Those of you who are Facebook members may be aware of the on-line campaign to save that much-loved Cannes institution, the Petit Majestic. Apparently it is under threat from police and local authorities who don’t take too kindly to the streets behind the Grand Hotel being swamped by boozy festival goers who good-naturedly meet up with like-minded souls in the early hours.

The Facebook group site is titled - appropriately - ‘Save the Petit Majestic!’, with membership (as I write) at approaching 500 passionate souls. It would be a sad situation if the Petit Majestic were to vanish. I’m part of the gang who, many, many, years ago used to hang out at the long-gone Petit Carlton, and would pop down to the Petit Majestic to grab a beer and bring it back up to the Petit Carlton.

In those days it was much scuzzier and far, far emptier. But when the Petit Carlton was turned into yet another Cannes boutique, the Petit Majestic took on its role as haven for Cannes hangers-on with style, and in recent years has even refurbished and more importantly made the toilets usable!

As Empire magazine writes in its guide to Cannes: “If you’re a Brit in Cannes, you’ll doubtless want to meet up with other like-minded individuals and perhaps exchange anecdotes and/or contact information over a nice cold beer. Which means that you should get yourself down to Le Petit Majestic, a small bar on rue Tony Allard which positively thrums, every night, with the buzz of chatter as hundreds of filmmakers, journalists and wannabes gather together for a good old booze-fuelled natter. If sipping beer by the side of the road while feeling like an elephant squeezed into a phone box isn’t your bag, then retire to Le Grand Hotel, just down the road.”