mirelabuhus: WELCOME TO SAINT TROPEZ

Saint Tropez situated in the Var department of the Provence -Alps - Côte d'Azur region of the French Riviera, equals for everybody with luxury. Not many know that Saint Tropez along with the other saints that guard the famous Côte d'Azur like: Saint Aygulf, Saint Raphael and Saint Maxime, actually existed and probably have a great influence Up there, as long as such a little coast village like Saint Tropez (with a population around 5000 and a land area of 15.18 km²⁾ became such an important touristic point after the 50’s.

There is myth I would like to break down: the “I cannot afford going to Saint Tropez” expensive myth. It couldn’t be more false. Now that I am able to say “been there, done that!” there isn’t another place on Earth I would recommend warmer even on a tight Romanian budget, it all requires planning and a few accommodation tips. Comparing the price between our own sea side touristic stations and Saint Tropez, the prices are almost the same with slight difference, of course, you’re not obliged to stay down town Saint Tropez, there are all kind of campings in the surrounding areas where the price starts from 30 Euros /per night/ per person (pay attention thought because you need to make reservations from January for July).

If it’s not necessary to stay down town it’s a MUST to visit it. I can’t say exactly what stroke me first, the enormous “parking” of all those yachts or the simplicity of people. Down town is basically the port, the old port with all this coffee bars where all the costumers are faced towards the yachts like at the theater, watching an on-going show, because believe me, it’s a show to see a yacht come or go, to linger and imagine how it would be on one of those floating castles. It’s not as if I never seen luxury before in my life but this goes way beyond any imagination, when my boss first took me to see the port, he kept asking me what I think, I could only babble , no intelligible French word came out, then he said to me “Oui, ca c’est la follie du monde.” (Meaning “this is surreal!” and I was going to find out later that the subtext was: don’t take it serious!)

After the first shock, I started enjoying more and more the people without any inhibitions (you could say, if I had all that money I would also be bodacious , but it wasn’t just that), I guess the only true Richey Rich people were those sitting on their yachts, the others were as normal as human beings can be.

To picture this high life better, hear this out: only to park the yacht there costs some good thousands per day… shhtt, this is confidential – and if this wasn’t enough, you also have to be good friends with the mayor in order to be able to park there); leaving this aside, the people are great, the artists are very appreciated and respected, they have this kind of outdoor exhibitions all along the port; the food is affordable even at the restaurants, of course if you chose to eat something else besides sea fruits, I totally recommend the goat cheese “fromage du chevre” and the wine Rose ( or the local Ice Tropez, pink sweet wine with grapefruit and ice), oh, oh, and the famous “La Tarte Tropezienne” ; I guess you know by now that if you are in France, “les croissants” and “les pains au chocolate” with “caffee au lait” are compulsory. And if you stay for more than a week or less, doesn’t matter, if your are gourmandize and your only fright is that you cannot afford your food, think twice, they also have supermarkets, because they are human and they like sales and cheap food, so no worries, as it regards the clothing, they are expensive indeed along with the cigarettes, but hey, you don’t go in vacation to buy clothes, maximum you can “window” shop and not smoke for a week (8 Euros/pack plus it’s prohibited to smoke almost ever where in public in France, so…)

The beaches – are so exquisite and clean that you can eat directly from the sand, I swear, not to mention the deep crystal salty water. “La Plage de Pampelonne” is one of the most famous beaches in the world, here it was shoot the well-known series “Les gendarmes” and the movies with Bridgette Bardot – I tell you this, it’s amazing to walk the same sand as they did, and a boat trip round the coast of the city Saint Tropez will let you admire from distance the house of BB and other famous stars whom garage are directly from the sea into the mountain where their houses are built, just like in a movie with 007.

You can’t miss the citadel of Saint Tropez, a true and unique piece of history dated way back to the XVII century, and the impressive view of the whole Golf of Saint Tropez that you can admire from within the Citadel. If you want an incursion into the real past of this magnetic city you should also take a few moments and visit the churches, the one I’ve got really attached to, is this little church near “Place des Lices”, “Notre dame de la Misericordie” – you can really inhale the faith (with all kind of expensive perfumes “bien sure”) whilst you can wind down the whole hectic “Welcome to Saint Tropez” world. If you choose an outdoor church, one with an amphitheater, which, by the way, are great, the sound of the priest might be disturbed from time to time by one of those fast speed cars, the usual: Ferrari - they come in all shapes and colors, Rolls Royce Phantom, limousines etc.

As it regards the landscapes, if heaven exists, this must be it, a remarkable mélange between the Mediterranean Sea and the Maritime Alps, the sky dives into the sea making the monsoon the most lovable wind on earth and a perfect place for the most romantic affairs ever.

Nudism is at ease here with special beaches where people who choose to do this are more than admired and respected; you can rediscover other senses of life if you try it at least once, you can never know how you will react if a guy comes up to you and asks you out only with his t-shirt on and nothing else, of course you have to undress also your prejudices not only your clothes.

And now the part that most interests you, young people out there, the night life, the clubbing. You are obliged to start your evening with an ice coffee at the famous and most old bar in port “Le Senequier” you can’t miss it, it’s all in red and it appears in all the movies ever made here. There is something for every taste, starting with modest clubs in the port where one can drink and dance all night long with a bunch of international people, and finishing with the famous “VIP Room”, I think the name says everything, it’s an exclusivist club for members only, but if you have 1000 Euros to spend for a bottle of champagne with little gold nuggets, be my guest, I, for one, like to wear gold, not drink it!

Last but not least, The Transportation, If you don’t have a yacht: the nearest airport is Nice from where you can take the train up to Saint Raphael and afterwards the boat or the bus straight to Saint Tropez, sincerely, I recommend the boat, 8 Euros/ ticket, it’s faster and the sensation is priceless. You have also the possibility to travel between the “Saints” of The Golf , there is a bus station in Saint-Tropez called “ La Gare routière de Saint-Tropez “, take advantage it’s only 2 Euros/ ticket. So don’t forget the Motto of Saint Tropez - Ad usque fidelis, Latin for "Faithful to the end" and go for it, it’s not really that expensive, you can afford it if you want it, you only need to plan it and ask me for any further referral.