The G20 meet in Cannes at the beginning of November. French prime minister Sarkozy will be using the summit to grandstand and build his profile as he heads towards another election. Others like Cameron, Merkel and Obama will be pursuing their austerity programmes and attempting to get more international co-ordination for their plans. Outside, however, or rather in Nice (30km away), there will be the opposition.

International and diverse it will be formed of activists from across the world, the links between resisting the effects of debt in the global south and fiscal crisis in the north will be the basis for the unity. There will be a major protest, a counter-summit and an action at the border of Monaco. Monaco is, of course, a major tax haven. It is the country where the wife of Sir Phillip Green resides (yes, that’s right, the one who was given £1.2 billion pounds by her husband which coincidentally became money that wasn’t taxable in that one transaction). The principality is also having an election on he same day (Yes, we’re trying to work out the meaning of Monacoan Democracy as well). So it could be an interesting day to put it mildly.

Here’s the schedule for the Nice Days:

Program

Tuesday 1st November :
15h - 18h : International demonstration (departure from the center of Nice)
18h - Midnight : Concert and public rally

Wednesday 2nd November
Morning and afternoon : People’s Forum : stunts and workshops - debates proposed by organisations (see here to register a proposal)
8 PM : United event on our proposals and alternatives

Thursday 3rd November :
10am - 2pm : United action against tax havens at the border with Monaco
Afternoon : People’s Forum : stunts and workshops - debates proposed by organisations
8 pm : Banquet of the alternatives / Assembly of the struggles

Friday 4th November : United press conference

It hasn’t been possible for us to organise collective transport for the protests this year, but we do want to encourage anyone and everyone who can get there to do so. We checked out some transport possibilities:

TRANSPORT OPTIONS

Trains

There are plenty of trains from London Kings Cross/St Pancras to Nice. It is cheaper to change at Lille rather than Paris, although the Parisian option does have the attractive idea of the overnight sleeper service from Paris - Nice. For details of the services available check the Seat 61 site.

Coaches

Unfortunately there is no direct service between London and Nice by coach. There is a twice weekly Eurolines service from London Victoria to Marseille (London to Perpignan route) and from Marseille you can take a Lignes Express Regionaux bus to Nice. The whole journey will take around 24 hrs.

ACCOMMODATION IN NICE

The French organisers are offering a number of accommodation possibilities in Nice including gym halls, Youth hostels and solidarity stays. Go here for more information