Are alarm bells ringing?

Happily the first hint of summer has arrived but sadly it means having to be even more vigilant regarding security. After all it's totally natural to get over-excited when you feel those first warm rays on your blue-white skin and to drive your convertible, roof down, with handbags and briefcases piled up on the passenger seat. It's equally natural to want to leave all your windows and doors open in your Riviera home when the weather is fine. It's why we live here. But don't. As unfortunately such ‘frivolousness' can come at a hefty price.

Burglars on the Côte d'Azur know the tourist routine all too well and can take full advantage of it. So be extra careful when hiring a car from the airport as it's all too easy to be followed back to your villa. Thieves know you will be well equipped with laptops, cameras, cash and passports; a lucrative haul and available within minutes. (It's nearly tempting as a career but luckily my loathing of confined spaces and being told what to do keeps me on the straight and narrow). So while you gasp at the breathtaking Mediterranean view and pop open your first bottle of Champagne, burglars are coolly walking away with everything you own. And then you'll have to spend some long and frustrating hours with the local gendarmes trying to describe criminals you didn't even see in a language you don't even speak. Bad, bad start to a holiday.

For residents it's a slightly different and sometimes even a more sinister situation. A friend who lived in Mougins was woken at 3am only to see a masked face inches away. She screamed but her husband had been gassed so was oblivious to the nocturnal 'excitements'. Luckily all five of their children slept through the ordeal and no one was hurt. Jewelry, cash and a luxury car were the only victims. But this was the fourth burglary this couple had endured in less than four years. They've since moved to America where their in-house security is on a Fort Knox level and comes as standard. Here on the Riviera people seem rather more lax about security but they shouldn't be. Especially if you live in the prime golden Hot Spots.

Another complaint of foreign residents is having their houses ‘emptied' while they're away. One American lawyer friend who was based in Paris had his Côte d'Azur apartment ‘divested' once a year, every year. In the end he left only plastic knives and forks and a note saying ‘Help Yourself'. But the alternative is to install a high-tech alarm system with 24 hour monitoring so that you can watch your home from your laptop from anywhere in the world.

It may seem sad and a little excessive but unfortunately by ignoring the problem it won't just go away. And in these more desperate economic times burglary will no doubt rise accordingly. So it really is worth investing in protecting yourself and your home with the latest in alarm technology. Alternatively you could hire a bodyguard with gold-plated teeth and threatening tattoos, some savage fighting dogs and move to a penthouse in Monaco. Or become a Buddhist and give up of all your worldly possessions. Up to you.