Saint-Tropez: land of luxury

 

 Saint-Tropez: land of luxury

Saint-Tropez is situated on the Mediterranean coast of France in the gulf of the same name. The town was immortalised by the French film director Roger Vadim, who filmed many of the scenes in his film 'Et Dieu Créa la Femme' ('And God Created Woman') in and around the town, filling his lens with the as yet unknown Brigitte Bardot. The town's reputation for free and easy living, however, antedates Vadim's 1956 film by several decades. As early as the 1880's the French novelist Guy de Maupassant arrived here in his yacht to paint the town red, shortly followed by the leading neo-impressionist painter Paul Signac. Forced into Saint-Tropez by bad weather on a sailing trip, Signac loved the town so much be built a house here, which subsequently boasted a succession of famous artists as visitors, including Matisse and Seurat. The town's unspoilt character, relative isolation and the quality of its Mediterranean light attracted many other famous artists and writers over the years, including Jean Cocteau and Anais Nin. The impact of Vadim's film however, cast Saint-Tropez into the mainstream of Riviera tourism and the town has never been the same since. Today, it is the resort of those who wish to bathe in the town's former and somewhat faded glories. Even the beautiful people on the luxury motor yachts packed gunwhale to gunwhale in the tiny harbour are more often well-heeled charterers paying through the nose for a two-week taste of the lifestyle of the truly wealthy. For the yachtsman, Saint-Tropez is as good a place as anywhere to chill out and chuckle at the pretensions of those whose preparations to put to sea consist of a bikini wax and a good smear of coconut oil.