When most people think of visiting the Cote d’Azur, they fancy they will be clad in haute couture and dining only at Michelen starred restaurants.

Jack Nicholson enjoys his French holiday in unique style.

So what a delightfully refreshing change to see legendary actor Jack Nicholson showing them all how it’s done.

Surrounded by a bevy of ladies 50 years his junior, the 72-year-old actor has been jumping off of yachts to swim, floating in the sea while puffing on a cigarette, downing that drink that he claims is the “best in the world” — beer, and if that were not enough, he decided to take himself a catnap.

But it wasn’t a nap on the veranda of Club 55.  No, not our Jack.  He sprawled out on a grassy median and snoozed away.

Touring the French countryside — in car, walking tour, bicycles.  It’s all be done time and again.

But now with Columbus International, you can truly embrace the sexy asphalt curves around Provence on a Ducati.  You can

Tour France in style on a Ducati motorcycle.

choose from a Streetfighter, Monster S2R 1000, Hypermotard 1100, and Supersport 848.

Based in Cannes, the company also offers varieties on their programs including the Gourmet Tour which takes you to starred Michelin restaurants, High Octane which will have you driving an F1 on a racetrack, the Nature Tour which features natural parks, restaurants, and a private yacht, and the Offshore Ride tour which includes yachting and barracuda fishing.

If you aren’t up for the summer heat, get brisk with their winter tours which will have you riding in the morning and skiing in the afternoon!

Tours begin at $7500.

In an exploit right out of Hollywood, the Cartier store in Cannes was victimized by the “Pink Panthers” gang.

A dastardly group of armed robers – in garish Hawaiian print shirts no less – descended upon the luxury jeweler along the Cote d’Azur this past Monday.    The leader held a gun on everyone and demanded they lie on the floor.   The accomplices raided the entire store of jewels, luxury goods and watches and then the team made their escape on motorcycles down the Boulevard de la Croisette.  This Cartier store is just a few yards from Hotel Carlton Cannes and overlooks the water so it’s not like this was a low profile venue.

This gang earned their nickname back in 1993 when they stole a massive diamond from a jeweler in the Mayfair area of London and hid it in a jar of face cream (a method used in the original Peter Sellers film).  The gang is suspected of being eastern European and former soldiers and they are notorious for daring feats one would expect to see in a film.

In 2005, they raided a jeweler in St. Tropez and made their escape by boat.

To further complicate things for law enforcement, the gang is suspected of being a laissez faire network of perhaps 200 people which has hindered the investigations.

The gentle sobbing you hear permeating the airwaves are the tears from 17 owners of the exclusive Bugatti Veyrons which are currently for sale at JamesList.

The Veyron was introduced in 2005 as the fastest production car in the world and it is currently the fastest accelerating and decelerating production car in the world, with a 0 – 100 km/h – 0 time of 8.6 seconds and, at 1.1 million euro (1.5 million USD), it is also one of the most expensive cars in the world.  The car is named named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti company.

Perhaps the 17 Veyrons currently for sale on JamesList  seemed like a logical investment during the boom days  is proving either an expensive liability these days or a way to raise some much-needed cash.

The number of Veyrons being offered up is even more astonishing when one takes into account the fact that, although over 200 Veyrons had been sold, only 132 had actually been built.

But for the savvy shopper, the Veyrons on offer range from a relative bargain for a 2005 model in Germany at about $1 million all the way up to $2.6 million for the first model in the 2006 production run.

Of course, no two Veyrons are exactly alike.