Saint-Tropez is our new destination and already a new favorite! After a few hours of flight, we touched down on the tarmac at Nice International Airport, a must see for those who want to take a little trip to the Cote d’Azur. Luggage in hand. We go to retrieve our rental car, our eight or hm four. We can’t decide. Come on. We’ll be satisfied with the 430 horsepower of the BMW racing car to drive the 100 kilometres that separate us from the small village where celebrities and jet setters make their home every summer.
St. Tropez, is so popular for its dream villas, that sell for millions of dollars, for its luxury hotels and its famous port, beaches and its essential shops. Art is also proudly represented there, the seventh Art in particular with the Museum of Cinema and the Gendarmerie. Not to mention a few good deals. And yes, they do exist even on the French Riviera. Let’s hit the road. With such a fabulous car, it would have been a shame not to wear a timepiece worthy of the name. So on the way, we stop off at the Cap 3000 Shopping Centre in Cella on Duval, the first of its kind in France when it opened in 1969 and directly inspired by the American shopping centers of the time. Still in search of our watch, we enter the store. You blow Cartier Rolex while the most beautiful watch brands are represented there. The reputation of the house has also been built around its tailor made jewellery creations.
La maison Ferry is a jewellery watchmaking company that has existed for over 50 years. We offer local and international clientele more than 15 brands from the major Swiss watchmaking houses and jewelry houses. We also develop our own collections. We’re fortunate to have a jewelry workshop so we can respond to privilege requests from customers for jewelry manufacturing with exceptional stones bags, for example. We’re in the process of finalizing a ring for a client who is due to come and collect it later. A very pretty six carat diamond accompanied by two other stones. We can’t wait to discover her reaction when she sees this jewel.
A young lady seems to be satisfied, just like the previous customer who came to collect her Tudor timepiece following an overhaul in their watchmaking workshop. A workshop which should expand soon given the projects underway at the heart of a new premium zone scheduled for 2021. The boutique is indeed preparing to migrate into an area that’s 4 to 5 times more spacious.
The ferry boutique will develop around a new 500 square metre shop. So some great projects coming soon. This will allow us to be able to welcome new brands such as Panerai, IWC and Omega within a large store that will be truly reflected and thought of as a real experience offered to customers with areas dedicated to brands and with reception areas for all customers and clientele.
It’s a chance for us to return very soon. Watch on our wrist. We return to our vehicle. And after just one and a half hours, we arrive at our destination in order to make the most of the landscape. We head higher up. The visit of Santa Fe starts, it seems, here at the foot of the ramparts of the citadel. Dating back to the 17th century, made up of a hexagonal Keep housing the Modern and Living Museum of Maritime History. This listed monument is one of the most visited historical and cultural places, but to be entitled every morning to this breathtaking view of the Bay of Cintra, we know that the most wealthy are ready to hustle for it. To explain all this to us. Our specialist in prestigious real estate, Lydia Denman, in collaboration with Spark and Partner, met us on the heights of the village.
Welcome to paradise. Listen, given the scenery, I think it lends itself to it. Sandra Saint-Tropez is still a small village where we find great Provencal authenticity, since it’s still a very charming little village on the Cote d’Azur. However, people who wish to settle here wish to settle on the periphery of Saint-Tropez. For example, here we are in one of the most prestigious and exclusive places in Central Pay the Park District. It’s a rare and unique opportunity that today we can visit this magnificent villa which is for sale. It’s sold, furnished with a very chic, very refined decoration, which highlights the beautiful spaces and volumes it can offer.
A little gem of nearly 650 square meters of living space with no less than six bedrooms, including a master suite. Cinema room, billiards, table, massage room and heated infinity pool. Among the many assets of this villa, which also benefits from the most well-kept landscaped grounds.
When you in terms of exteriors, we’re also talking exceptional. We have a landscaped garden of over 6000 square meters. Everything is finished down to the smallest detail. And this is what really gives this property a magical side.
Neither magic nor miracle. On the other hand, when it comes to the budget, the sale price of this villa is €32 million. Not having this amount in the bank, we opt for the hotel. But before returning to our rooms, we take a short detour through the port. Facing the yachts are the red tables of the legendary scenic cafe. Brigitte Bardot. Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Moss. Vanessa Paradis. Many stars have frequented the place. With a capacity of 734 berths, divided into two water zones for an area of nine hectares and a location in the heart of the village. The port of central pay is one of the major centres for a yachting stopover in the Mediterranean. Each year, this small, well kept port welcomes nearly 6 million visitors. A few kilometers away, far from this crowd. It’s in a hotel lost in nature that we’ve chosen to deposit our luggage. Welcomed by birdsong, We need nothing more to fall under the spell of Latin sentiment. Skies planted in the heart of a pine forest. The intimate five star establishment is an oasis of calm and greenery, where the words, relaxation and well-being take on their full meaning. How happy I. We’re at Hotel Lyttelton. It’s a small 28 room, five star hotel located two and a half kilometres from the centre of Central Park.
