I prefer St Tropez in the cooler months.  It’s a more pleasant time to visit than summer when the cruise ships arrive and the tiny village is so inundated with people you can barely move or breathe in its over heated crowded streets.  However it is a great spot for people watching.  I’ve seen more other worldly sights in this little fishing village than anywhere else I’ve ever been.  From the Donatella Versace lookalikes and the bling bling smashing of giant magnums on super yachts, to the chic Parisians on holiday and the scary range of surgically altered humans, it certainly makes for a melange of visuals.  All of this is juxtaposed against a picturesque village with old style fishing boats and a thriving market space on Tuesday and Saturday mornings.

St Tropez still has charm and in the cooler months it is just another French village pottering about its down sized business, until spring ushers in the arrival of the promise of employment for the locals. Tourism is the key industry in the Gulf of St Tropez and many of the locals work ridiculously long hours in the summer, seven days a week but have no work in autumn or winter, when the tourist season comes to an end.

St Tropez does Christmas particularly well and the lights at night in the Port are a visual treat. There’s an ice skating rink in La Place des Lices that is a hit with the kids, and the luxury store window displays are still there to oogle at. The Tuesday and Saturday morning markets remain open, although downsized and an antique market commences on Boxing Day. It  remains a great place to have a coffee or un vin chaud and people watch.