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Articles by Robert Tickler

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About Robert Tickler

A man of financial substance, Robert has a wide range of interests and opinions to match. More Posts

Events dear boy events

When Harold Macmillan made this memorable observation on how polices and strategies are undermined by events it seemed better suited to the macro world of politics than the macro world of Robert Tickler but it was the best description of my day yesterday. It began with the mild gastric upset I [...]

May 3, 2018 // 0 Comments

Wrapping up

I got back from a hot Nice to a cold, grey and wet south coast Friday. I am definitely in the school of ‘rent not buy’ when it comes to overseas property but it took 3 hours to pack everything up and another one to unpack sandwiched by a flight in a compacted easyJet flight with [...]

April 29, 2018 // 0 Comments

The Mediterrenean diet

No  disrespect to Daffers and her ilk that spend significant amount of their waking hours in restaurants but often you cannot beat a simple meal at home. Yesterday after a stroll down the Promenade we partook of asparagus, prawns, ham and salad all fresh from the market that day on the terrace and [...]

April 26, 2018 // 0 Comments

The Chateau and the ballet

The flat I rent is adjacent to the Chateau of Nice. In the book that Henry reviewed and I read – The Riviera at War – it refers to this being a place for German ordnance to fire on the Allies in the event of sea attack. You can see why as it’s atop of a hill on a promontory between [...]

April 20, 2018 // 0 Comments

No frills, no fun

There are few things in life I enjoy less than travelling on a budget airline. From booking to getting the boarding passes to travel, the whole process is one where I grit my teeth and bear it. Take yesterday, for example, when I was travelling from Nice to London Gatwick on easyJet. Neither Polly [...]

April 17, 2018 // 0 Comments

The French Character – a Paradox

Last night we met Muriel – the lady who was so helpful, when I was pickpocketed, for a drink. She is a social worker in some of the large sink housing estates around Nice such as Ariane. She is clearly a good soul like Regine. Yet it proved a somewhat convoluted arrangement. We agreed to meet [...]

April 14, 2018 // 0 Comments

Sanary

Sanary has an interesting literary history. Aldous Huxley, Cyril Connolly and Sybille Bedford all lived there. Sybille Bedford wrote a touching account of her childhood there in Jigsaw. Then the German Jewish writers notably Berthold Brecht fled there in the thirties. Nowadays it attracts more the [...]

April 13, 2018 // 0 Comments

Bad day at the holiday

The phrase “bad day at the office” seems to mean a connection between work and a bad time but this can happen for whatever reason, at whatever  place. Yesterday it happened to me on holiday through a combination of bad service, bad weather and bad luck. The plan was an over night stay at [...]

April 12, 2018 // 0 Comments

Cleaners

I have always found cleaners an odd breed, supposedly  providing a service but in reality imposing their own foibles on your household. French cleaners are no different, worse in fact. I have engaged a cleaning agency that offers a but not the cleaner twice a week as I have yet to have the same [...]

April 11, 2018 // 0 Comments

comparing notes

It’s interesting to compare notes with William (Byford), both of us victims of crime. A burglary is a far more invasive crime than a pickpocket and more was stolen from him too. I still notice that the first reaction in both cases is  disbelief – “Has it really happened ?” Followed by [...]

April 10, 2018 // 0 Comments

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