Privatisation of public space

We live on a lane which changes from rat-race to no-go area at the whim of a well-known Antibes restauranteur, who employs suited gorillas to enforce his dictats. Woe betide anybody who dares to ask where, and for how long, the official notice of closure has been displayed. That's the way things happen down here.

This week is the perfect closure (think 'perfect storm'), as the antiques sellers have occupied most of the boulevard d'Aguillon and most of the car park near the Harbourmaster's Office; the Antibes Yacht Show has declared out of bounds the south side of the Port Vauban; and on Thursday the market stallholders will invade the area next to the post office with their white vans. And this comes at the usual Easter moment when all the cafés and restaurants begin to encroach abusively on the pavements, beyond their allotted tolerance zone, leaving little room for pedestrians between the abusively parked cars, scooters and motorbikes and the ever-present dog-turds.

Suddenly, as spring arrives, Antibes runs out of elbow-room...