I took this trip to France a couple of years ago. My husband’s uncle lives in Europe and was turning 80. He wanted to spend his birthday in Les Issambres in France which is pretty much the French Riviera, the Cote d’Azur. I have never been to France so I was pretty excited to go. Keep in mind that I do not speak french in any capacity. Les Issambres in France is very much a beach town with a few restaurants and markets. We ended up going in July which was the peak of the summer season. The weather was really hot which I love and the landscape was absolutely beautiful. There were bushes filled with pink flowers that would blow into our room during the evening hours.
One day we woke up and decided to go on a daytrip. We took a ferry ride to Saint Tropez. I didn’t do too much research about Saint Tropez and was just excited to explore a new place in France. I have lived many places in my life and have been fortunate enough to see most of the country, but nothing prepared me for Saint Tropez. It is the most expensive place I have ever been to in my entire life. Our ferry pulled up to the dock and we walked down the street passing all of these enormous yachts one after the other. Artists lined the sidewalk selling their canvas’s and prints of the Saint Tropez landscape. It was lunchtime and I was starving so my husband and I decided to eat a restaurant that was literally on the opposite side of all of the yachts on the main street. The restaurant was beautiful and open so we got to people watch and take in the views. I will never forget ordering a bottle of rose wine for $7 USD while a bottle of water was $15 USD. I had artichokes sprinkled with shaved parmesan served with a fresh baguette. Two coffees later our bill was over $100 USD. Extravagant yes, I literally felt like a spoiled princess.
We walked through the town passing by Hermes and other expensive brand shops taking in the town. The most expensive sports cars that I have ever seen drive down the street. I literally felt like I was surrounded by people of privilege and power. My husband I found a park to sit down in and relax as we planned our next meal. As we walked further away from the mega yachts docked on the main street, I felt more comfortable and the expensive brand shops that we left behind were now turning into ice cream stops and more affordable shops and restaurants. Bridgette Bardot’s image is posted often on the buildings to remind everyone of her presence and love affair with Saint Tropez. We kept walking through the narrow streets and sidewalk cafes until we came to the end of the port where we could see the ocean and a beach. We watched as families and children jumped into the ocean and played in the sand. It was a real and authentic moment, not pretentious in any way. I snapped a picture and scooped up some sand to put in my bag. If you’d like to see the listing for sand jewelry using this beach sand, click here. The name of the beach that we had visited was La Ponche Beach. I later found out that it was the beach that Bridgette Bardot made famous in a film called “And God…Created the Wife”. It was such a beautiful beach and the highlight of my trip to France.
We slowly walked back to the center of town and went to a cafe to spend a couple of hours while we waited for our ferry ride back to Les Issambres. My husband and I were seated at a table in an open air cafe. There was a man next to us speaking English on his phone using Face time. My husband leans over to me and says ” That man looks famous and I’m going to talk to him.” I told him not to and to leave him alone, but he wouldn’t listen to me. The best opening line I heard him say to the man was “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Long story short, he talked to him briefly. We found out that he was the lead guitarist for Lenny Kravitz and he was doing a “gig” on Saint Tropez. Apparently the “gig” was performing on Leonardo DiCaprio’s yacht with Lenny for a fundraiser to help stop climate change. Yup. Just another day in Saint Tropez!