opera house: The bell tower on the Place du Palais de Justice this morning: These days an easy way to get into the centre of Nice is by the new trams.

You can park free-of-charge at the "Le Ray" terminus carpark in north Nice (close to the "Nice Nord" exit off the A8 autoroute) and then pay just 1 Euro for any journey on the tram, or 4 Euros for a 1-Day pass :

(cont...)

Nice II

... and David Prince continues his impression of old Nice with more sweets:

The Riviera is famous for its lozenge-shaped almond sweets called "Calissons", which come in various pretty colours:

...pottery and jars of Foie Gras : The olive oil shop opposite the Nice Opera on rue St-Francois de Paule - dozens of fabulous olive oils, from Nice, Aix-en-Provence, Les Baux de Provence, and from Corsica... and you can taste them all before making your decision: Candied fruit in a shop that looks more like a museum than a confectioners:

(cont...)

Nice I

And a very very happy, successful and prosperous new year to you too!!

---~o0O0o~---

This post - as well as the next three- is produced by my colleague David Prince - who is RHF's agent for the Saint Paul de Vence area. As you will see he is also a good photographer and he created a beautiful impression of the lively, colourful city of Nice ...

"The fabulous market on the Cours Saleya in Old Nice was really buzzing this morning:

the Cours Saleya is best known as a flower market:

...but also includes lots of fresher-than-fresh fruit & vegetable stalls, and locally made olive-based products (all delicious!): Candied fruit -another Nice speciality- what a mouth-watering scene! :(cont...)