Let me say up front that Saint-Tropez was not on my favorite return-to destination list. This Côte d’Azur town is the epicenter of ostentatious wealth, glitz, and glamour, not exactly our thing. The French often shorten it to St. Trop (appropriate because trop means “excessive” in French). But every year in September they have a major sailing festival, with ginormous sailing yachts, both vintage and ultra-modern. So off we went to indulge my husband’s obsession with les bâteaux.
But in spite of myself, I loved every minute of it. The town was awash with gorgeous sailboats and sleek go-fast cars. Sitting in a waterfront bar was like a front row seat on a fashion show runway. We had only been to the waterfront in the past (le Vieux Port), and we were delighted to discover that there is also an old town full of narrow alleys and candy colored buildings.
What will amaze you as you walk along the waterfront on the old port is the height of the masts. Some of them are 50 feet tall. On the vintage boats, varnished mahogany trim shimmers in the light. The British boat, the Ashanti, was Ron’s favorite.
In addition to the festival goers, there were the teams of young folks who were crewing the boats, and partying all over town. It was quite a scene.
There are multiple regattas in the open water past the harbor, with different classes of voiliers. And so that we visitors can be part of the action, there are boats appropriately called sail chasers, which will take you out on the water and cruise around right in the middle of it all. Take one of these for the afternoon and it will be the highlight of your tour.
If you go that is, and you really must, if you have a sailor in the family, as I do. And if you do go, we will probably be there next year, so we will see you there!
Some photos:
Now for the nightlife: This town knows how to party. We went to a waterfront restaurant one night called Le Quai, where every half hour exotic dancers and singers pop out and put on a show among the tables on the terrace. And when they do, crowds suddenly appear on the waterfront to ogle the dancers.
If you are into cars as well as boats, you are in luck. We spotted plenty of fancy ones.
Everywhere there was fascinating fashion:
Bridgitte Bardot put the town on the map and still lives there. She just celebrated her 90th birthday. Her image is absolutely everywhere in the town. She is a hero of mine, for her decades of work with animal rescue.
Every Tuesday and Saturday they have a market at the Places des Lices. With vegetables, clothes, rugs, art, and so on. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen so much “stuff “in one place.
IF YOU GO: book early to get a good deal. We booked a small Airbnb apartment in one of the towns many “residences”, which are basically gated, three story condo apartment complexes set in lush gardens. Most of the units have small gardens or balconies.
BELOW is the residence we stayed in.
We didn’t book restaurants in advance as we often do. We found that we saw cute places to eat as we walked around, and were usually able to book them then, for the same evening. The prices were expensive, but there were plenty of good, reasonable restaurants in the old town, once you got off the waterfront. But of course you will want to stop for an aperol spritz on the waterfront of the Vieux Port for some boat and people watching. The Senequier was said to be the place for celebrity spotting, but we made the Bar du Port our waterfront drinking hangout, and their food was delicious also.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED we have a new look today! The blog has been refreshed and switched over to WordPress. Please bear with me as I get the kinks worked out, and do please report any problems.
In the COMMENTS: Merci, Suzanne, for giving us your recipe for three minute ice cream. Which I can’t wait to try–maybe when it warms up here!
Favorite READS and VIEWS: If you want to see Bardot in action, watch the movie that made Saint-Tropez famous: And God Created Woman. Natalia has a good book for us, Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah. And please check out this magazine ideas from Natalia: The Good Life France magazine.
15 thoughts on “Boats and Bling in Saint-Tropez”
Bonjour et bonne année ! On espère que vous allez bien et peut-être on peut avoir une visite bientôt. Félicitations, j’adore la ravalement de votre blog, bravo.
Bonne fin de semaine,
Ella à Nice
I’m lucky to live close to Saint Tropez several months out of the year. It has become a joke that when we leave the house for a random day, we always end up in Saint Tropez …. Our favorite! Glad you discovered Les Voiles and the back streets.
Love the new look for the blog! I used WordPress way back when I did a blog. You should create a U-Tube channel since you have such a great location for shows. On a different subject, we had 8 inches of snow here in South Alabama. I have only known 5 snowfalls in this area during my 77 years, so this is a rarity. Beautiful, but thankful I don’t live with it.
Great article Lynn, thank you for the memories.
You have a way of capturing the essence and making us want to “follow” you everywhere France! 💖
So close to the Vendee Globe, which we’ve been following religiously from California. We’re leaving in a few days for a month, and based on the shirt sleeves and shorts in your photos, we will likely pick up our leased car and head south ASAP. This puts me in mind of Sailing to Jessica. No wonder you made this trip. Great post.
Bravo dear Lynn,for your new look! It is sleek,appealing,and very much keeps us up to date!
Not to even mention the wonderful content! It’s been years since we’ve visited St Trop.Through young eyes, it was magical and has stayed in my mind as one of the most beautiful and most fun places to vacation. Thanks to you,I don’t think it’s changed,even though those same eyes are considerably older in both vision and outlook–and,of course,experience!
I should’ve mentioned that those older eyes also lead a path to a brain who forgets stuff! In my case,my book suggestion for this time:”The French Winemaker’s Daughter” by Loretta Ellsworth.
Set in France ( including Paris)World War 2 intrigue focused around a really valuable bottle of wine confiscated by the Germans–
Later found and returned to its rightful owner. An entertaining read!
I always love readng your blog, and this is wonderful. And the photos! The new site is terrific, too!
Hi dear Lynn
The new look is very fresh! Love it! St Tropez brings back memories of my teenage years. Thank you Lynn.
Francine
I have to say that one day in St. Trop and I have no desire to go back. A friend and I were doing a trip to the south of France for a week. One day we decided to drive there. I suspect were were not to their liking or something because we walked out of more than one restaurant at lunch time because we could not get any service (they weren’t full and the servers were in deep, familiar conversations with other customers). We couldn’t even see the water because the yachts were too big. And none of the shops along the old streets called to us. I guess we are (and dress like) more the hiking kind and not the boating kind.
I’m sorry Lynn…but I am old-fashioned and miss your picture of the Chateau! Just so many good memories
Yes Ali, great memories! But if you look at the Pages in the sidebar, you’ll find some photos of the chateau there.
Hi Lynn, new site looks good… but is there some problem ? – i can’t get the last pictures (two “fashion” pictures, one (?) of the market, and your “residence” – at least, that’s what the captions say) –
also, as a Godard fanatic, i have to mention “Contempt”, the movie in which Bardot shows much talent (and body !)
Thank you so much for letting me know about the problem? I’m working on it.