World Notes France

Oh, the pain of being a pariah! French authorities last week allowed Jean- Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier, Haiti's ousted dictator, to quit the lakeside luxury hotel where he, his wife Michele and their entourage have holed up for a month. His destination: St. Vallier-de-Thiey, a pastoral community within minutes of the silvery beaches of the French Riviera. Baby Doc has reportedly been placed under a relaxed form of house arrest that limits his movements to the immediate area.

His new residence is a ten-room villa with five acres of land, a tennis court and a swimming pool. But the former dictator has even grander designs in the region, namely, a $7 million chateau nearby with 240 acres. Duvalier's arrival was met with local protests. While authorities deny that Baby Doc will be permitted to live in France permanently, no country has yet offered him refuge, and the French seem resigned to letting him stay on--at least long enough to get his backhand in shape.