Product Description
A personal view of six months in the lives of the idle rich in Valbonne on the Cote d'Azur in Provence, France. It is a detailed insight and an opinionated look into the dream lifestyle for those that can afford it and is based in the unspoiled 12th century village of Valbonne,10 miles north of Cannes where the author lives. Written with humour by a semi retired resident veteran music business executive, it examines the interaction, or lack of it, of the mostly English ex patriot community with the French lifestyle much dreamed of by the English. Characters abound, wine is consumed, parties get out of hand, many lunches are undertaken, tennis, golf, beach restaurants and the pleasures of Provence feature.
Developed from a daily blog, www.valbonnenews.com, the author noticed that the ruder he was about people and the more salacious the gossip included, the more the readership expanded. Chris France has a wicked way with words, enabling him, in a charming way, to extract humour from most situations. His long suffering wife is referred to as That Nice Lady Decorator, which is a compromise following her discovery that she was at first referred to as The Future Ex Mrs France, and subsequently The In House Plasterer before she discovered these descriptions in turn, and the Decorator epithet was agreed upon. He takes great delight in writing dangerously about her as she seldom reads what she calls him "writing silly stories for his friends" which is actually how it started.
For part of the summer he is forced to endure the worst of English weather in a holiday away from his beloved Provence, and is scathing about the weather and particularly anything to do with what he describes as the tundra covered northern wastes of England. Merciless on anything northern, the weather, whippets, pigeons, tripe, black pudding, lack of electricity are all subjects about which this London born "southern jessy" is eloquent.
He hates losing at anything, and thus triumphs on the golf course or the tennis courts are trumpeted thoroughly, but losing is hardly ever mentioned or acknowledged, much to the chagrin of his opponents who enjoy beating him as he hates it so much. His self proclaimed epitaph should read "magnanimous in victory, sulky in defeat".
Occasionally he will delve into his past, having worked with people as diverse as Simon Cowell, Rolf Harris, Bucks Fizz, Prince, Steve Marriott, Small Faces, Humble Pie and Sam Fox, running his rap label, Music Of Life and as a music promoter in his younger days having booked The Clash, the Damned, XTC, The Jam and hundreds of others. For over 40 years he has known and worked with rock 'n rolls greatest failure John Otway who remains one of his closest friends. His friends in the Cote d'Azur pillory him mercilessly for his lack of knowledge about the music, after all it was the business that interested him, and he enjoys and reports on events from the past and more recent concert visits.
All in all this is a very good lightweight and humorous read and more books will follow if this book sells in any quantity.
Developed from a daily blog, www.valbonnenews.com, the author noticed that the ruder he was about people and the more salacious the gossip included, the more the readership expanded. Chris France has a wicked way with words, enabling him, in a charming way, to extract humour from most situations. His long suffering wife is referred to as That Nice Lady Decorator, which is a compromise following her discovery that she was at first referred to as The Future Ex Mrs France, and subsequently The In House Plasterer before she discovered these descriptions in turn, and the Decorator epithet was agreed upon. He takes great delight in writing dangerously about her as she seldom reads what she calls him "writing silly stories for his friends" which is actually how it started.
For part of the summer he is forced to endure the worst of English weather in a holiday away from his beloved Provence, and is scathing about the weather and particularly anything to do with what he describes as the tundra covered northern wastes of England. Merciless on anything northern, the weather, whippets, pigeons, tripe, black pudding, lack of electricity are all subjects about which this London born "southern jessy" is eloquent.
He hates losing at anything, and thus triumphs on the golf course or the tennis courts are trumpeted thoroughly, but losing is hardly ever mentioned or acknowledged, much to the chagrin of his opponents who enjoy beating him as he hates it so much. His self proclaimed epitaph should read "magnanimous in victory, sulky in defeat".
Occasionally he will delve into his past, having worked with people as diverse as Simon Cowell, Rolf Harris, Bucks Fizz, Prince, Steve Marriott, Small Faces, Humble Pie and Sam Fox, running his rap label, Music Of Life and as a music promoter in his younger days having booked The Clash, the Damned, XTC, The Jam and hundreds of others. For over 40 years he has known and worked with rock 'n rolls greatest failure John Otway who remains one of his closest friends. His friends in the Cote d'Azur pillory him mercilessly for his lack of knowledge about the music, after all it was the business that interested him, and he enjoys and reports on events from the past and more recent concert visits.
All in all this is a very good lightweight and humorous read and more books will follow if this book sells in any quantity.
