Susan Tomassini
| Aug 22, 2016
There’s something special about eating in the summertime. Maybe because fruits and vegetables are at their best or perhaps it’s that eating en plein air strengthens our connection to nature and exposes us to sunlight, both of which are…
Karen Hockney
| Jun 15, 2016
It started out as a simple midsummer gathering among friends and acquaintances in a back garden in Mougins. Now in its fourth year, the Holistic Garden Party has flourished into the perfect escape from the treadmill to enjoy nurturing and indulgent…
Riviera Reporter
| Jun 05, 2016
I love being a non-smoker. I feel free. I started smoking when I was 18. It wasn’t to be sociable. I was working as an au pair, looking after 4 children and a house, and it was stressful. I bought a packet of 10 cigarettes and, alone in the quiet of…
Susan Tomassini
| May 23, 2016
One of the most pleasant aspects about living on the French Riviera is exploring the open-air food markets. From Mandelieu to Menton, almost every town and village along the coast has its own marché offering an ever-changing variety of just-picked…
Lydia Porter
| Apr 30, 2016
“Crying is good for you,” my mum would sniffle after bursting into tears yet again for no reason. I was in my mid-twenties, ignorant of the uncontrollable changes caused by decreasing levels of oestrogen. Fast-forward thirty years and my own…
Susan Tomassini
| Mar 19, 2016
We live in a region that gets 320-plus days of sunshine but even so, when daylight, sunlight and temperature levels fall, so do our energy levels. Lethargy and sluggishness are especially common at this time of year when we spend more time indoors,…
Riviera Reporter
| Feb 03, 2016
Since the Asian tiger mosquito, carrier of dengue fever, first made a buzz in Menton in 2004, its pesky presence has steadily grown in the Var and parts of the Alpes-Maritimes, while cases of Chikungunya were reported in the Hérault in 2014. Now a…
Susan Tomassini
| Nov 29, 2015
The holiday season is just around the corner – a time to connect with friends and relatives and emerge feeling refreshed. Or not. Even those of us lucky enough to live in the relative halcyon of the French Riviera can experience the holidays as…
Marilyn Wedge Ph.D.
| Nov 09, 2015
In the United States, at least 9% of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD and are taking pharmaceutical medications. In France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than 0.5 percent. How has the epidemic of…
Scott Bell
| Oct 27, 2015
There’s been lots of press over recent months touting the nutritional value of fruit and veg smoothies, so it’s no surprise to learn that in 2013 the juice and smoothies market in the US was valued at $23 billion, while in the UK sales rose 2.1% to…
Scott Bell
| Sep 02, 2015
In 400 BC, give or take a year, Hippocrates coined the expression “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, and ever since we’ve been aware of the link between proper eating and good health. Unfortunately, in our modern Western societies,…
Lisa Pepin
| Dec 15, 2014
We’ve all heard the claims about the Mediterranean diet. The fresh produce, the fish, olive oil and red wine are all strengthening our arteries, lowering our bad cholesterol and prolonging our lives, making residents of the South of France some of…
Riviera Reporter
| Nov 15, 2014
Experience, Strength and Hope. Life in the South of France, on the Cote d’Azur – the sun and the sea, and thoughts of chilled Provençal rosé wine, lovely but not for me. I am an alcoholic. My drinking career started aged 14 when I discovered the…
Nick Kent
| Oct 24, 2014
Philippe Laïk had just flown in from the US when he took the call in the back of a Parisian taxi. His cook was calling from the Laïk mansion above Menton, her voice trembling as she passed on the bad news. Her 11-year-old nephew, Ismaïl Dlimi, lay…
Riviera Reporter
| Sep 16, 2014
After the success of last year’s inaugural Cogs4Cancer charity cycle, 16 riders from the yachting industry are at it again in aid of Cancer Research UK, Clinique Tzank in Mougins and the children’s cancer unit at the Lenval Hospital in Nice. The C4C…
Nancy Heslin
| Jun 27, 2014
Having a magnetic personality can be a deadly diagnosis, as James Minter learned. All for a good cause: James Minter, with wife Maggie at their home in the Herault, agrees that laughter is the best medicine. James Minter and his Belgian wife Maggie…
Riviera Reporter
| May 19, 2014
What is Diabetes? Definition: chronic dysregulation of the blood sugar (glucose) level, which becomes elevated. Type-1 diabetes (formerly “insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus”) occurs mainly in young people (80-90% before age of 30). It is caused by…
Riviera Reporter
| May 16, 2014
“Sometimes people cross our path and inspire us to do things differently ...” Meet Ben Rolfe. This is the kind of comment you’ll find on his fundraising website –
www.justgiving.com/totallynuts. In November 2003, aged 31, Ben had just moved to the…
Colette Kent
| Jan 10, 2014
Dr Kenneth Cooper, the man who literally added the “s” to the word aerobic, is adamant: “We don’t stop exercising because we grow old, we grow old because we stop exercising.” He should know. During his years of service with the US Air Force, Dr…
Nancy Heslin
| Nov 26, 2013
Why understanding your needs and your language is such a rare quality in a personal nurse. For years my friend Joanne looked after a man in his seventies who suffered from Parkinson’s, plus heart and back trouble. He spent much of his time in the…
