Working from Cannes

Well I've finished my first week at work now and this is the first company in nearly 20 years where I've been expected to write code almost from day one. It seems the reason I'm here is to provide a Symbian version of their platform for a trade show in October. That will mean two things:

1/. There will be no moving of deadlines!
2/. Chances are high this contract will not last past October.

That will be a shame, but as the initial contract is only 2 months, it will perhaps mean a 2 month extension is likely. Short contracts are a problem, because I want somewhere to live, and it's not easy finding somewhere when the contracts are so small. My agent has been stretching the truth on my behalf to catch the interest of landlords, and this appears to have worked, as I should be able to move into a new apartment by the end of the month in Antibes.


Since Tuesday, I've been living out of a suitcase in Cannes, at the home of another friend of a friend, while she is on holiday. Its location is very central and everything is on the doorstep, including a church with a bell (above), but I'll be glad to get back to Antibes.

My new appartment is no more than 15 minutes from the front in Antibes, and is much better located for the blast to and from work. And I get to see the sea from the balcony - I took the next shot during the viewing. I also get a decent parking location, which is not always available with a flat because much of Antibes and Cannes are old town type places with small hilly cobbled streets. Needless to say this doesn't bother the scooter maniacs at all, but getting cars up them is another thing entirely.

I'm just waiting for the landlord to move out now....

First Day @ Open-Plug

In keeping with tradition, my first entry into my new office was accompanied (baby sat?) by my agent. This is a different person (same company though) than was the case for the Toulouse job, but the working practices are very much the same, and way better than in England.

I was introduced to the PM, who then introduced me to everyone else, and then - well, bugger me, off straight into a meeting. By the time this had fiished, my new computer, actually a laptop, had been comissioned and was waiting for me on my desk! WTF? For the last seven weeks I've been idling my life away, and now I was expected to start work almost immiediately after walking in through the door? Actually, this is better than having to read documentation for 2 weeks, and they're woefully short of that, so I think this could get interesting. I appear to be their sole Symbian programmer too, which may or may not turn out to be an advantage, but it certainly sets me apart for now.

How Much?

I've already made a fair few enquiries with local contacts supplied to me by a friend of a friend, and rentals start at around 350 euros a week out of town to 600 (even 900) for the town itself. That's a week remember! Outside these months things settle down again, but what seems to happen is that the local residents clear their houses, milk the rich holiday makers for two months, then move back afterwards. That's how popular the place is, and what makes it a bit of a witch when you just want to work there. Still, I could go a few miles up the coast or even inland, and that would make things easier.

Toulouse To Antibes...

...was as easy as setting the TomTom to take me to an address in Antibes. I'd been put in touch with a friend of a friend who has been living and working there for 4 years. Kate had offered to put me up temporarily until I could sort myself out.

The journey was about 340 miles, and Google claimed this would take about 5 hours. I reckoned closer to 4, but by the time I'd had a break at the services and got stuck in the Antibes rush hour, it was almost spot on, despite never dropping below 90mph all the way. Given that the speed limit here is 80mph, you really have to go some to reduce the journey time predicted according to legal parameters. Even so, as always the French motorways were great ie empty.


At the services I also spotted a motorcyclist with English plates, so I strolled over to say hello. Turns out he'd taken a ferry to Holland, and was now crossing (more like touring) France to get to Italy. As motorcycles do have a 'sidedness' - obviously not the steering, but definitely with the dipped beam headlight direction - I am counting it as a sort of RHD vehicle.


Antibes looked great as I drove in - lots of palm trees and a harbour and a beach. Definitely looked a cracking place to be, certainly in summer anyhow. Bonus: almost as soon as I'd landed, Kate took me out for some food and beer, even though she had work the next day.


RHD=0.5

Winning the IT Lottery

Well, after a rather lengthy wait for the news I'd been hoping to hear, I found out today I'd got a new job in Antibes. I had a telephone only interview for this over a week ago, and it seemed to be in the bag at the time, although plenty can go wrong between the tech lead's interview and the accountant's abacus. This job hasn't come a moment too soon either, as I have bugger all in the bank to see me out of the recession, and I really need to be working at least semi-regularly.

The position is in Antibes, which is well over 300 miles from Toulouse, and is located on The Riviera between Cannes and Nice. I'll say that again - it's located on The Riviera. I'm still pinching myself, as it is everything I could have hoped for when I moved to France. The company is actually based in Sophia Antipolis, which is a very large science park set in a forest a few miles inland. For those who know, think 'Kista'. Except with scenery. There are apparently 20,000 people working in IT there.

There are 2 only downsides as far as I can tell:

1/. The initial contract is only 2 months. This makes life very difficult to rent in France, as the rental market is heavily regulated, and two months won't impress many landlords. This suggests a house share will again be the likely option.

2/. The two month contract overlaps almost precisely the two most expensive months in The Riviera holiday season. During July and August, Antibes is the most expensive town in France. This will pretty much guarantee that a house share is the likely option.

I'll know more when I get there in a week or so.

But for now, dead bloody chuffed :-)