The couturier appeared cheerful as he joined holiday-makers milling around on the seafront Promenade des Anglais in front of Nice’s prestigious Hotel Negresco shortly after sunrise.
According to firefighters a woman called the police at around 6:00 am to warn that a bomb had been placed in the Negresco. “It was supposed to go off at seven o’clock, and it hasn’t, so we suppose it was a false alarm,” one officer said, as police sealed off the boulevard.

Earlier this month Industry Minister Christian Estrosi, who is also mayor of Nice, received a postcard warning that gas bottles would be exploded in the town and in nearby Cap Negre, where President Nicolas Sarkozy is on a holiday. The card linked the threat to a bitter industrial dispute at the car parts manufacturer New Fabris in northern France, which is facing closure. Police have yet to confirm whether there was a link between the card and Tuesday’s bomb threat.