Mei in Tropez

“I don't think it's a special city at all.” “And it's not tropical at all.” Ah, the reporter from RTL Boulevard shares her view on Saint-Tropez. City? Saint-Tropez is a fishing village, a small harbor town with a meager 6000 inhabitants. And tropical, dear child, that is the area between the tropics. The island kingdom of Indonesia, southern Asia, the northern half of Australia, Central America, and most of the continents Africa and South America fall within it.

So you're not going to find that in Saint-Tropez. And yes, the beaches in the Netherlands may be wider, but you won't run into Niki Lauda there quite as quickly. Or Pamela Anderson, because she was there too. Our friend Bram, whom I met at my favorite bakery La Tarte Tropezienne, was at Bagatelle Beach the day before, where Richie Sambora happened to be as well. And he felt like singing a little tune (Richie, not our friend Bram), et voilà, the roof came off. That's Saint-Tropez.

We drank after dinner at Le TIGrr (a recommendation, if only for the great terrace, view, food, attractive people, and I could go on), the restaurant of hotel Ermitage, and had another drink at Senequier, an iconic establishment in the harbor of Saint-Tropez. I looked to the right and who was there, four tables away? Karl Lagerfeld.

I was in the fishing village (where only 6000 people live, but where five million visitors come every year) because Jan des Bouvrie was blowing out 75 candles. This was celebrated at Tropezina, a beautiful beach tent next to Haiti. There was champagne, there was rosé, there was my favorite lunch (from ham, melon, mozzarella, and truffle pizza to pasta and prawns to red fruit, watermelon, and small Tropez cakes), there was singing (from René Froger through his son to the down-and-out dishwasher), there were speeches, there was dancing, and suddenly I found myself with Peggy (who was there too, as she has been friends with Jan and Monique for over thirty years) in a lukewarm sea. Or as Peggy calls it, ‘tepid’. By the way, do you want to sneak a peek into our Pegs' wardrobe? You can, you know., take a look.

The afternoon ended in an evening with fresh friends, open conversations, and a bottle of limoncello that was suddenly empty. The next day we are going to Blanc Bleu, the store where they incorporate the most beautiful sea blue into their clothing. My love gives me the perfect hand-painted marinière (I didn't have this one yet) and a Blanc Blue-blue shirt dress. The owner makes coffee and specially buys milk for us across the street. And when we leave, I get to choose another scarf.

Saint-Tropez. Maybe not tropical, but definitely magical.

Do you want to read more about Saint-Tropez? Look here but take a look at my favorite spots.