Hello From The French Rivera -
You see plenty of money around the French Rivera, but I’d say it is somewhat overrated. Now, that’s not to say we shouldn’t respect money. I’ve heard that money talks.
The more prominent takeaways from the French Rivera:
- A long stretch of verdant hillsides dotted with very nice homes.
- Huge yachts in the harbors.
- Beaches in the downtown areas of cities and villages.
- It’s big – over 100 miles long from St. Tropez in the west to Menton in the east (at the border with Italy)
- Small roads and lots of cars. It’s reported to be impossible in the summer.
- Mostly rocks along the coast, with some well-placed small beaches.
- There were many locations that reminded us of California.
We took a ten-hour day and went to St. Tropez and then headed east along the coast to St. Raphael. We selected a day (yesterday, Tuesday, January 21) with nothing but sunshine and temperatures just touching 60 degrees. By the way, that has not been the norm. We’ve seen a few Pacific Northwest-type days with light to heavy rain and temperatures a little warmer than the PNW, usually about 50 degrees.
St. Tropez is a small place where Brigitte Bardot lives. They say she lives in an unassuming house and signs autographs in the town square on Thursdays. As it was a Tuesday, we happened to hit the Open Market in the town square. We bought some cheese. How do you not buy cheese when they produce over 350 types of cheese?
There were some huge yachts. See the photos. Marlene posed by one yacht she wishes belonged to her. Another boat (no model), called the “Mac Brew”, was probably the most notable. There was a yacht from the Cayman Islands. The yacht was big, but do they actually sail from the Cayman Islands to the French Rivera? Though the yachts were impressive, they weren’t as impressive in numbers as the yachts we saw in Antibes and in Cannes during an earlier drive through. The real trip to Antibes and Cannes is still down the road.
St. Tropez is located on what the French call a gulf. I call it a large bay. The city of St. Maxime is across the bay, seen in the distance in the photo of Marlene sitting on the rocks. St. Tropez has an interesting shoreline, including homes built many years ago right on the water. Old town St. Tropez had the narrow streets, typical of the old walled cities in France. Marlene really liked one house in particular, so she’s hoping the photo of her on the front steps might make you think she just purchased it. And, Marlene liked the little heart on the door (peep hole) of one house, so decided to sit on the front steps. And, Marlene wanted to be sure you believe she was in St. Tropez, so she posed in front of a shuttered shop with a sign showing “St. Tropez”. Being that it was January, almost all of the shops were closed. We’re not sure if that’s a January thing, or if they are closed for the season. Since tourism is the only thing (along with money) in St. Tropez, we’re guessing they were closed for the season.
And, you shouldn’t call it Saint Tro-pez, as it is really pronounced Sain Tro-pay. But, you probably already knew that.
The Wilsons