Riviera Reporter
| Nov 21, 2013
Looking to escape the cog in the UK corporate wheel, and the long train commutes and work days that went along with it, Steve Woods set up Woods Solicitors in 2003. He can walk to his Chester office and is able to spend time with his family. There’s…
Colette Kent
| Jun 21, 2013
From flab to fab in a few easy steps! This is the time of year when your thoughts turn to cleaning, which usually means organising cluttered cupboards. However, maybe it’s time to do the same with your body. After an unseasonably long winter of…
Colette Kent
| May 27, 2013
It always amazes me how much energy children have: they run, jump and skip for hours. We too were once like that, but over the years our "oomph" has subsided and staying active has become a chore. For parents, it’s often hard to find time away from…
Patrick Middleton
| Apr 22, 2013
Don’t think it’s going to be easy. The French medical magazine Prescrire recently carried details of a cross-national survey which followed nearly 4000 smokers in their attempts to abandon their habit. Their approaches ranged across everything from…
Patrick Middleton
| Feb 26, 2013
The French are the EU's biggest pot smokers but public and political opinion is divided over what to do about this. Patrick Middleton reports. A few months ago we talked to an exchange student from a US West Coast college who told us "I smelt it as…
Riviera Reporter
| Feb 12, 2013
“Collateral victims” of the bottleA local study in the Alpes-Maritimes has estimated that one in ten inhabitants of the department has a serious problem with alcohol. In other words, they can’t control their input and this has a damaging effect on…
Nancy Heslin
| Feb 02, 2013
Ironman and Fitlane are well-known brands in the region. The guys in charge don’t just talk the talk but run the race. Walking along the Promenade in Nice last September I was startled to see the Ironman France equipment set up across from Jardin…
Colette Kent
| Jan 17, 2013
We know that exercise should be an integral part of our lives. It boosts energy, relieves stress, releases feel-good chemicals in our brain, and builds the immune system. Fortunately, we live in what can only be described as a playground for the…
Nancy Heslin
| Oct 12, 2012
Just after her 50th birthday Alison Prideaux received the unwelcome gift of cancer diagnosis. She talked to Nancy Heslin about Insulin Potentiation Chemotherapy and her road to remission Alison Prideaux (pictured) grew up in Surrey but worked in…
Riviera Reporter
| Jul 13, 2012
So says Dr Damien Giacchero, a dermatologist at Archet 2 in Nice, and we’re glad to quote him to reinforce the usual warning about over-exposure to the summer sun (even when, as this year, it arrived late). Sunburn isn’t funny – it’s not just the…
Riviera Reporter
| Jul 09, 2012
Don’t think of your sunglasses as primarily a fashion item: that has to be a secondary consideration. Of course, designer shades can be expensive and usually come from reputable manufacturers but they still need careful selection. On the other hand,…
Patrick Middlerton
| Mar 05, 2012
... and difficult to get rid of. Maybe a beagle could help. Normally, no larger than an apple pip, a feeding bedbug can swell up as it ingests a quantity of blood equivalent to seven times its normal body weight, and can then fast for months.In…
Walt Ambruster
| Jan 07, 2012
“With the old is wisdom,” the Bible tells us but, in fact, some of the everyday lore handed down by oldies is plain wrong. Example (a favourite injunction of my grandmother): Don't go swimming for at least an hour after eating a meal. In fact,…
Godfrey Corfield
| Jan 07, 2012
Godfrey Corfield outlines the basics According to its official mission statement the French social security system (la Sécu) “gives everybody the possibility to receive health care according to his or her needs, whatever his or her income level”.…
Riviera Reporter
| Jan 07, 2012
Every year in France, a number of women and children are killed by their own husbands, fathers or partners. Many more are abused or injured. Once threatening behaviour starts there is recourse before something more serious takes place. Help is…
Valda Lynen
| Jan 07, 2012
Prologue In this article, the word SUICIDE is replaced by the letter ‘S’ because, like other words with a malevolent aura, they can be melodramatic, where no melodrama is intended. So ‘S’ will suffice. It should be clear that the second person is…
Patrick Middleton
| Jan 07, 2012
In the first of two accounts of medical emergencies Geoffrey Garnett and his wife Liz recall in conversation with Patrick Middleton the night, just over a year ago, when he had a stroke. “It was around three o’clock in the morning,” begins Liz. “I…
Riviera Reporter
| Jan 07, 2012
According to official figures, some 800,000 people are currently living in France with a diagnosed cancer. Such a medical verdict is hard to take and it’s a relief to share shock and anxiety with sympathetic listeners. Juliet Young (pictured) who’s…
Riviera Reporter
| Jan 07, 2012
“Have another? Better not …” Dr Walt Ambruster and Cressida van Zyl-Pithey take another look at problem drinking Every year at Christmas we offer some advice on coping with hangovers. This last time we actually recommended a website –
Riviera Reporter
| Jan 07, 2012
Over the past three decades the French have been drinking less and less wine but at the same time turning to other tipples - including, surprisingly, absinthe. That drink has an interesting story. Its basic ingredients are wormwood, fennel and anis.…