Pampelonne « WhereamIgoingto

St. Tropez, France…last day in this French playground! I decide to take a more laid back approach today to the beach in order to cap off my holiday on the Cote d’Azure…

Instead of one of the swanky beach clubs, I choose Aqua Club. A simpler, less glitzy club along the same yacht filled beach. It’s situated next to yesterday’s Les Palmiers but it’s a world apart!

I can sit on my lounger and watch people shuttled in from awaiting yachts on one side or I can view the nudist beach to my other side. But this club has no pretension, no class system, and no attitude! It’s a feet in the sand kind of place on the shore…

Lunch is served simply…tables right on the beach. The list of daily specials sound great and I pick beef carpacio and fresh mussels, one of my favs! Of course, I don’t forget to accompany it with a heaping plate of French fries…I am holding out on my all time favorite, steak tartare for when I am in Paris later this month!
Besides the laid back vibe, my day here costs half of what it did at the other chicer clubs.

Its been a marvelous summer getting to spend time on all of Europe’s rivieras…each uniquely it’s own! This winter I’ll be itching for a trip to St Barths…it’s the closet thing we have to this riviera!

St.Tropez, France…another gorgeous summer day in the Cote d’Azure…I return to the beach but decide to try a newer beach club along the three mile Pampelonne Beach that was recommended to me; Club Les Palmiers. Awash in modernist designer white and with a younger vibe compared to yesterday’s Le Club 55.

This feels like the Nouveau Riche version of yesterday’s more established old moneyed club. A D.J. blares Euro beats and the crowd looks straight out of the gym with their toned bodies! Of course, there are plenty of pretty young model wannabes with their wealthy older suitors. It seems this is the club of choice for the Hotel Byblos as I see guests with their blue striped hotel towels arriving.

Life in these beach clubs doesn’t come cheap…a chaise, umbrella, and towel costs 46 euro for the day! I prefer these loungers as they are more comfortable than yesterday’s. But I like the feel of this club, sort of South Beach meets French Riviera…a variety of loungers and beds fill the beach and bold sculptures are scattered about. Flashy as only the French can do!

I reserve a table at the second seating of lunch at 3:30. The prices are just as insane as the rest of St Tropez’s inflated prices! Truly feeling sticker shock! Models do a fashion show and glide around tables in order to show off their over-the-top wares and the crowd gets up dancing away at their tables as the music blares! Girls in their bikinis gyrate on tables on the beach…it’s September and it’s crazy, I can only imagine what August must be like! Its a day in euro trash glory, albeit very wealthy euro trash…

Economic slowdown? Money woes? Rising unemployment? Not on the radar here! It’s like a fantasy land of excesses! Just let reality go and live like the French do!