Thursday, July 03, 2008

St. Tropez. Oh la la.

St. Trop was wonderful. It's a world unto it's own. Beautiful weather, beautiful beaches, beautiful people, beautiful cars, and ginormous (yet beautiful) yachts. We spent so much time in the hotel pool and Med sea that I think I started growing gills. I went with my friend/French tutor and her 2 adolescent boys. I've never spent so much time staring at girls, and butts, and boobs, and cars, and yachts in all my life. It was entertaining.

The 4 of us.

One day, we went on a 30 minute hike to a secluded beach. The water was incredibly clear so I was able to enjoy a little snorkeling. I've become used to the topless bathing here in France. That's no longer a big deal for me. But I saw a lot of full on nude bathing during this hike and after we parked ourselves on the beach. Initially, I had a hard time with it, but my tutor tried conditioning me to the idea that it was just natural. Fine, but I didn't like seeing penis walk by while I was eating my lunch.

On the hike.

If you look closely to the yacht in the far distance, you can spot a helicopter parked on top.

One of the many gorgeous cars we spotted during the trip.

Oh Med Sea. How I love thee.

We took a boat cruise that took us out of the port and into the St. Tropez Gulf. Here's a photo of St. Trop as we're pulling farther away. A gorgeous Med sea town.

While on the tour, we went around an area where the super wealthy live. Here's a photo of Brigitte Bardot's house. She still lives there. And she's the one that made this town what it is today.

We also saw 2 mansions that L'Oreal owns. Also Dodi Fayed's father's house. Boris Yeltsin's daughter's house was my favorite. The owners of Carrefour have a mansion over there. Go Annecy. The CEO of Louis Vutton, Kenzo, and another designer that I can't remember who's supposedly the richest man in France and, surprise, surprise, has a house in St. Trop too. The owners of Opal cars has a home over there. And we saw a house that can only be rented for an obscene amount of money and that Jack Nicholson rented it at one time. Also on the tour, we learned that the population of St. Trop is only around 5,000 habitants from October through June and then jumps to 100,000 during July, August, and September.

During our last day, I walked to the beach to check out the restaurant in St. Trop. The hot spot where the rich and famous rub elbows. We met a couple the night before at dinner who stayed at a 5 star 900 Euro+ per night hotel with Hugh Jackman. They couldn't stop talking about him and told us that he lunched at this restaurant everyday. Well, I was interested in checking it out. I knew Hugh had already left so I wasn't going there to stalk him or anything. Oh no.

This last photo shows all the yachts that were parked in front of the shee-shee restaurant. You can see a grey military looking "yacht" in the background with yet another helicopter on top.

All in all, a fabulous vacation. I hope to return again someday.

12 comments:

Angela said...

Wow, beautiful pics! That's a place I've always wanted to visit someday. Haven't made it yet, but hope to soon. Thanks for the photo tour!

Anonymous said...

Wow, looks like you had a fantastic time ! I hope we have half as nice weather (we're leaving tomorrow night)

J said...

That looks like a gorgeous place. I don't know if I'd like being around all those rich people though. Or nudity. That kinda freaks me out...

Jill said...

Wow - it looks like you had a fantastic trip! I'm not a fan of completely nude sunbathing either... although I do wonder if men put sunscreen on their peni (is that the plural word for it?) - or chance burning it?

Anonymous said...

How beautiful!

"seeing penis walk by while I was eating my lunch" - hahahahaha!

Jennifer said...

What a great trip. You look tan and relaxed and lovely. However, I must say I am disappointed at the lack of nude pictures on your site. Ha, ha! :) What do the adolescent boys think of the nudity? Are they pretty much laid back about it? I guess if you see it all the time, it loses its shock value. Except maybe at lunch.

Me and Him said...

I'm not a fan of nude sunbathing. But sounds like you had a great trip, your photos are beautiful.

Ruth said...

What a vacation! I'm so jealous!

Thanks for sharing all those lovely pictures.

Sam said...

Ok, now I'm the jealous one -- this tip looks fabulous (dahling!)

Shefali said...

Wow Em...amazing! Looks like you had a great time! I know you were stalking Hugh...

Victoria said...

i love your st trop photos, they are very cool! i hope to make it there someday.

i particularly liked your your rhyme about the med sea.

Gigi said...

I was there the same time as you! I know what you mean about the nude sunbathing...all those dangly bits on show. ugh. My two girls were so embarassed they used to walk across the beach with their heads down :-)