Sun, sea and champers and it's all in the name of making connections

The annual International Property Market exposition - MIPIM - operates on at least two levels. First, there are endless business contacts to be made or renewed. Property is a people industry and relationships are crucial. But at the other level it is a massive party. You could feasibly drink champagne 24 hours a day - and some people have a damned good try. I try to balance the two.

Wednesday: Glasgow to Nice via Brussels proves a highly effective route to the south of France. Landing in Nice around 4pm, the sunlight dancing on the Med reminds me of one of the major upsides of MIPIM.

As an "investeur", I qualify for red carpet treatment. The carpet, unfortunately, is pretty short because my hotel is in Mandelieu, seven kilometres from Cannes. It's the same story every year - the salesmen stay in the exclusive hotels along La Croisette, Cannes golden mile of sea front, while the investors, supposedly the "privileged guests" at MIPIM, are dumped in the back of beyond.

There are three main elements to MIPIM. First and foremost is The Bunker - the Palais des Expositions, where rows and rows of elaborate stands promote everything from Warsaw hotel developments to Edinburgh lawyers. It is to be avoided wherever possible.

Then there are the big hotels - the Grand, Majestic, Martinez and so on, with lobbies, coffee lounges and bars full of earnest property people networking.

And finally there are the boats. Opulence personified and a caricature of property industry extravagance at its best, these fabulous vessels are parked cheek by jowl along the harbour, each one wearing a banner advertising its temporary owner.

7pm: With an hour to kill before dinner, a friendly boat seemed the best bet for a refreshment. The largest yacht, the Bellissima, owned by Bernard Matthews, was advertising Rotch, the company run by the Tchenguiz brothers. I financed their first development in 1986 and these former Iranians - Robert proudly showed me his British passport - have gone on to build an enormously successful business. A couple of glasses of fizz later and we had exchanged three or four promising ideas and agreed to get shortly in London.

8pm: Dinner with Strutt & Parker at Le Caveau is a MIPIM perennial. Always a quality guest list, Bollinger on tap and seafood extraordinaire. This year, the Scottish Widows property boys were celebrating their successful emergence at the top of the Widows/ Lloyds/Hill Samuel tree.

2am: Decision time - to the Majestic bar or not? Sense prevailed and I headed back to the hotel.

Thursday: First appointment was an 8.30am breakfast cruise with Lovells the solicitors. Their boat, unlike most, moves. A great way to sort out a mild hangover. The rest of the morning was spent bumping into old contacts and avoiding The Bunker - an endless series of potentially usefully 10-minute conversations with agents, property companies and competitors.

3pm: Back to the boats, this time for a formal presentation to a representative of a Swiss Pension Fund looking to invest into the UK. We seem an obvious choice of manager for them and the meeting went well.

5pm: Back to hotel for a shower then onwards for the evening events. Started at the Insigna Richard Ellis apartment and had a cup of tea with a few old friends, including chairman Andrew Huntley, who is in excellent form following their rebranding.

Squeezed in a couple of cocktail parties then onwards to Jones Lang LaSalle for their international dinner. A top grade guest list, including a couple of people wanting to talk to me about joint venture ideas - most simulating. And this time, the lure of the Martinez bar was too great.

Friday: Despite a short night's sleep, managed to make 8.30am GVA Grimley breakfast at the Majestic. Sat myself next to Peter Freeman of Argent, a successful entrepreneur and always interesting company.

Spent the morning at the Majestic with a series of meetings before heading up to the King Sturge cocktail party at Villa Tree Top above Cannes. Sadly no sunshine this year, but that didn't deter around 400 guests from hitting the champagne.

My hotel location was now proving a major inconvenience as I went to shower and change before dinner with Greycoat, a London developer, at yet another villa. Starting to suffer from taxi lag, but champagne top-ups soon restored energy levels. Another very good guest list and top grade cuisine.

11pm: Had to slip away from dinner because to return to the Lovells' boat to play guitar in makeshift band. Duly rocked until 4am.

Saturday: My 6.30am flight meant I arrived home at 11am, tired, a bit croaky but highly motivated by a couple of days spent in the heart of the property market.

I can't speak for the other 13,999 participants, but for me, the time and limited expense in going to MIPIM was very worthwhile. I'll be back.

Each March, 14,000 property people descend on France for MIPIM, the industry's annual get together. David Hunter, managing director of RREEF, reveals how he spent his time there

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