They were grandstand observers, living the free and easy life:

Charley Martins, ex-pug turned remittance man, whose apartment was wired against intruders;

Pascale, 18, ash-blonde, better looking than Bardot, a sex-kitten who worked in her father’s cafe and played with Americans only;

Gil Fletcher, tall, emotional, a painter in love with Simone;

Ed Jones, an ex-loser who, with his Daniele, made a scrubby living as a street photographer.

Each of them was happy, until an American writer arrived in Nice and destroyed their lovely illusions.