IO540, you are probably right that "very few IFR pilots ever look at NOTAMs" - it is certainly easy to slip into the habit of expecting ATC to take care of you in CAS - and most of the time they do (bless'em!
). Our IFR flightplan was not rejected and at no point was it suggested to us that special procedures were in place at Cannes - in fact in the most recent Loop the article concerning the "race" from Cambridge to Cannes suggested that no special procedures were in place at Cannes - oh yes they were!
Although it is no excuse I had no internet access on the morning of the flight (Stayed in a friend's farm on a hilltop in Umbria where GPRS was not possible) and NOTAMs were not offered to me by (the incredibly slow) Perugia flight planning - so we just made tracks into the airways system and Cannes lured us in.
Hopefully the CAA Captain with the 2mm wide fountain pen will be on hand to fight my corner if I need him.
SB