On Tuesdays and Saturdays, the central PLACE DES LICES, which translates as the Square of Games, is always a hive of activity with a market for regional products and for a maximum of a few hundred visitors – but tens of thousands do come, including by car of course. The rest of the time, the square is idle. As I said, during the day. But every evening, the Place des Lices belongs to the boules players! Back in the 70s, Parisian music mogul Eddy Barklay used to enhance the summer evenings on the square with his boules gang full of show stars. Paris and Hollywood united. Many celebrities loved to play this tricky yet unifying game of boules with their peers and ordinary people: man & woman, young & old, rich & poor – all colorful and in solidarity with each other. Liberté. Egalité. Fraternité. Vive la France!

For a nightcap, it is always just a few steps to Le Café, the oldest bar counter in Saint Tropez, whose dents and scratches in the zinc once told of many heavy and hearty nights. In the meantime, the celebrities have unfortunately fled from the degenerate selfie junkies, but the romance of the boules players and LE CAFÉ has remained.

Now you can argue that the romantic charme of the old and dusty Le Café is gone and replaced by new design & decor. D‘accord. But isn‘t that true for Saint-Tropez as a whole?