Cheaper in Biarritz
NOW THAT the French have given up on the ten-franc kir, I suppose that I must fol- low their example. This will placate those readers who have patiently explained to me that what I meant was a kir that, if it cost ten francs, could be bought by a visiting Brit for a pound. Thinking, last week, that it might still be holding out in France's fur- thest corners, I went to look for it in Biar- ritz and had my enterprise rewarded when I came across the hundred-franc Scotch. This is the shop price for a respectable bottle of blended Scotch whisky, which, if the rate of exchange gets no worse, will now be cheap- er in Biarritz than in the duty-free shops at Heathrow. They have been warning their customers that in two years' time travellers within Europe will lose this concession. Stand up for it, they say, write to your MP about it. A Euro-conference in its defence is scheduled for next month in Brussels: buy a bottle and bring it along. I am unsym- pathetic. Providing access to aircraft is no more than a tiresome necessity for airports. They earn their corn as shopping malls with captive customers, imprisoned for hours on end. It is hard to say that they deserve a special deal from the excisemen or the Chancellor. He would do better to follow Kenneth Clarke's example and bring the price of Scotch in its country of origin clos- er to the price of Scotch in Biarritz.
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