Saint-Tropez

An hour and a quarter from Villa Hippocampe, Saint-Tropez awaits with its many faces. A former fishing village propelled onto the world stage by Brigitte Bardot and the 1956 film “And God Created Woman”, Saint-Tropez has since cultivated a fascinating paradox: preserving its Provençal soul — narrow lanes where colourful pointus sit alongside luxury yachts, ochre façades with sun-bleached shutters, shady little squares where games of pétanque unfold, a lively daily market — while embodying the world’s symbol of chic Mediterranean living.

The village reveals itself layer by layer. First the harbour, the epicentre of Tropezian buzz, where the legendary red terrace of Sénéquier — an iconic café since 1887 — offers the finest show in the world: anonymous visitors and celebrities parading past gleaming yachts, under the amused gaze of the gendarme statue paying tribute to the film saga starring Louis de Funès that immortalised Saint-Tropez in the collective imagination.

Then the old village, a maze of cobbled lanes climbing towards the citadel, pastel-coloured houses, contemporary art galleries alongside craftsmen’s workshops and international fashion brands. The famous Place de la Gendarmerie recalls the time when Gérard Oury’s films turned this corner of Provence into an open-air film set. Next, the citadel, a 17th-century fortress overlooking the bay, home to a remarkable maritime museum and offering an exceptional panorama over the whole gulf — the very view that captivated Brigitte Bardot so much that she never really left.

Finally, the beaches of Pampelonne: five kilometres of fine sand where Bardot swam in the 1960s and where legendary clubs — Club 55, born from the filming of “And God Created Woman”, the more festive Nikki Beach — alternate with public access points, for an atmosphere that is by turns glamorous and intimate.

But Saint-Tropez also has an often overlooked cultural side. The Musée de l’Annonciade houses an exceptional collection of post-impressionist paintings — Signac discovered Saint-Tropez in 1892 and drew Matisse and Bonnard there, all come to capture this incomparable Mediterranean light long before the arrival of cinema and celebrities.

The Tropezian art of living can also be savoured on the plate: gourmet restaurants celebrating the catch of the day, Sénéquier’s terrace for tasting the famous tarte tropézienne invented right here, wine cellars devoted to Provence rosés, markets overflowing with sun-ripened vegetables. Saint-Tropez knows how to stay Provençal, even when the whole world comes to visit — exactly as Brigitte Bardot always loved it.