ET DIEU CREA LA FEMME. And God Created Woman. These five words — and the sex kitten Brigette Bardot — transformed the sleepy fishing village of St. Tropez into a port-of-call for celebrities and jet-setters. No longer a place where artists like Paul Signac came for the Cote d’Azur sunlight, St. Tropez became a place to see and be seen.
How it all began
Shyly, we booked at Villa Lou Trelus in Ste.-Maxime across the bay. Our hillside balcony gave us ringside seats for the weekend airshow, so rather than fight the crowds, we watched brightly colored planes swooping and zooming across the sky until sonic-booming military jets forced us inside.
Not a celebrity in sight, St. Tropez
When we finally made it to St. Tropez on Monday, the soft sunlight had been replaced by cold rain and if there were any jetsetters they were hidden by their umbrellas. So we ducked into the Musee de la Annonciade for a peek at the pointillist paintings of Paul Signac and others who painted on the French Riviera.
No Red Carpet today, Cannes
On Tuesday we changed lodging, moving up the coast towards Cannes to the more affordable Villa les Glycines and a cozy apartment right on the water. The weather was great when we drove over the hilly coastal road to Cannes but the town was even more disappointing than I anticipated. Admittedly, I don’t give a rodent’s tush about film celebrities, Palms d’Or or Red Carpets. And even if I did, the Palais de Festival was cordoned off as workers prepared it for the French Congress next month, snarling traffic for motorists and pedestrians alike.
Reflections of conspicuous consumption, Antibes
Antibes, on the other hand, was wonderful. Consumption was once again conspicuous with yachts the size of small islands cramming the harbor. But the viel ville, the old city, was vibrant. Tourists, of course, many American by the sound of it, but lots of locals, too. Artists had already discovered Antibes and you can see copies of works by the likes of Delacroix and Picasso around the harbor with the actual scene beyond.
Dealacroix and Boudin, side by side, Antibes
