Helicopter hell, vanity and pretension in St Tropez

Things have changed in St Tropez: topless bathing is out, helicopters in

Things aren't what they used to be in St Tropez. For one thing, the beaches are no longer full of blondes sunbathing topless; for another, you can hardly hear yourself think in this chic French resort for the noise of helicopters coming and going.

Years ago, visiting St Tropez, I was struck by the contrast between village and waterfront. One moment you were in a shady square, a square like thousands of others in France; the next, just a step or two down a narrow street, you were in an utterly different world, facing a hundred gin palaces arrayed in front of you in the ultimate jet-set harbour. Even then, in the late 1970s, the locals tended to tolerate the yacht owners rather than welcome them. Nothing much has changed.

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