The advantage is that we’re calm and we really personalize the reception of our customers. We have four suites, we have four junior suites, and the rest are standard rooms, all with a private terrace. You. Here. No corridors, but private exterior access for each of the bedrooms. The center more thus, offers the privacy of small, detached houses surrounded by lush vegetation. Relaxation in addition to the spa with treatment and massage cabins and a magnificent heated outdoor swimming pool can serve as a place of escape. Let’s go back to the heart of this favorite little village of all of Paris and the international jet set for a little shopping trip. Nearly 800 shops make up the central landscape. And needless to say, all the luxury boutiques are here. Opposite the Chanel store, there’s an emblematic monument known to all moviegoers around the world. The Jean de Marie de Cintra now transformed into a museum since its inauguration in June 2016. It retraces the entire history of the gendarmerie and the cinema of Satrapi. The Adventures of Louis de Funes was certainly related to the success of the place.
There is a nice surprise when you arrive in the cinema hall, you are greeted by Louis de Funes, the life size bronze sculpture of Louis de Funes at one metre 58. He was a small man in size, but tall in talent since he was a multiple artist, musician, painter, actor, very demanding with himself and someone who liked to relax at home and in particular in his Rose Garden.
So here we are in the lodge of the emblematic actresses of Saint-Tropez, Romy Schneider and Brigitte Bardot. You have behind me the model of Romy Schneider and then the world of Brigitte Bardot. Through her films and testimonials from people who have known them well.
Johnny Hallyday, to whom a temporary exhibition was devoted, knew Bebe well since 1956 and her role in and God created Woman, the Bardo myth has continued to grow to the point of being entitled to her statue, showing the actress in a shell installed opposite the museum right in the middle of Blanqui. Not far from there, famous for its pétanque games under the plain trees, the place de lis is an absolutely essential place to visit. We sip a pastis while watching the daily pétanque games where local players and show business stars compete against each other with bottles and tiles. Twice a week. Tuesday and Saturday morning, the square turns into a Provencal market. Fruits, vegetables, seafood, crafts or clothing. You’ll find it all. The square is full of life and colors. Colors that also dress the windows of art galleries, which are numerous in Central Park. 100 meters away on Boulevard Lublin, we enter the SAMILTON Gallery. Already present in Courchevel Megeve action, as well as Pella and Cape Fear. Since 1970, the gallery has endeavoured to permanently present the great names of contemporary art on the international scene, but also to support young emerging artists. Yankel and Tordjman are there, as are Mitro and Bouchet, who had the opportunity to be launched by Salvador Dali for Zino and his three D pop art and Navarino without forgetting two other Frenchies who are rather popular. David’s contract is an artist that I love because he brings something new After this neo pop art and all these artists, he created a movement called Free Pop.
We also have artists like Rubinstein, who really revolutionized the kinetic art of viscerally by creating three paintings in one. How can one ignore this fish, or worse, this gorilla planted in the middle of the gallery? Impossible. Silicone tamer Eddie Martinez dresses his creations with hundreds or even thousands of pins. Each piece is worked instinctively without plan or diagram. Mastering the Art of Illustration, 3D drawing, video, animation and painting Quebec Francois Beauty applies all his experience as a digital art creator in a very unique and personal style. Totally avant garde digital sculptures which seduced Stephan Lafarge. Only say we try to work the old fashioned way to go to the workshops, choose our pieces and buy them so that we can present them to our customers. Someone who comes back in two months will find new things because the gallery changes, moves, evolves. So that’s what also makes the gallery interesting, is to constantly find new things. I love that and I attach great importance to it.
After this busy day, it’s time for a little fun. We head to our hotel, the tartan Santa Monica, for a delicious cocktail before taking a seat at the Grand Café table. The past master in the delicate art of Asian cuisine, Mitra Koi prepares us dishes with flavors from around the world. Tears of the tiger sliced duck breast with spicy thai basil or sow ted shrimps with garlic and Sichuan pepper. It all makes us dream. The day is ending and it’s time for us to pack our bags and return our Hotel, before leaving tomorrow.