Do you, do you Saint Tropez?
The road trip through the south of France took us to Antibes next. It’s probably the smallest place on the coast with the longest list of celebrities that used to visit it or live here. Wherever we travel, it turns out that Winston Churchill used to live there, so it is surprising that he managed to participate in some world politics despite all that relentless globetrotting of his.
The stroll through the cobblestone streets of the Old Town offers an abundance of gourmet food shops, cafés, and perfumes & soaps shops. Make sure to enter the latter and purchase the Savon de Marseille, which is the most fragrant piece of soap I have ever owned. Traditional, handmade rectangles are infused with vegetable oils and their pastel colours alone are enough to leave you dizzy and impressed. The legend has it that the soaps are made with the sea water from the Mediterranean, and I relish the idea that every day I am dipping my hands into a drop of sea magic, long after the trip to the Cote d’Azur.
After that lazy, slow shopping (the type of which is only possible before the children arrive), we have found our way to the ramparts and enjoyed the view of the sea and beaches that stretch as far as the eye can see. The bustling street market with colourful stalls was unmissable, we just followed the chic locals who carried fresh, crispy baguettes and nonchalantly nibbled at them while having their morning walk. It was a proper Pied Piper and hypnotized mice scene.  Marché Provençal is a morning ritual that puts together the local artisans and farmers who exhibit their products with pride and style as if they are works of art. Which they most certainly are.
Cannes was the destination where the weather started to turn for the worse, but even that could not stop us from admiring the charm of the capital of film. It is easy to understand why the spoiled movie stars have flocked here during the prestigious Cannes Film Festival ever since 1946, because the glitzy hotels along the palm-lined Boulevard de la Croisette, sandy beaches, seafront restaurants, and ridiculously expensive boutiques ooze glamour and luxury and give a taste of a good life. I guess we all crave that, despite our better selves.
Cannes has its own Walk of Fame, with handprints of the most prominent movie business figures immortalized in this way. With such a prominent red-carpet gala event taking place in Cannes, it does not come as a surprise that the celebration of the magic of moving pictures and the art of filmmaking, has found its way into local graffiti as well.
The best view of the über beautiful Cannes is from the top of its historic quarter, Le Suquet. Medieval neighbourhood, originally a small fishing village, is a picturesque setting for watchtowers, churches, seagulls, and steep alleyways. One of the fortresses on the nearby island of Ile St. Marguérite was used as a prison for the Man In The Iron Mask, mysteriously imprisoned here and his identity forever remaining intriguing. Witness protection arrangement gone bad?
The ultimate stop on our road trip was the famous Saint Tropez, the place I have dreamt about and looked forward to seeing ever since I was a child. It was launched into the orbit of every single trendsetter in 1955, when the film And God Created Woman, starring the incomparably beautiful Brigitte Bardot, forever changed this small port village into a legendary posh seaside resort. What is probably the best-kept secret on the Riviera, is something you realize only upon arrival: the place is beyond tiny and so incredibly, unfathomably, over the top expensive. Good luck with accommodation in the high season!
The harbour is crammed with yachts, and the promenade which curves around the bay is even more crammed with tourists occupying every single chair in the iconic Sénéquier restaurant. Even Sartre would come here to write,  but I wonder if he had to wait to be seated.
The central square Place des Lices, surrounded by plane trees, is the home of the celebrated patisserie La Tarte Tropézienne, where the best sweet treats wink at you behind their glass cabinets. “Come to the dark side†they whispered to me and I, being spineless, caved in. The famous cake that gave the name to the bakery was apparently BB’s favourite and she suggested that the cake might be called that way. The rest is silence and history, I suppose.
One of the happiest memories from my childhood is the thought of Sunday afternoons, when at 5 o’clock sharp we would watch the films from the series Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez. A very light comedy, showing the antics of silly local policemen, with lively music and plenty of beautiful, stylish young people prancing around on boats, or driving in convertibles under the eternal French sun. It was a revelation, the first sign for me that the life of ease, joy and elegance does happen somewhere to someone. Films can change your outlook on life, they are not escapism but something that gives you hopes and dreams. These Sunday moments of peace and carefree laughter are so instilled in my mind, that I loved Saint Tropez on principle long before ever setting my eyes on it. And no amount of bleak weather that greeted us there, will ever change that. I’ve finally arrived, not just to Saint Tropez, but to my inner place under the sun.