Now, I've always liked Bormes-les-Mimosas. It doesn't actually need the -les-Mimosas bit and once got along very well without it, but the French are very fond of marketing so B-l-M it is.
It is a pretty little village just above Le Lavandou. One of the best restaurants around - La Tonnelle - is found there, as are lots of charming little windy lanes and an immaculate cluster of buildings arranged higgledy-piggledy on the hillsides.
There is even a church fit for presidents, the official holiday retreat of the Fort de Brégançon being a short drive away. Jacques Chirac and Mme Chi-Chi joined the congregation often enough, Bernadette also making it her business to open the annual carnival with a procession of floats making the most of the proliferation of mimosas.
But each to his taste. And to hers.
Le couple Bruni-Sarkozy - seen here at Michel Mahler's admirable satirical site, Reveil des Marmottesare - are not too impressed by the place. Carla has her own pad along the coast at Cap Nègre and that is where they are much more likely to be found when in the south.
Even so, it makes them as close neighbours as they would be if staying at Brégançon, or indeed if we still lived on the Rue de Rivoli, 15 minutes or so on foot from the Elysée.
I recall having to write about all the things the previous Mme Sarko wanted to do to spruce up Brégançon. Much of the wine I sip here comes from adjacent vineyards. But, well, the president and France's latest Premiere Dame have moved on. Bregancon plays little or no part in their lives.
That doesn't mean we can't still be friends. We already have a few things in common, about which I may one day offer a few words. All that remains is for someone to let them know we're back so that they can get the invitation in the post.
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