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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
In the first fortnight after its opening on December 15,
Montpellier’s new aquarium Mare Nostrum had more than 36,000 visitors – an average of 3,600 a day, three times the number budgeted for in the business plan.
Mare Nostrum is open seven days a week during school holidays from 10am to 7pm,
Friday and Saturday until 8pm.
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
The Iraqi government is
selling off Saddam
Hussein’s yacht, with a
suggested price-tag of
around €23.5m.
The 82m ‘Ocean
Breeze’, moored in the port
of Nice, was built in
Denmark in 1981. Before it
was acquired by Saddam, it
passed through several hands
among them, those of his
sworn enemies the Saudi
royal family.
Capable of up to 20
knots and equipped with its
own helipad, the vessel’s
conventional outside
appearance conceals a
luxurious interior, in an
Oriental style with
much gilding.
Saddam owned the yacht
at the time of the Iran-Iraq
war and renamed it
‘Quadislya’. his was the
name of a major battle in the
historic war between the
Arabs and Persians following
the death of Mohammed. For
the purposes of making a
sale, it has reverted to its
original and less
controversial name.
Last year, we reported
the offer for sale of two large
buildings in Cannes and
Nice, formerly owned by
Saddam’s immediate circle.
Thought to be worth around
€15m each, both are still on
the estate agents’ books.
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
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Nearly 40 years ago the
Ministry of Defence
took over 35,000 hectares of
land around Draguignan to
create the Canjuers military
camp. The land belonged to
a dozen communes who
complained repeatedly to the
Préfet of the Var about the
revenue they stood to lose
but received no reply. Now
they have taken on the army
and the ministry in what
promises to be a battle royal.
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Read more...
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
Visitors to the Mont Faron zoo, the great
park linked by cable-car to Toulon, have
two new inmates to admire: four-year-old
wolf brothers.
Ghislaine Viano raised Widukind and
Amarok from cubs and will be visiting them
regularly. On Saturday afternoons she will
tell visitors about the history of wolves in
Europe and the realities underlying
traditional wolf stories.
Zoo director Jim de Souza says the
wolves, born to a Canadian mother and an
east European father, make a nice change
from the park’s specialisation in tigers and
other big cats. He hopes to establish a
protected site for wolves on Mont Faron, and
so mark a return to their natural habitat of a
species common here until 1827.
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
As if by divine intervention in support of Gap’s Olympic
bid, mid-January saw the region’s heaviest snowfalls of
the winter. All the major ski resorts reported excellent
conditions and more snow is forecast. However, a category 4
avalanche warning (on the scale of 1 to 5) has been issued,
particularly for off-piste activities. The February school
holiday season will bring a large number of visitors, as usual,
with all roads being extremely busy. “Take extra care, and
don’t rush” is the advice from all the safety and rescue
organisations.
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