September / October 1989
As memories of a long, hot summer fade and the stampede to the beach and the crush of the highway merge into a long line of departing holiday-makers at Nice Airport, the residents of the Côte d'Azur breathe a grateful sigh and life regains some of its tranquility. Those of us who were away on vacation catch up with the midsummer misdemeanours and highlights ... the furore discretely "covered up" at the Casino when two wags emerged in the early hours wearing only birthday suits, announcing to the waiting world that they'd "lost everything" ... the wild excitement on Avenue Princesse Grace when Ringo Starr was spotted in John Long's menswear shop, shopping for outfits to wear on tour ... the ten-gallon hats seen at "Le Texan" on the night of cowboy Roy Rogers' second cousin, Bob Wades' exhibition of fascinating pictures of the cowboys and Indians of the old, Wild West ... the fabulous night at the Sporting Club with Liza Minnelli and Sammy Davis, Jnr ... the plans for the Fontvieille center, near the zoo, with an antique car museum and shopping mall with restaurants and a creche; and will there be a skating rink and a MacDonalds? And will it all be finished for 1992 — the magical number that's fascinating Europe (while in the USA, people are looking way ahead and already making dinner reservations in their favourite restaurant for New Year's Eve, 1999!).
Tranquility may not lie ahead, however, for residents of the Condamine, or Avenue Princesse Grace. The foundation stone for the new theatre and conference centre was laid in the early summer by SAS Prince Rainier III and the old houses next to the National Museum are to be tom down to make way for another high-rise building, albeit with a garden in front. Residents nearby poise for the onslaught of heavy machinery. The new AGIP petrol station was carefully placed underground, but unfortunately, cement trucks and bulldozers threatened to grind and thump and disturb the early morning sleep-ins and siesta hours of many a long suffering resident this winter.
Fortunately, winter sports are not too far away, the Caribbean sun shines on through the winter and the children go back to school.
Why are Americans living here — or, indeed, anywhere else in Europe, when they would, surely, have an easier life in Seattle or Sheboygan? That's the question posed by Rome-based writer Michael Mewshaw in his book Playing Away (Atheneum, NY $18.95). Mewshaw's answers, alongside a catalogue of hassle-heavy experiences, boil down to one word: variety, in everything from winds through wines to women. Europe, he claims, far more than North America, is full of unexpected treats for body, mind and spirit (he enthuses, for example, over his "discovery" of off-season Antibes).
Of course, as Mewshaw admits, expatriate life has its drawbacks, but these have won little official sympathy back home. This could change. In March, Representative Bill Alexander of Arkansas introduced a legislative package that would give Americans abroad a congressional representation (non-voting), amend the tax laws so that they would only pay taxes where they lived and make it easier for those who marry non-US citizens to pass on American citizenship to their children. Anyone with views on these and other issues is invited to send them, along with a brief account of their "Amexpat" experience, to Rep. Alexander at his office on Capitol Hill.
