The Côte D'Azur is now known as the Russian Riveria, says Isabel Morton.

I AM SITTING in the shade of the terrace, overlooking the glistening Mediterranean sea.

The Côte D'Azur is picture postcard perfect. I am allowing myself to wallow in the magnificence of it all, the crystal blue sea, cloudless sky, lemon, olive and palm trees, the noisy crickets, extravagant bougainvillea, elegant restaurants, seafood and salads, Bandol wine and sleak brown bodies. As I write, it's raining and miserable at home. I'm thrilled. But I won't be in a few days, when I have to return to it myself.

But even here, on the glamorous French Riviera, with numerous private yachts bobbing up and down in the bay, they have noticed a slight slowdown in the economy. Normally it would be difficult to find a bed in Cannes and the surrounding area, during the film festival. This year there was no shortage of accommodation due to the fact that the Americans failed to arrive in their usual numbers. The dollar won't buy much anywhere these days and less again on the French Riviera.

Property sales and letting agents report that business is somewhat slower than previous years and that less money is being spent by everyone, with one exception - the Russians.

Since the late 1990s, the Russians have taken over the south of France.

Their ancestors, however, were no strangers to the area. In the late 18th and early 19th century the Russian aristocracy escaped their harsh winter weather to spend time in the mild micro climate of the French Riviera. The Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Nice (built in 1912) is testament to their influence in the area at the time.

After a gap of almost a century, the Russians are back with a vengeance. Royalty and nobility have been replaced by the nouveau riche oligarchs who are involved in steel, oil, vodka, banking, energy and petroleum. It is said that a quarter of the Russian economy is owned by 36 men.

The Côte D'Azur is now known as the Russian Riveria, as their arrival was so unexpected, their numbers so great and their spending power so strong. They are the second largest property buyers in the area. The Brits are still number one, although perhaps not for too much longer.

The Irish also bought into the French dream, but to a lesser extent, as despite the good old days and cheap direct flights, our budgets were never going to be able to compete with the Russians.

The oligarchs have bought most of the prestigious properties along the Riviera. Roman Abramovich (owner of Chelsea football club) owns a vast property on Cap Ferrat and Andrey Melnichenko has a few adjoining mansions overlooking Garoupe beach, on the south-east corner of Cap D'Antibes. Many of the surrounding properties are owned by, or are rented to Russians, during the summer months.

Seafront villas in these top locations sell from about €5 million to well over €100 million. To rent one of these villas in the high season, expect to pay from €60,000 to over €200,000 per month. Other nationalities are being forced to compete with the Russian billionaires for these coveted properties.

Security is a huge issue with the oligarchs, as their own countrymen resent their phenomenal wealth. They move around the world with their own staff, including a security team and bodyguards. The Russians do not travel light.

Stories of them arriving here with suitcases of cash, are a thing of the past. Like the rest of us, the Russians go through all of the usual money laundering checks before setting up a home in France.

By now, the new money has filtered down the line somewhat from the oligarchs to the bourgeois. Agents have noticed that everything from well located apartments on the Croissette to mega mansions on the caps are in demand by the Russians these days.

In the 1990s they had the reputation of being loud, boorish, rude and demanding but of late the Russians have become less aggressive and more sophisticated and mannerly. However, having witnessed the way Russian men treat the women in their lives like possessions, dictate what they eat, drink and wear and otherwise disregard and ignore them, they have a long way to go before European women will find them attractive.

In the early days, the Russians were easy to pick out in a crowd, they wore badly cut suits and heavy gold watches and jewellery. Their wives, mistresses and prostitutes were over dressed and over made-up. Now, you would have difficulty differentiating them from any other high flyers. Even their bodyguards have learnt to look less aggressively obvious.

Dozing in the sun, I try to imagine what the Russians might find attractive in Ireland. Somehow I don't think golf, fishing or country walks would be quite bling enough to encourage them to buy up all of our unsold property. What a shame. We could do with the odd oligarch or two right now.