St.Tropez, France…summer has returned to the south of France! The sun is shining and the skies are blue…a perfect beach day!

So, it’s swanky beach club “Le Club 55” today for a taste of the good life! I get my over-priced lounger and umbrella on the sand and settle in for some fun people watching! I ask to be farther from the water, shocking my beach boy, as this is not as “chic”; but I rather be further back to take it all in! I see Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas cavorting on the beach and figure it’s gonna be a fun day!

After some sun, I settle into my table at 55 for a serious lunch of who’s who! It’s September, so most of the “Fabulous” have already left for the season…the true celebs come in July before the tourist hordes descend in August!

It may be Fashion Week back home in NYC but this crowd is doing their own runway right here on Pampelonne Beach! The style here is decidedly French and certainly eccentric and ostentatious…More is better to this crowd! The shoes can’t be high enough, the bling not showy enough, and the tan not dark enough! The must-have accessory is your pooch!

It’s essential to make reservations at 55, which I did and I am swiftly shown to my Provencal blue and white decked out table! Yachts pull along the water front and Club 55 sends their small dingy boat to bring them ashore for lunch…how fantastic! The menu is a feast of French favorites and the prices are “sticker-shock” stunners!
A rich goat cheese and tomato salad and Sole Meneuire makes a perfect French lunch for me! Yet, everyone orders the huge Crudités plate to share, but being solo I pass! Is this the best French food you will have, no! All for a small price of 100 euro for one (US $125)…But definitely it’s the most fun afternoon feeling part of the International jet set you can experience!

Oh la la, life on the French Riviera!