To Catch… a Pink Panther…
The… glamorous…
Carlton… Hotel…
In… Cannes…
On the… French Riviera…
Once… dubbed…
“A sunny place for shady people“… by Somerset Maugham…
Is a favourite destination… of mine…
Having spent many blissful summers in its luxurious surroundings… when it was still elegant… exclusive… and grand… before it became invaded… by hordes of the nouveau riche and “bling bling” celebrities… becoming an increasingly hot target for crooks, thieves, and shady characters… to flourish.
As in the recent staggeringly daring heist… when under the very snooty noses of the hotel security guards… the icy cool and calm masked thief collected a bunch of diamonds and gems from an exhibition in the lobby of the hotel… held by the renowned jeweller Leviev… choosing the morning hour… where the thief coolly calmly sauntered down the busy Croisette… which is the favourite promenade of stars, celebrities, and billionaires. Quel audace…
Eh bien… recently Cannes has become the favourite haunt of a gang calling themselves “The Pink Panthers“… after the Peter Sellers “Inspector Clouseau” film. They are a cunning and ruthless group of ex-soldiers from Bosnia… who have struck targets all over the world… from Japan… Switzerland… to the Riviera… as well as the ‘Emperor of Diamonds’.. Graff‘s Mayfair jewellery shop.
The gang have escaped… with millions…
And no one… is about…
To catch… The Pink Panthers…
Any time… soon…
Not even the wily Inspector Closeau himself… nor the suave Cary Grant… who played a jewellery thief in Alfred Hitchcock‘s 1955 film “To Catch a Thief“… set in the very same hotel…
The… glamorous…
The… fabulous…
Hotel… Carlton…
Will… never…
Be…
The… same…
For… me…
Again…
a.