We Spend the Day in Saint Tropez
With summer being officially over, and the mad crowds of tourists having gone back home, we decided to go to Saint Tropez for the day.
Saint Tropez is one of my favorite cities – at least in the fall, when the noise, the traffic and the crowds are gone. Click here to read more about Saint Tropez and see some of the photos I took recently and discover what to see and do if you decide to visit.
Wooden Fishing Boats at the Old Port in Saint Tropez
Our friends Alex and Josette went with us. Josette is an amazing painter herself, and since we’d decided to the visit the Musée de l’Annonciade, I was excited that they decided to come.
Saint Tropez is a former fishing village that has been “discovered” many times – in the late 1800’s it became “the” place for many painters of the impressionist and post-impressionist to find inspiration.
In the twenties it became the “in place” for international stars from the fashion industry.
And in the 50’s it became the “chic” playground of the jet set, after sex kitten Brigitte Bardot’s 18th film (and the one that brought her international and lasting fame from the press) called “And God Created Woman” by director husband Roger Vadim.
The Musée de l’Annonciade had a temporary exhibit of one of the painters I like, and I was excited to see it.
Painting by Paul Signac at the Musée de l
The museum has a wonderful permanent collection – including several paintings by Paul Signac, who “discovered” Saint Tropez when his yacht ran into bad weather and he had to make port. He fell in love with the peaceful fishing village, to the point that he even had a house built there, and went on to throw wild house parties where people came from as far away as Paris. He was a patron and supporter of many other artists, who also came and stayed with him from time to time, and who also were seduced by the amazing light one finds in Saint Tropez.
After visiting the museum, we walked around the vieux port and the old part of the city. Alex and Josette had never been inside the beautiful Catholic church that sits at the top of the “rue des cloches” (street of the bells), and so we were all disappointed to find out that the church is only open in the mornings to visitors. (Something to keep in mind if you’re planning a trip to Saint Tropez and want to visit the church.)
The clock and bell tower of Saint Tropez
After that, we walked down to the famous pink and yellow clock tower that you’ll see in so many paintings and photos of Saint Tropez. It was built in the 18th Century and is just another one of the living bits of history that I love and enjoy so much!
I don’t know if you can see the beautiful purple flowers blooming to the right of the clock tower, but they were spectacular, and so vibrant that they took my breath away. That’s something else I love about living on the French Riviera – different flowers bloom practically all year round here, and you can always find lush, rich colors in the landscapes, in the Mediterranean Sea and even on the buildings themselves.
One of the advantages of visiting Saint Tropez in the fall is that you can find plenty of parking spaces – something that’s between “very difficult” and “darn near next to impossible” during the summer. But even in the fall and winter months people flock to Saint Tropez – and you can always find a crowd gathered around the pier as the huge super-yachts come pulling into port. They always draw a crowd, and as soon as one pulls up, the rumors and speculation about who’s onboard start flying. Is it Bruce Willis? George Clooney? Madonna? You never know – but it’s fun to guess.
One of my favorite things to do in Saint Tropez is to sit at one of the local sidewalk cafes, and people watch.
Sidewalk Cafe in Saint Tropez
I can nurse a diet coke for an hour, and be completely entertained by watching as the world strolls by. Two brasseries where people still go to see and be seen are Le Gorille or Le Sénéquier. They’re both along the old port, so they’re easy to find and offer great views.
We got caught in a bit of a rainstorm – the rain was warm, and it was so light that we hardly got wet. And after the rain, there was a beautiful rainbow and then the water of the Med turned luminous. I took some other pictures, which I’ll share later.
In all, it was a lovely day, and we had a wonderful time.
Tags:Cities on the French Riviera,Saint Tropez,Visit the Musée de l'Annonciade
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[...] able to go and see an exhibition of his art. We did that a couple of weeks ago, when we went to St. Tropez for the day to l’Annonciade museum, to see an exhibition of the work of Maximilien Luce [...]