The super jumbo A380 to Paris on the evening/morning of December 31/January 1, semi-empty, as we hoped. A second (much smaller) plane, to Nice. Pick up a car at the airport. Drive for 90 minutes to the little apartment with the fine view of the Mediterranean.

Had we thought it through we would have expected a fine view. The Cote d’Azur is mostly hilly, and cities are arranged in steps so that nearly everyone has a view of the Mediterranean.

But this is a bit rich for our blood. We will not be staying more than a few weeks in the second home of a kindly acquaintance in Paris. Actually paying for a sea view here (see photo, above) is out of our price range.

I suppose I am retired, which explains why I am not doing anything the rest of the world would recognize as “productive”.

The Cote d’Azur, often known as the French Riviera in the English-speaking world, is a nice place for a retiree to take a sniff of the air. Goodness knows, the Cote d’Azur has plenty of foreign residents, something like 100,000, most of them retirees.

Thus, we will not be here long enough to celebrate the Cannes Film Festival, rubbing bobbed noses with Hollywood’s hoi polloi, nor will we encounter summer here, when “Bain de Soleil” promises the Saint Tropez tan — and we think we can see Saint Tropez, on the other side of the bay.

We are in a little place called Les Issambres, north of Saint Tropez and south of Nice and Cannes (as well as Saint Raphael and Frejus).

The Cote d’Azur (blue coast) came to be called that more than a century ago by a French writer, and it is a fitting name, with all those miles of blue sea washing up against hills.

Apparently, the French Riviera was one of the first modern tourist destinations, back in the late 1800s, favored by wealthy Brits who were desperate to see some sun, and generally could find it here.

It retains some cachet, and certainly the names of “Cannes” and “San Tropez” have a global resonance. And Nice is said to have made a nice economic comeback.

We will look about a bit, and report back.