Category Archives: Urban Hazards

The Flipside of Carnival: Police, Tear Gas and Arrests

UPDATE: Did the police overstep?  Here’s the video, you be the judge. Last Sunday afternoon while the Official Carnival was in full swing in Place Massena, the alternative Carnaval Populaire (‘People’s Carnival’)was also gaining steam at Place Garibaldi.  The official Carnival had … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Carnival, Social Unrest, Urban Hazards | 1 Comment

Storms Wreak Havoc on the Cote d’Azur

UPDATE Nov 9:  The Prom is open and things have calmed down, but the coast road is still closed between Antibes and Villeneuve Loubet, as well as other road closures due to fallen trees or mudslides.    And click here for … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uncategorized, Urban Hazards | Tagged | Comments Off

Anti G20 Protests in Nice: so far so good…

Whew – the first Anti-G20 protest was far from the feared free-for-all, with only about half the expected number of protesters showing up …and thankfully, not a peep from the Black Bloc.  The massive police presence along the route (1,200!) … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Urban Hazards | Tagged | Comments Off

Wildcat Train Strike Paralyses French Rail Travel

UPDATE:  The Controller strike ended Friday afternoon, but there is another strike set to start Tuesday, this time by Conductors. Thursday, in Strasbourg, a controller was stabbed by a homeless crazy person and is now in the hospital… it’s a … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Urban Hazards | Tagged | 1 Comment

New Summer Crime Speciality: the Nice Necklace Grab

  Cartoon by Deligne, courtesy of Nice-Matin Gold necklaces seem to be the latest fashion accessory among juvenile delinquents in Nice… no, not wearing them, but ripping them off the necks of unsuspecting women!   The Vol a la Portiere used to be Nice’s signature crime, … Continue reading

Share
Posted in The Seamy Underbelly, Urban Hazards | Tagged | 2 Comments

Celebrity Victim of ‘Vol à la Portière’ Attempt

Thursday around 7:30pm on the Prom, he was sitting in his parked car, probably with briefcase and phone sitting on the passenger seat, when his car was spotted by two young n’er do wells, looking for an easy mark. They … Continue reading

Share
Posted in The Seamy Underbelly, Urban Hazards | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Port Restaurant Attacked in Crazy Football Violence

UPDATE:  Check out the comments for an eye-witness account by one of the restaurant’s clients… The irony is that it wasn’t even a Nice match!  Yesterday, the Corsica-Nice ferry brought over four busloads of Corsican football fans on their way to a … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Life Imitates Comedy, Urban Hazards | Tagged | 4 Comments

Cote d’Azur under Nuclear Cloud Today

Spring is in the air… but do you know what else?   The radioactive cloud released in Japan two weeks ago has traversed the Pacific, passed over North America, crossed the Atlantic …and is now making its way over France.   It arrives today on … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Urban Hazards | Comments Off

As if Going to the Prefecture Wasn’t Bad Enough Already…

(Updated below) Could the yearly Carte de Sejour pilgrimage to the Prefecture get any worse?  It’s supremely inconveniently located, they make you get there at an un-godly hour to wait outside in the cold just to have a hope of getting seen, you then stand … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Urban Hazards | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Prince and the Porsche

  A year ago August, a young Saudi prince, out testing the limits of his new yellow Porsche in the streets of Cannes, spun out of control and t-boned a Fiat driven by Marie Dalmont.  Seconds later, as the two … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Urban Hazards | Tagged | Comments Off

Latest Riviera Must-Have Fashion Accessory

The bizarre phenomenon of urban projectiles continues… On Saturday, a chunk of facade fell off the Boscolo Plaza Hotel around 17h30, crashing right in front of the hotel entry.  Luckily, no one was coming or going at that precipitous moment and the only casualty was the … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Urban Hazards | Tagged , | Comments Off

Watch for Falling Rocks (…In Town!)

While so much of Nice is getting a facelift (Place Garibaldi and MARMAC come to mind…), other areas are literally falling apart.  On Monday, part of the façade dropped off a building on rue de la Californie, and yesterday it … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Urban Hazards | Tagged , | Comments Off