Rob and I recently spent a week in St Tropez, one of our all time favourite places.
We first travelled to St. Tropez in 2006, and we fell in love with the place from the minute we arrived.
Rob found a gem of a hotel the first time we visited called Hotel des Lices, and we have called it our home in St Tropez ever since. The hotel is a stones throw from restaurants, cafes, the local movie theatre and shops, shops and more shops. The hotel, which has a three star rating, has a great pool and the perfect number of beach chairs. They have done some work over the years and the place now has a nice little bar and a great lounge area. For those who are internet starved, there is even an apple computer set up so that you can check everyone's latest Facebook status.
The rooms are simple - equipped with French linen, nonetheless. At 210 euro a night, they certainly aren't inexpensive...but I guess that is what one pays to stay in this little Cote d'Azur town during the high season.
The hotel also has a decent breakfast menu and they serve lunch until 3pm. Given my cereal addiction, we decided to buy a pottery bowl, a couple of kinds of cereal, and some plastic cutlery and had breakfast picnics down by the ocean most mornings.
I generally tend to remember a place for their food and or shopping. If they tick both boxes, the city generally makes it onto my list of favourites.
We discovered a fabulous Moroccan restaurant called Salama on our second night in St Tropez. The restaurant which can be found down a small side street was packed both nights that we were there. We started with a glass of champers and a couple of starters. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of either of them, but based on our experience everything here is delicious. I had a lamb couscous as my main dish and Rob had a meatball tajine. We skipped dessert...probably due to the large gelato we had earlier in the day.
Rob insists that I also give mention to one of the best steaks that he has ever had. On our first night we ate at La Yaca. The portion was large (an important factor for Mr. E) and it was served with roasted potatoes, rucola and parmesan (two of my ingredients these days!!). I had shrimp risotto, which was also quite fabulous. Perhaps the only downside to the night was the mojito...I think the bartender may have made it a double! The surroundings were great - I suggest eating there at lunch, to get the full view.
The least expensive meal (by a long shot!!) during our stay, and my second favourite of the week was at a Lebanese restaurant called L'Orient. The food, which filled the surface of our two person table included hummus, labne, falafel, fatayer, a tomato and cucumber salad and, chicken skewers, and lamb skewers.
So, I did mention that to be in my good books a town must also have a couple of great shops...and St Tropez does! As you might expect, the town is filled with likes of Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, etc. There are however lots of smaller, independently owned stores. Linen is easy to come by here, and there are some great deals to be found (especially at the market - see below). While I made a few great purchases while in St Tropez, honourable mention goes to my new great pair of boots from Castaner and my new winter coat from Pinko.
I am a big fan of markets and thankfully one is held twice weekly (Tuesday and Saturday mornings) in St Tropez . While this is not my favourite market (a market which has people doing those tv demo things for scissors just can't make the top of my list!!) We did make a couple of great purchases, including a cashmere cream scarf (which will look lovely with that new coat...), and a couple of Christmas presents!
For those who are interested in the odd morning run, there is a great path along the water. Be warned, you will have to dodge in and out of the baguette carrying St Tropezien's for almost 1km to get to the path, but it is well worth it!
So, with a few more freckles on my nose I am day dreaming about our next trip to St. Tropez.
Hotel des Lices - www.hoteldeslices.com
Pinko – www.pinko.it
Castaner - www.castaner.com/
Salama - http://http://formastec.free.fr/salama/index.htm
La Yaca - www.hotel-le-yaca.fr/
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