HELBI

Summertime means vacations, a change of scene, relaxation, sailing off to islands and cosmopolitan resorts or else the peace and quiet of hiking in the mountains. This year, our plans have come up against the World Cup. A group of Greeks who found themselves traveling along the Italian and French Riviera joined in the celebrations. While enjoying the charm of Portofino, they watched Italy beat Ukraine to enter the semifinal. Then Italy beat Germany to enter the final. Then France beat Brazil, something which not even French captain Zinedine Zidane expected. Holidaymakers in St Tropez filled the port with joyful partying until the small hours, the champagne flowing. Germany plays Portugal this evening for third place. Tomorrow, once the final is over, the partying will move either to the Colosseum or the Champs Elysees. Then everyone can go home, and the lucky ones take their holidays. Helbi took a short trip to Portofino and St Tropez, where BB’s legend lives on. Brigitte herself lives far from the maddening crowds, up on a hill. Her estate Madrague is the headquarters for her animal welfare foundation. Meanwhile, the rumor mill has it that Mohammed Al-Fayed’s estate is for sale; it has a waterfall that flows only when the owner is at home. However, he has not returned since his son Dodi was killed together with Princess Diana in Paris in 1997. The paparazzi were on duty for Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who was in Athens the week before last for a benefit held by MAC cosmetics and handed over a check for 30,000 euros from the MAC AIDS fund to a center on Dioharous Street for AIDS patients and HIV-positive people. Pamela herself has suffered from hepatitis and knows what illness is all about. She was in St Tropez on a yacht with her two little boys and female bodyguards. When she went out in the evening, the cameras flashed, for want of other celebrities.