Day two of our trip to the Provence region of France brings us to Saint Tropez, a resort town located along the coast of the Mediterranean sea at the mid point between Cannes and Toulon.
The drive took us about an hour and 45 minutes from Aix-en-Provence so we left early in the morning to get there at a reasonable time. We actually found free parking just outside the main part of the city a short 10 minute walk from the Harbour, so that was a plus. There is a massive paid parking lot directly beside the harbor though, if you have trouble finding a free spot.
Saint Tropez's name comes from a Roman officer by the name of Tropes. As the story goes, Tropes enraged the Roman emperor at the time, when he was converted to Christianity by Saint Paul.
The emperor had Tropes decapitated in the city of Piza and had his corpse placed in a rotten boat along with a rooster and a dog and pushed into the Mediterranean.
The boat, along with Tropes body washed onto the shores of current location of Saint-Tropez and forever after took on the man's name. Source
The first thing that we did when we arrived in town was sit down for a coffee - of course.
We actually had another in the afternoon after walking around and exploring the city. An iced coffee for me and a latte for my wife.
We had breakfast there on the go in the form of a quiche and a croissant which we ate on a bench in a tree lined park while watching a bocce ball tournament. The tournament looked like a regular occurrence for the town.
There were a bunch of restaurants located along the perimeter of the park that looked really nice as well.
This one in particular had a beautiful terrace with large glass lamps over top of the tables.
I imagine that it would have a really nice ambiance in the evening when all of the lamps were lit up.
At the edge of the old quarter is a small hill with a fortification (known as a citadel) located at its peak.
We didn't go into the citadel but walked up the hill and around its outer walls to get some views of the waterfront and the town below.
On the way up we passed by this massive bird house that must have been around 20-30 feet tall. We didn't see any birds in it, but its size was quite impressive to see.
The views of the water from the top of the hill were really spectacular in my opinion.
Walking up isn't too bad and doesn't take very long so it's something that I would recommend doing if you ever decide to visit the city.
Following along the outer wall of the citadel takes you past the marine cemetery.
I wouldn't say that it is something to go out of your way to see or anything but it was kind of neat seeing it from a birds eye view.
From there we made our way back down the hill and followed a city path along the water.
There was a very small beach located right in town and some larger ones a little ways outside the city.
We didn't sit on the beach or go in the water or anything but it was a nice spot to check out nonetheless.
The old quarter was charming with its small shops and restaurants,
but it was also quite small and it didn't take very long to explore in its entirety.
It was really only a few small streets so it felt like we had seen all of the city in just a short period of time.
I would say that that is something to keep in mind if you ever decide to go there. Aside from sitting and relaxing in restaurants and cafes there really isn't much to do in the city.
For us this was the type of place that we would spend a few hours at before heading out on a hike or to another location but that really just depends on what sort of traveler you are. If you like a very relaxing sort of feel than it's definitely a great spot to spend an entire day or short weekend, but if you like to spend some time exploring and like to have a lot of things to do, then it may just be a place to pass through and spend a few hours at before moving on to your next destination.
