Replacing high-pitched noise of fast cars for the chant of cicadas

This year my husband and I decided to escape from Monaco during the Grand Prix F1, and went for a long weekend of la dolce vita in Saint Tropez to enjoy the Voiles Latines and long lunches on the border of the sea at the legendary restaurant Les Salins, the only beach restaurant in proper St. Tropez.

We sojourned at La Bastide de Saint Tropez a real safe haven, reserving a very private Provencal room, perfectly located in a quiet corner of the property, surrounded by a lush garden under the shade of parasol pines, with birds and cicadas singing all day long.

La Bastide de Saint Tropez @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The entrance lined by beautiful and lushy palm trees @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The pool and the parasol pins in the background@CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The terrace in the garden @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

For lunch we went everyday to Les Salins, our favorite restaurant on the beach, that has been Portuguese Manu’s castle in the sand for several decades with his daughter Celia recently taking up the relay and continue the tradition. You will find it easily at the end of the Route des Salins, where a genuine wilderness beach awaits you, an exceptional location for this bar, restaurant and pizzeria. A calm and relaxing beach restaurant with deep blue color parasols and tables, where you can eat dangling your feet in the water (or as they say in French: pieds dans l’eau). We recommend the grilled fish with sauce vierge (French sauce made from olive oil, lemon juice, chopped tomato and basil) and a chilled bottle of Rose wine, the best recipe to enjoy la vie en rose. It is a kids’ friendly place as they can easily entertain themselves on the beach picking up shells and build sand castles.

Manu and his daughter Celia @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The Bar at Les Salins @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The blue anchor symbol of Les Salins @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The beach restaurant Les Salins in St. Tropez @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Blue shades, what else? @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Les Salins by the sea @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Manu and Zsolt @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Blue di pinto di Blue @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Fernand and Arnaud at Les Salins @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Grilled fish with sauce vierge, rice and tomatoes with basil and rose wine @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

You should also try their brick oven pizzas upstairs that are really mouth watering, where Celia’s husband Lionel and their little son Leo take care of the clients’ every whim.

Lionel with charming Leon @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The Pizzeria upstairs @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Upstairs Pizzeria with a superb seaview @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The lounge upstairs bathed by the sun @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

At sundown we went to the village to have a Mojito at La Maison Blanche or the typical pastis at Senequier, watched the locals play boules in Place de Lices, and walked along the port of St. Tropez, that had that look of times past during the 17th edition of the Voiles Latines (May 25-28, 2017), where the maritime patrimony is honoured each year. Pointus, Felouques, Gozzo, Tartanon, Tarquie, boats from Marseille or Cataluña docked in the old port, decorating the village with their vivid colours.

Drinks at la Maison Blanche @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Playing boules in Place des Lices @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The colorful Voiles Latines @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Les Voiles Latines (1) @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Sunset in St. Tropez during les Voiles Latines @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Today’s Quote

“You were never told that Saint Tropez is paradise?” Karl Lagerfeld