Saint-Tropez and Brigitte Bardot

Saint-Tropez

Have you heard of Saint-Tropez? Do you know who Brigitte Bardot is? Do you happen to be a fan?

I thought it looked ugly

St Trop is just a short drive away from Bormes, so Hub and I hopped over one morning when the Babies were at their club. It is a famous seaside resort located on the French Riviera, and from the moment we arrived we knew that it was meant for the very rich and famous (sigh, not us).

There were huge yachts and luxury boats all over its marina and port and many tourists and inhabitants were better-dressed than elsewhere. You see this special cart (that looked like a golf cart) everywhere that Hub said was first popularised by Brigitte Bardot. I thought it looked dangerous.

Beautiful park, I love the trees

And so St Trop, formerly a quiet fishing village, is also known as the place that Brigitte Bardot "discovered", the place where she had bought a home "La Madrague" in back in 1958. With her came artists of the French New Wave in cinema, and later on the international jetset. St Trop is the place to be in for the occasional celebrity sighting.

Andy Warhol

We decided to visit the Brigitte Bardot exhibition after hearing about it on the radio and seeing posters everywhere in town. I've never been particularly interested in the Star (she's older than MIL) though it's impossible not to know who she is when you've lived in France.

We've enjoyed the exhibition. Bardot must really have been very different from most women in her époque. I am still whirling from the sexual liberation that she symbolised in those days and her natural beauty. She must be one of the most photogenic and most photographed women in the world.