Day Twenty Five

France: St Tropez

Tuesday 29th July

Ladies that do Lunch.


That was to be the theme for the day. We awoke slowly, a lazy morning gathering our selves together before glamouring our selves up, for a trip into St Tropez centre, to live for an afternoon amongst the wealthy and glamorous of St Tropez.

We arrived as the traffic was just beginning to jam, ignoring a cap park full sign and bagging a perfect spot right on the port side, opposite all the expensive boats and yachts. It was another beautifully clear blue sky day, making a stunning backdrop for the elegance of St Tropez.

We were soon swishing our way past the moored boats, snapping pictures and taking in some of the joir da vive that is St Tropez. I’d been before many years ago as a student, but didn’t really remember much of it. It’s intriguing to look at where each of the boats are based, the Cayman islands being popular today! As strolled past all the big boats interlaced on the port side are artists, displaying their latest creations on various sizes of easel on the harbour front. As we ambled we spied a restaurant recommended in my guide book, a cost effective people watching spot over looking the harbour. The picture was set, the menu classically French, the rose wine chilled to perfection and the sun beating down.

We munched our way through some French classics, Ian loving the Soup de Poisson and both of us gorging on Moules Mariniere and Frites. Ian followed with an amazing melt in the mouth chocolate explosion, I tried to stay cool with homemade lemon ice cream, partfait! We spent several hours people watching, boats, the people and the cabin boys!

Feeling decadent after lunch, we hit the boutiques that radiated off the harbour for a spot of shopping, we were still in search of those elusive designer Speedos we had spied on the beach in Sitges. But white linen was also still on the radar. The Speedos had obviously not made it into the boutiques of St Tropez yet (but watch this spot). The white linen boutiques had us waving our credit cards as we created our own St Tropez looks.

Loaded with shopping bags and tiring from the heat we headed back to the campsite and dived into the pool to cool, the temperature being around the 32 degree mark, not a cloud in the sky. I spent the rest of the evening there being chucked out as the pool closed at 8pm. We drank sun downers and reflected on the glamour of the day.

Later that evening an incredible electrical storm bounced around on the other side of the mountains that engulf St Tropez. It was an eerie experience, similar to how I imagine the northern lights might be. Above us crystal clear skies, the stars twinkling and the electricity in the mountains illuminating the different cloud formations. We didn’t hear a clap of thunder so it must have been many many miles away. We sat and watched the spectacle, like too little boys, amazed at the forces of nature.