2nd August 2016 St Tropez
I could hardly visit St Tropez and not do a blog about the place so apologies if this is a little boring.
As we started to round Cap de Saint Tropez the amount of boat traffic started to increase as did the size of the motorboats. Large vessels anchored in the bays others making their passage to some little piece of tranquillity. As we made our approach to the marina we tried to find Bridgette Bardot’s house, taking photographs of every house we could see on the eastern shore line of the Anse des Canebiers.
As we approached the marina other large boats were anchored just off the entrance. Due to all the boats, large and small racing around the bay I had not been able to rig the fenders and lines so Mike tried to sail beyond the entrance to find me some calmer water where I could rig the fenders in safety. Despite his efforts a several passenger boats were intent on aiming directly for us despite Mike taking avoiding action and changing course they obviously thought it would be fun to have second attempt . I don’t think they are aware or pay head to the collision regs in this neck of the woods.
The marina entry was somewhat like wacky races with large boats, passenger vessels and leisure craft all making their way in or out of the marina on any side of the channel. Typical we had arrived at what was a boat rush hour and was further complicated by the limited amount of space, moorings space is a premium so the space between the pontoons was narrow. The lady on the radio had allocated us a berth, B21, finding where your spot is can be problematic. The markings in this marina were on the end of the pontoon so with me on look out, because my sight is better we made our way in. The trouble is we almost had to pass the pontoon and then reverse back as our allotted space was on the side we had just gone by. The marina staff at this point arrived in their rib asked what berth we were on and led the way. Mike on seeing how close the two pontoons were said “I’ll never get in there”, he did though, yes we had to go in bow first but it was fine.
Once in the shelter of the marina you could feel how hot the day had become so we put up the Bimini and sat in the shade exhausted by the challenges of getting in here. Whilst we composed ourselves we sat watching people in their boats posing for photographers, others laid back with their “designer bits and bobs” thinking they are somebody and doing their very important person poses whilst trying to look casual at the same time. It was all very amusing. No time to rest as we needed to go get the shopping and we would do our sightseeing when the day was cooler.
Once back from the shops we sat back down to enjoy a cold drink and watch the really big boats come in and moor on the far side. The first to arrive was called Nourah of Riyad, I was searching for a wifi signal when this arrived and on my search popped up Nourah HRH, Nourah VIP and Nourah crew. A little bit of surfing the web found the boat to be owned by a Saudi Prince. I wish he would give us his wifi code as the marina one is rubbish.
About 18:30, the temperature was dropping slightly so we headed out into the old town, I say that loosely as it was badly damaged in the war and rebuilt to look old. When you hear the name of somewhere you create a mental picture of the place, I had imagined marbled streets, lots of expensive shops, bling and lots of very rich people. The reality was somewhat different, yes there was the obvious wealth in the yachts that were moored around the marina with security at the water’s edge, stopping people boarding or in one case taking photographs. In addition there were a couple of nice looking restaurants and hotels, with very expensive cars parked outside and people stopping to pose next to them for a quick photo opportunity. However living by the side of all this is the quaint old looking buildings, simple in their appearance, the usual holiday type bric-a-brac shops and street after street of simple tables to eat at and enjoy probably beautiful fresh fish, but at what cost? There are in addition, artists scattered all around the marina, painting and selling their wares, some even enjoying a glass of wine whilst waiting for customers to come along and buy one of their “masterpieces”.
Having got a flavour of St Tropez we wandered back to the boat and find a little bar to have a drink in. A pint of larger and a very small glass of white wine, and I mean small by anybody’s standards came with a bill of €15.80, London was never that expensive. Having said that, we were surprised by the cost of the marina. We had decided regardless of our budget this was one of the places we would pay the price for the experience, €68 was much less than we had prepared ourselves for, although it was still over our daily budget.