In the city of Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, south of France

 “If you could have walked on the planet before humans lived here, maybe the Ivory Coast would have seemed more beautiful than La Côte d'Azur.”

― Dejan Stojanovic
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(in the south of France) Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, a fashionable beach resort and a small fishing port made famous by film personalities during mid-1900s, is 68 km (42 mi.) west of Nice and 100 km (~62 mi.) east of Marseille, on the French Riviera -- of which it is one of the best-known towns. The adjacent narrow body of water is the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, stretching to Sainte-Maxime to the north under the Massif des Maures.

+ The motto of Saint-Tropez is Ad usque fidelis (Latin for "faithful to the end"). After the Dark Age of plundering the French Riviera, Raphaël de Garesio landed in Saint-Tropez on 14 February 1470, with 22 men that had left the overcrowded Italian Riviera, who rebuilt and repopulated the area, and in exchange were granted -- by a representative of the "good king," Jean de Cossa, Baron of Grimaud and Seneschal of Provence -- various privileges, including some previously reserved for lords, such as exemptions from taxes and the right to bear arms. About ten years later, a great wall with towers stood watch to protect the new houses from sea and land attack; and, some 60 families formed the new community. On 19 July 1479, the new Home Act was signed, "the rebirth charter of Saint-Tropez."

+ Saint-Tropez remained a military stronghold and fishing village until the beginning of the 20th century. It was the first town on its coast to be liberated during World War II as part of Operation Dragoon. After the war, it became a famous seaside resort, renowned mainly because of the influx of artists of the French New Wave in cinema, and the Yé-yé movement in music. Although Brigitte Bardot frolicked on the beaches of St. Tropez in the 1950s, it is now the playground of rap stars and international socialites. Most of the sandy hot spots lie southwest of town on the Baie de Pampelonne. But if you're not P. Diddy, take heart: you will find a few family-friendly, public beaches where the sun, sand, and waves are just as fabulous. Brigitte had come to St-Tropez to star in Et Dieu Créa la Femme (And God Created Woman), but transformed the fishing village into a sizzling jet-set favorite. Tropeziens have thrived on their sexy image ever since: at the Vieux Port, yachts like spaceships jostle for millionaire moorings (and infinitely more tourists jostle to admire them).

+ Yet, there is a serene side to this village trampled by thousands of summertime visitors on any given day. In the low season, the St-Tropez of mesmerizing quaint beauty, and "sardine scales glistening like pearls on the cobblestones" that charmed Guy de Maupassant, comes to life. Meander cobbled lanes in the old fishing quarter of La Ponche, sip pastis at a place des Lices cafe, watch old men play pétanque beneath plane trees -- or walk in solitary splendor from beach to beach along the coastal path.