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Posted on Thursday, 10 June 2010 |
 The 'Glamourous French Riviera' has become something of a clichéd phrase, "the sunny place for shady people" as Somerset Maugham so concisely put it. It is a cliché that just won't go away though and despite the knowing smirks and the preconceptions the French Riviera remains as loved, as visited and as beautiful as it ever was, has been or will be.
It doesn't matter much where you go or when you go it will definitely surprise you and probably take your breath away at times and become dear to your heart as much as any secret quiet little hideaway could do. The French Riviera whispers private sweet nothings in your ear that are just for you.
You may hear of traffic jams and crowds of tourists and it is true that August is a month best left alone if you don't like that kind of atmosphere but despite the criticisms people come back year after year to retrieve their own private French Riviera idyll.
It has no doubt changed over the years. Regular visitor and life long fan of the region, Joan Collins remembers her first visit in the 50's when, as a teenager, she stayed in a family apartment overlooking the Mediterranean sea.
"I truly thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was the most beautiful and glamorous place I'd ever seen - and to my mind, it still is".
Brigitte Bardot, who made the tiny town of Saint Tropez famous in the 60's, lost heart with the very crowds that she had helped to attract and sought refuge in the anonymity of Paris. But her heart belongs on the French Riviera and rumour has it that she has returned to Saint Tropez this year. An exposition in the town will celebrate her life and connection with this 5 star resort town throughout the summer of 2010.
People expect different things when they come to the South of France. Some are expecting untold riches in Monte Carlo, unbelievable luxury in Saint Tropez, glamour in Cannes and can be disappointed when they see families strolling on Monaco beach or the sandy bare-boards of beach side restaurants in Saint Tropez.
Saint Tropez is a 5 star resort town because it is so popular with celebrities and the rich and famous who love it exactly for the very reason that it is relaxed, beachy and remarkably true to it's tiny fishing village heritage.
The same too can be said of Monaco and Cannes, Villefranche and Saint Raphael. These towns are loved for the same reasons that they were loved when they were first discovered by the world first tourists in the 1800's. No they are not unchanged but the beauty, the atmosphere, the light, the 'je ne sais quoi' is always there, whispering sweet breezy nothings into your ear and yours alone.
As Joan Collins, the first and the last word on old school glamour says, "There is something for everyone in the south of France. As far as I'm concerned, there is nowhere as wonderful, exciting and full of joie de vivre".
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