On the Beach and Beyond

BECOMING FRENCH

I first applied for French citizenship in January 2023 with the help of immigration attorney Daniel Tostado. Actually, he’s the reason I even went to the trouble, because another attorney had advised against it (!)—declaring that I didn’t really need it. After all, I had my Carte de Résident, and the only thing the passport would really buy me was the ability to vote. Every other advantage of living in France was already mine.

When Daniel heard this, he was surprised and jokingly said, “You’ve been here 30 years and you haven’t bothered to get citizenship! I’ll help you do it.” And to that, I agreed. Off we went to organize the dossier and application. That’s no easy task, either. There’s a long list of documents to acquire, their originals, their official translations, their “Apostilles,” etc., etc., plus I had to pass the French test (which created sleepless nights of anxiety, but with the help of a tutor, I passed with flying colors). I even had to have a letter from my ex-husband permitting me to use his name (I kept my married name like most mothers do!). In November 2023, the application was ready to submit and was.

At the end of February 2024, I received a notice that my staff and I considered suspicious and therefore we did not click on the blue link! It came from [email protected] and it only said:

What a mistake that was! When months later we checked with the Ministère de l’Intérieur et des Outre-Mer on my application, this is was the response:

Hello,

Mr. [“Adrian” is always seen as a man] Beerman [my maiden name], thank you for your email.

We understand that you would like to know the status of your naturalization application. After checking the file in the computer system, we see that a decision has been sent to you.

To view it, please log in to your ANEF account.

We hope we have answered your questions and thank you for your patience.

Best regards,

MANON from the ANTS team

Their decision? They had closed the file, because I didn’t respond to their first email! That means I had to start from scratch! Yikes! Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to resuscitate the file and it wasn’t necessary to retake the French test. Daniel was a prince refiling it in July 2024.

I hadn’t heard a word since…until this past week! This time, when I got the letter, I recognized it for what it was and hopped on it! They had sent a “convocation”:

“In order to be able to carry out the statutory interview necessary for the examination of your file, I would be grateful if you would introduce yourself: Le 23/07/2025 à 09:45 précises”

This is the official interview at which they will decide if I deserve citizenship or not. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Nice with my daughter and grandson that day! Après-Midi in Nice is July 24th. I am returning to Paris on July 25th. Not very convenient…ugh!

At first, I set out to rearrange everything. I booked another train, told my daughter I’d have to leave her in Nice on her own and asked someone on my staff to emcee Après-Midi for me. And then we saw that the appointment could be postponed, so we submitted a request to do that. The problem is…if I can’t make this new second date, I’m screwed.

At this stage, whether that was a good decision or not is to be determined. Fingers crossed that the new date will suit my busy agenda. Pray for me!

Special note: While I might achieve French citizenship, it would be impossible for me to actually “be French.” Without having been educated in France, or completely fluent in French, as fluent as I am in English, I doubt I’ll ever truly feel French. But, what the hell? I’ll be very happy to carry the French passport; perhaps more proudly than the American passport at this day and time.

LE VICTORIA AND LE JARDIN DE L’ARMENIE

For years I could see the crane from my balcony in Nice in the construction of Le Victoria, the new 5-star hotel on avenue de Suède literally a stone’s throw from my apartment. It’s part of the Maison Albar Hotels group, a collection of 5-star boutique hotels founded in 2014 by Jean-Bernard Falco and Céline Falco (née Albar), the fourth generation of a French hotelier family. The name Le Victoria honors Victoria, the daughter of Céline and to celebrate their continuing legacy and personalized, family-style hospitality.

It seemed as if it would never be ready, but finally it opened its doors last November and it took me all this time to find a moment to stroll in check it out. The location of the hotel is ideal for luxury travelers and now thanks to its reconstruction, is anchored by a line-up of designer boutiques, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Chanel. Room rates start at 752€ a night. This doesn’t hurt the adjacent real estate values, so you don’t hear me complaining!

They had no issue with us taking a stroll through the lobby, up the “colimaçon” (spiral staircase) and to the first floor lounges to get a glimpse of it. The Rooftop Pool is open to hotel guests, but is not accessible to external guests…meaning us. There wasn’t much life going on in the hotel, evidenced by my photos, and I wondered when that will kick in?

Just in front of the hotel, the new Jardin de l’Armenie is complete, too. This is Nice’s oldest public park, predating the covering of the Paillon in the 1860s, located between the Promenade des Anglais and the pedestrian zone, opposite Le Méridien, now re-invented. In 2023, the City of Nice and the Metropole launched a “requalification” operation costing €3.85 million. The park is a tribute to the victims of the Armenian genocide, a strong sign of the historic link between Nice and Armenia and reflects the municipal commitment to developing islands of freshness and a greener city.

Again, I’m not complaining. I can see the garden from the terrace of my new apartment on rue Halévy (still under renovation).

DISAPPEARING HORIZON LINE

When the sun set over Nice, the Baie des Anges Friday evening turned a silvery tone. At one point, if it weren’t for the boat sitting on the water, it would have been impossible to distinguish the sea from the sky. (This photo was taken at approximately 9 p.m. Friday evening.)

AN UNUSUAL DAY ON THE NICE BEACH

When I’m in Nice in the summer, the weekends are devoted to beach time. It has to be pouring raining to keep me from plopping down on the pebbles and enjoying the sun and surf. Just two to three hours like that can rejuvenate the soul and balance out the 70 hours of work time from the week before.

Saturday afternoon on the beach, it was obvious that no planes were flying overhead, not the usual scenario when normally the skies would be striped with their jet streams, one after another landing or taking off from the airport on the edge of town. There was no definitive news about a ban on flights over the Baie des Anges, nor where there were any obvious weather alerts, morning fog or low-level conditions redirecting planes farther offshore, or special events., However, the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport may have temporarily rerouted traffic or modified approach/departure paths due to runway maintenance or air traffic flow adjustments. It was a mystery to me, as was the absence of the Corsica Ferries. As it turns out, there weren’t any ferries sailings over the Baie des Anges on Saturday because routes from Nice to Corsica aren’t daily—on the contrary, they occur only a few times a week, and not every Saturday. The water was calm and in all respects, a rather unusual day on the beach.

PENTHOUSE ON THE PROM

One of our clients had the very good fortune of purchasing two penthouse apartments on the Promenade des Anglais just next door to the famous Hôtel Negresco that she combined, reconfigured, renovated and moved into. She couldn’t wait to show it to me now that it was 100% completed and I couldn’t wait to see it. Designed to be all white and minimal, the five-bedroom five-bathroom apartment is what dreams are made of. The views from the balcony expand from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the left (east) to Cap d’Antibes on the right (west) and are breathtaking.

Last week during the UN Ocean Conference, “Madame de Penthouse” witnessed French President Emmanuel Macron shaking hands with a leader from one of the Arab nations (Qatar, the UAE, or Oman) along the seaside boulevard with whom he met at the Palais de la Méditerranée. She has a spectacular view of the sea and life in Nice!

Her biggest problem is keeping the seagulls from pecking at her glass sliding doors! And it turns out that the persistent and aggressive beasts, who are highly intelligent, can be deterred by reflective tape or objects, as well as recorded hawk or falcon cries (!), bird spikes (not a lot of fun) and oil sprays such as citronella, peppermint, or grape-seed. We found a Disco Mushroom Mirror Ball on Amazon to be placed on her balcony tables that might do the trick!

Don’t we all wish we had this problem?

A la prochaine…