The CAC40 sneezes and the Alps catch a cold

There were clouds gathering at the end of last week over the Mont Blanc - and not all of them were welcome. For while the white fluffy stuff was being admired and invited in for an apéritif, tourism chiefs were busy hammering twisted wood across their doors as ominous news tumbled out of the CAC40.

The French stock market saw its 2007 gains wiped out Friday as experts issued forth with doom and gloom predictions following the banking crises of the last few months, sending pre-season jitters through the mountain valleys like the chill of la bise. It remains to be seen whether this is a lot of cold air about nothing.