I’ve just finished two days of meetings in Cannes. It’s a beautiful time of the year to be here. Clear blue skies (albeit a little hazy) and the temperature hovering around 20 degrees. For me, this is what I would describe as a pleasantly cool day. But not everyone would agree.

I was sitting on a bus waiting to go back to Juan-les-Pins when the guy in front of me answered a call on his mobile. In a distinct north-country English accent he said: “Yes I am in Cannes now. It is so hot here - boiling hot in fact.”

If he thinks this is hot, he should do a trip to the middle of Australia in the middle of summer where the temperature can be more than double what it is here today. Then he really would be ‘boiling hot’.

As I was waiting on the bus I was watching people play pétanque in a park across from the bus stop.


According to Wikipedia, about 17 million people in France play the casual form of pétanque. I noticed it was mainly men who play the game, but there were a few women as well. I suppose you could say that France is the only country where women have boules.