The French Riviera has always been known as a playground for the rich and well heeled to kick back and enjoy some conspicuous consumption. If designer labels are your thing, you only have to wander along the Croisette where Gucci, Chanel and Dior offer the latest couture straight off the catwalk.

A myriad of plush one-off boutiques abound in the side streets between Rue d'Antibes and the Croisette, making shopping in Cannes a pastime that is destined to whack your plastic hard but put a smile on the face of the most discerning design-conscious diva. Ditto St Tropez, where Hermes, Diane von Furstenberg and David Beckham's favourite swimming trunks Vilebrequin do a roaring trade.

If hi-tech toys are more your thing, the ports at Monaco and Antibes boast some of the world's best known yacht brokers and splurging several million on the latest must-have motor launch over a café crème is all in a morning's work.

The statistics speak for themselves - it's estimated that 50 billionaires reside in Monaco alongside around 2,000 mere millionaires. With a population of 33,000, that makes the principality's Monte-Carlo the wealthiest spot per head and per square metre on earth.

Little wonder then that Top Marques, the only live supercar show in the world, has made its home in Monaco. It's telling that despite an unprecedented economic downturn, which has led to the British International Motor Show being axed, the Top Marques exhibition, which makes the promise that you can ‘see it, drive it...buy it' continues untouched by financial frailty.

Being minted makes life more fun, of that there is no doubt, but the fact remains that you can still live a lovely life on the Côte d'Azur while surrounded by the natural beauty of the mountains, the dramatic coastline and the stunning flora and fauna that money simply can't buy.

When I left the UK last year to move permanently to the Riviera, there was a perceived wisdom that I was leaving the rat race behind and swapping turgid everyday shopping-in-Tesco dullness for glitz and glamour at every turn. I still work hard (albeit in the most stunning surroundings that leafy Hertfordshire just can't match) and have the same standard of living I had in the UK (although an infinitely better quality of life) but as far as friends and acquaintances are concerned, I am one of the lucky few minted enough to live in the South of France.

So for all those who still have shares to cash, a healthy bank balance and a desire to spend, FR2DAY will guide you to the most upscale travel destinations in and within easy reach of the Côte d'Azur, the finest restaurants, the hippest nightclubs, the most happening social events, the most prestigious cars and yachts on the market, the most desirable new boutiques and labels and the hottest properties for sale and rent. All you need is the time to check us out.

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