Hugegantuan

Yup, it is a made up word. Because the yachts in this harbor are so huge, that a common word like huge or gargantuan is just not a big enough word to describe them. The whole marina is filled with yacht after yacht, each one bigger than the last. We arrived in St. Tropez close to 10pm, just when the daylight was fading. We wander around the marina looking for a spot for our humble little sailboat, but no room at the inn. We were directed to Port Grimaud, which is at the end of the bay. I stayed there before when I was sailing with Kip on my first trip. Grimaud used to be a mosquito-infested swampland. They asked a well-known French architect to do something with it. He recreated a provincial French town with canals meandering through the development. It is charming in a “we have way too much money to know what to do with it” kinda way. Expensive cars and that new money attitude permeates the development. Our docking fees for the night was over 100 euros, one of the most expensive places we have stayed. The next morning, we took a 15-minute water taxi to St. Tropez.

St. Tropez is really a beautiful town that has aged well with a patina only centuries of use can give. At the top of the hill is the old citadel that protected the town in earlier times of constant attacks and sieges. The narrow streets go in no particular direction, making the town more like a life-size maze with designer stores as the reward for finding you way through. The weather was slightly humid, but didn’t seem to diminish the money flowing in a tidal storm all around the port area. There is a whole industry built around servicing the very wealthy. Vans of the very best fresh vegetables and fruits the region has to offer backs up to these floating castles. Cleaning services scour the carpets and steam the normal wear and tear back to mint condition. The pastime of the masses on the quay is to glimpse into the glass doors of the rich and famous. Two young blonde girls about 12 years old play cards innocently on the ebony boardroom-size dining table on the back deck unaffected by the gawking. The crews are constantly shining brass and polishing decks. But despite all of the influence that comes from the very wealthy, the town has retained a very charming French village feel.

Before I leave St. Tropez, I have to report on what happened in the afternoon while we were making our way to the harbor. The girls were relaxing at the bow of the boat on the netting that makes a wide hammock between the two pontoons. It is a perfect spot for relaxing in the Mediterranean sun. 4 dolphins that seem to come out of nowhere entertained us for about 15 minutes. They played right between the two pontoons of the boat darting back and forth, flirting with the boat as if it was a long lost companion they were escorting to its next destination. You could almost reach down and touch them as they breached the water right under us. I got the feeling that these intelligent animals knew exactly what they were doing in giving us a thrill. One stayed longer than the rest, making sure we got enough photos and video before diving right to the bottom of the sea out of site. I loved St. Tropez.

The next day we headed to Canne. It’s one of the other jewels in the triple crown of wealthy playgrounds of the rich and famous along the Cotz d Azure. This gem of a city also has these huge yachts dominating the marinas. We have been lucky in always finding a berth. We went to the Muse de Castre, an old castle now used to house an interesting collection of pre-Columbian American art mixed with relics from New Guinea. Obviously a donation to the city by an earlier world traveler bringing back the strange and unique items of exotic cultures a half a world away. And just to round out the collection they had some paintings by various semi-famous artists. We climbed up the tower and got a commanding view of the entire city sprawled out beneath us. In the evening we were treated to a beautiful fireworks display lighting up the sky with bouquets of light.