St Tropez in August is everything you could imagine St Tropez in August to be... and so so much more. Without a doubt, this was the most wild, fabulous weekends I've had in a long time. No matter who you are, St Tropez, makes you feel young, inspired, like a princess and like a celebrity all at one time. From the restaurants we stumbled upon, to the people we met, to the reservations we spontaneously made and bars and clubs we strolled into, everything seemed to work out just right.
For anyone visiting for the first time, unsure of where to start, here is a little outline of our favorite spots we came upon on this spontaneous and picture-perfect weekend.
Lion Blanc
We arrived at our adorable, boutique hotel, the Lion Blanc right on the main promenade leading into the city, the Avenue General Leclerc.
We had a quaint loft apartment to ourselves with a little window and a view of the water and were just above the hotel's courtyard bar area which was great for guests to have a drink at before dinner. The hotel was an easy walk to the main Old Town downtown.
Beach Clubs:
Our days started out at the beach, and the Saint Tropez beach clubs were an experience in themselves. Beach club after beach club lined the shore, and as you laid out you could see yachts docking in the open ocean in front of you and riding groups of people in onto the sand. The water was beautiful, the sun was out and music was thumping the whole length of the Pampelonne beach.
Nikki Beach was definitely the craziest of the beach clubs we experienced. It isn't directly on the beach but just tucked away inland off of the Pampelonne beach. Apparently Paris Hilton has been seen here many times... we could see why! It was the more wild, Vegas-esque, party scene than any of the other beach clubs we saw, so if that is what you're looking for this is the place to hit.
Nikki Beach
We loved Ce La Vie! This was where we rented chairs at the first day, and it has a much more relaxed vibe than many of the other clubs. The chairs were also definitely more affordable here and it was quieter being the last stop on the end of the beach. Ce La Vie had music, a full bar and artisan ice cream stand, massages, a mechanical bull (I'm sorry, what?) and a great restaurant where we had lunch and spent the afternoon in the sun.
Ce La Vie Beach Club
Ce La Vie Beach Club
Ce La Vie Beach Club
If you go to St Tropez... you absolutely must go to Bagatelle. I cannot stress this enough. Above anything else, this is the place to splurge and live it up for the day. We somehow pulled off getting beach chairs (you need reservations in advance which we didn't have but Tami somehow worked her magic and pulled it off) and spent the entire day there.
Baggatelle Beach Club
Baggatelle Beach Club
Baggatelle Beach Club
Baggatelle Beach Club
By entire day... I mean we got there at 11am to have a beach day and didn't end up leaving until 9pm because we were having so much fun. It is a boozy brunch, meets beach club, meets dance party, meets the place to "see and be seen" in St-Tropez.
The food was incredible, the music was great, every time someone ordered a magnum of Dom Perignon champagne (which was about every 15 minutes) the waiters brought the champagne out flaming with sparklers, in the arms of a girl being carried by the men carrying the platter of champagne. Every time the group was dressed in a different theme, from knights, to superheroes, to astronauts, to Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Every time, the entire restaurant got up on their chairs and danced and clapped to the music while she was brought out. Champagne was splattered everywhere, sparklers were going off and poppers were blown into the air all afternoon long. It was a truly unreal Sunday and quite possibly the highlight of our Saint Tropez weekend.
Veggie Platter at Bagatelle Beach Club
Old Town:
If you are only in Saint Tropez for a few days, the Old Town is where you should be spending your time. From Lion Blanc we walked down Avenue General Leclerc towards the city.
First stop: stroll through the Chanel Store. When you see the large CHANEL logo signs walk through what looks like a private property with iron gates. It is built in a gorgeous three story house surrounded with gardens, palm trees and a backyard pool. It looks more like a Chanel museum than anything else, with security surrounding the property and gorgeous bags, shoes and jewelry on display and out to try on. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before.
Throughout this area is great shopping, clean streets and quaint pedestrian-only pathways for strolling in the evening and window-shopping.
Hotel de Paris
As we continued our stroll down Avenue General Leclerc towards town, we saw from the street what looks like a gorgeous rooftop bar on top of the Hotel de Paris, with plants and seating up on the rooftop floor of the building. We doubted we would be let up without being hotel guests, but decided we'd give it a shot. As we walked through the revolving doors of the hotel, we were immediately greeted with smiles, "Bonjour's" and trays of free champagne. We had just walked into an Opening Party for the art gallery of David Kracov and Carole Feuerman! Whether it was invite only or open to the public we didn't know, but we accepted our glasses of champagne and hors d'ouveres and strolled through the art gallery.
From there we took our glasses and headed up to the rooftop bar. There we sat down and took in the beautiful panoramic views of the city. There was a full restaurant and bar menu and lounges and tables for sitting and drinking.
Hotel de Paris
Hotel de Paris
Pan Dei Palais
Next stop: Pan De Palais. This is an upscale, sophisticated hotel in a beautiful building from 1835. It is dark wood, marble and plush velvet interior make you feel like you're in some sort of Bollywood-style palace. We walked in the front door to the back patio and pool area, which is surrounded by gardens, sun lounge chairs and dining tables and live music performers.
It definitely wasn't cheap, but for a drink or special occasion was completely worth it for the experience we had. We were surrounded with beautiful people... like jaw-droopingly gorgeous people... everything from old men with extremely young women, wealthy young socialites and rowdy St-Tropez regulars. It was an incredible people watching spot.
The singers were taking requests and bouncing from table to table tending to whatever music taste the table asked for. For us, they sang a Justin Beiber cover and a "Happy Birthday" for Hanna and the whole restaurant sang along. This singer was singing everything from the Beatles to Christina Aguilera to Abba to Justin Bieber?! Sounds so random but this was SO fun. After our last drink, we were ready for dinner and headed out for the famous Place des Lices square.
Place des Lices square has a much more charming, small town atmosphere than some of the glitz and glam that other parts of the city show. At this lovely square freckled with lush trees and gas lamp street lights, the older men of Saint-Tropez still gather to play bocce ball in the evenings. On Tuesday and Saturday mornings, the famous open-air market takes over the square with vendors selling everything from flowers to clothes to fruit and vegetables.
We had dinner here, (don't remember what it was called but it was just OK) but at great location right on the square. It was a Friday night around 11pm and just like clockwork, as we were finishing up our dinner we noticed the lines outside of a few bars/nightclubs on our street starting to form lines out the door.
Nightlife:
The chic, glamorous, rose petal covered tables, sparkling champagne trays, girls on the bar in fishnets, people taking off their Loboutins to dancing on tables that you would imagine Saint Tropez to be. So. Much. Fun. 10/10 recommend and the dance floor is packed with people all ages, from our age group up to late 60's with people just looking to have a good time. They played mainly American music mixed in with some french DJ's and I could have stayed there all night long.
Fancy shmancy place where you need to know someone or look like you know someone to get in. Dress up and pull out your confidence but this was where everyone we met recommended for going out at night.
Not quite as crazy as Brasserie des Arts but still a really good time, more of a bar scene with good music and people dancing.
Le Quai
If you ever are given an opportunity to splurge and spend a weekend here, take it. There is absolutely nothing like it in the states, and quite frankly nothing like it anywhere I have been before at all. J'taime Saint Tropez!