I was a bit taken aback to find an article in the Times this week which referred to Riviera Radio which is our English language music station in this area. Broadcasting out of dingy little offices in Monaco, it plays U2, James Blunt and Amy Winehouse ad nauseum but it also has a ‘community chest’ where listeners can advertise things for sale etc. It’s a broadcasting version of AngloInfo, the web based forum which does much the same thing down here on the Côte d’Azur. What took me aback was that somebody writing for the Times had even heard of Riviera Radio, never mind knowing that it had a listener’s forum for buying, selling and exchanging goods, animals, cars and houses.
It made me recall the time that J had called the station to ‘advertise’ our stray husky dog, Harry, who had caused such havoc after we rescued him that we just had to find him another home. He would run away with Shadow and I’d have to pick them up at the dog pound and make a donation. This was happening two to three times a week! He ate or dug up all my plants and generally was quite destructive, but - he was absolutely adorable and it took a lot of soul searching to make the decision, but we had to get rid of him. Sooner or later Shadow would be run over by a car as he faithfully and stupidly followed Harry along the main road into the village.
Within hours of phoning the station a lady phoned us and asked us if we could we take Harry down to their house so they could have a look at him. It was a 45 minute drive and every second of the way, I was warning Harry that he’d better behave – or else. This was a done deal as far as I was concerned.
We arrived at this stunning villa overlooking the Med and were met at the front of the house by a very elegant lady (probably in her 40s or 50s). In her hands she had a toy poodle and as soon as she put it down, Harry picked it up between his jaws. I waited for the sickening crunch of bones and screams of anguish but Harry was so gentle. He picked him up, put him down and picked him up again. He was just being friendly. ‘Oh look’, she exclaimed, ‘they’re friends already’.
Immediately after putting ‘Botche’ (the poodle) down, Harry wandered into the front lounge and climbed onto an immaculate white sofa, stretched out and let rip. The smell was appalling but incredibly the lady smiled and said it was obvious that he already felt at home. ‘In fact’, she said, ‘Botche does that all the time – it must be the foie gras we feed him’!
Not long after, her husband appeared in a brand new Aston Martin which he’d been taking delivery of in Monaco. Of course, Harry just had to run over to the car, stand on his back legs and put his paws on the driver’s window. I was waiting for the tell-tale screeching noise of claws on paint but again Harry was perfectly well behaved and licked the husband as soon as he got out of the car. It was love at first sight.
All of Harry’s belongings were unloaded from our car and Harry was formally handed over but as with all ‘dog’ handovers, they are done on 1 week’s approval. If the new owners don’t like or get on with the dog, there is an unwritten rule that says they can hand him back.
Well, J and I bit our nails for a week waiting for the fateful call which would tell us that Harry had been hungry one night and had devoured poor little Botche. Or he’d eaten the leather seats in the new Aston martin. Or he’d crapped on the white leather sofa. And then the call came …… on the very last day. I thought that Harry was on his way back but the lady staggered us and simply asked if we had a picture of him as a puppy – her husband wanted it for a screensaver! Aaaaah!
But getting back to Riviera Radio, the URL below will allow you to play it on your PC.
http://www.rivieraradio.mc/home.asp
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