We were in Cannes last week and as usual I was enchanted by the blue sea, brightly striped umbrellas on the beach and exotic palm trees lining the Croisette. Still I prefer Aix…couldn’t cope with the Riviera traffic. But it’s an interesting area and this week there are two documentaries on TV dealing with it.
‘Cote d’Azur: les dessous d’une cash machine‘ (yes that’s the title) focuses on the beaches. There are, it says, 10m visitors a year to what is one of the world’s top destinations, and the plagistes and restauranteurs have to make their money during July and August. Their story. They also explain how the businesses are allowed to fence off what were public beaches. Channel 8, Wednesday 11th June, 20:50hrs.
Cote d’Azur: l’échappée bleue: more of a travelogue. It is a tour of Porquerolles, the presqu’ile de Giens, St Tropez, vieux Nice and Monaco. This is the way to travel – a glass of wine, a comfy sofa and avoid all that traffic! France 5, Saturday 14th June 20.35hrs.