THE AUTOBUS DE LUXE, CHANGING CONDITIONS.

One would call it the season of the New Riviera were it not that some of the old features, even those of pre-war, remain. But in the early months of the New Year it is unquestionably regarded by post-war eyes – a New Riviera. There have been several suppressions, many innovations. The Germans may be giving trouble to the French in the Ruhr; they are giving no trouble to the French in the South of France. For they are not there, nor are they admitted – except a few on sufferance. The smaller hoteliers may have been hit by their absence: the bulk of them were faithful, if not very affluent, clients. But the Germans of the commercial class – publicly or privately identified with trade – were never very good “mixers.” Their holidaymaking was too solemn, too scheduled, too materialistic; their minds did not expand to meet either the inquisitiveness of the Americans, the sporting instincts of the British, or the irresponsible gaiety of the French. There is no bitterness against the German on the Riviera, nor any all-time boycott; only a quiet resolve not to receive him back, even as an observer, until some amende honorable (if that is the word) has been made. The policy, I repeat, is held subconsciously; it is not paraded.

The additions are much more definite; Chief, and most visible, is the linking-up of all the main resorts, and many of the minor, by autobus. Motor traction had changed the face of the Corniche country before the war; today it has revolutionised it. The process has been gradual, almost imperceptible, and the incongruity of a touring car rushing along precipitous roads through country which is motionless and soporific has worn off. Nor is the element of raucousness, sometimes seen on the Portsmouth road, apparent out here. The reason is to be found not so much in the changed character of the passenger as in the changed character of the vehicle. The covered car might be a coach for a score of kings. It runs smoothly on well-oiled, well-tested bearings; the seats are cushioned and capacious; moreover, they are all numbered and reserved, and cannot be appropriated either by accident or design.