A day in St Tropez

During our trip to the South of France, we just had to pop over to St Tropez to see what all the fuss is about.

It was nothing like what I was expecting. It is the most beautiful, tiny, little fishing village that is almost completely overwhelmed by boats bigger than the buildings themselves.

But i’m getting ahead of myself.

We’d heard that driving into the town is near impossible because of the traffic, so we decided to drive in to Sainte Maxine - a port just across the bay. From here you can hop on a passenger boat such as Les Bateaux Verts for about €13 return and it only takes about 15 minutes.

This way you get to see the approach, not to mention pass the biggest fanciest boats imaginable on your way in. We’d heard Cara Delivigne and Selina Gomez had been docked in the bay for a few days, and I kept my eye out in case they fancied inviting us on board but I didn’t spot them.

When we arrived we hopped off the boat and headed in the opposite direction to pretty much all of the other tourists. We found ourselves very quickly on a beach, and then only minutes away from the bustling waters edge, we were totally alone in a courtyard that could have been in the middle of nowhere it was so deserted.

It was so quiet you could dance like a fool, and nobody would ever know.

My little swinging summer dress is from Asos, available here for only £25.

We wondered the sunlit streets, taking in the atmosphere and delicious smells of garlic and seafood cooking. Despite hundreds of tourists visiting each day, it is surprisingly easy to stay well away from the crowds.

Once we had thoroughly explored, we went in search of lunch. I had been given some recommendations from Nina Parker’s book Nina St Tropez (which I was delightfully then given as a birthday gift. You can get a copy here) . She said: “In the Old Town, there’s a little corner of three restaurants all huddled together on the rue des Remparts, with great food and beautiful views which I love: La Ponche, La Pesquière and Le Mazagran”. We went for La Ponche and somehow we managed to get the best table in the house, and sat for much of the meal in the kind of silence that comes from contentment and a beautiful view.

Head chef Christian Geay’s mantra is:

It was delicious.

Mr B went for St Tropez red mullet and courgette spaghetti with pesto.

As I have learned - and I think I am a bit late to the game - courgette spaghetti also known as courgetti (hey hey, see what they did there) and is an alternative to pasta. It is funnily enough made out of courgette. You use a spiraliser to make it in to ribbons and not only is it tasty and healthy, but surprisingly filling too by all accounts.

I can’t wait to try this at home, and I have just ordered myself a spiraliser so I will let you know how it goes.

After our lunch, we took another one of Nina’s recommendations and walked along the coast a bit until we arrived at Plage des Graniers, where we settled ourselves in for a relaxing afternoon.

(Some people say you can have the whole world in your hands - sorry, couldn’t resist!)

When the sun started to lower itself for the day, we headed back to the bustle of the harbour where it had filled up with super yachts, their lights twinkling and their residents sipping their champagne.

We spotted some absolutely beautiful model-types be escorted from their yacht and into a waiting chauffeur driven car. We found out the following day Leonardo DiCaprio had hosted a gala dinner, and pretty much a hundred famous faces had attended.

Erm, Mr DiCaprio - where was our invite?!

Instead we got the boat across the water, jumped in our hire car and whizzed back to the hotel, only stopping to pick up a McDonalds on the way!

Like this post? Check out our other adventures in the South of France here and here.

greeneyed