"The jet-set get-set for St Tropez " a Saint-Tropez Travel Page by NiceLife

As you begin your descent along the Riviera coast towards Nice airport, St Tropez is your first landmark. Here you see the tiny town snuggled in the "crotch" (yes, I think "crotch" is the appropriate description) of the sweeping curve of the Gulf of St Tropez, with the Venice-style canal network of Port Grimaud and modern resort of Sainte-Maxime opposite. In the distance, the dreary endless holiday apartment blocks of Frejus and St Raphael.

Getting here is the first real challenge. In Summer the roads are choked, one road in and out. The railway does not go anywhere near St Tropez - St Raphael is the nearest stop. The stars limo or helicopter in, and the most famous will moor a large rented yacht and shuttle in and out by tender. For most mere mortals two wheels or excursion boat is the only practical way in.

St Tropez town is tiny - it takes all of about a half hour to see everything. Around the hinterland are St Tropez's beaches, the famous Pampelonne and Club 55, where the stars drop by.

To the rear, the snow capped mountains - the Alpes Maritime of Provence add drama in the distance, and behind towards Toulon and Marseilles, the red terracotta rocks of the Massif d'Esterel. St Tropez. The ultimate playground of the Riviera awaits you.

I think I hear the bell for start of playtime.

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The first thing that strikes you as you unload at the harbour of Saint Tropez is the coexistence of style and the image of style. Blue sky meets paintings with blue sky. Art and the Art of Living well.

I am not sure many people actually buy the paintings, but the bohemian arty association is part of St Tropez charm and character. What better excuse to loaf around this pleasure centre of the Riviera than to be "something of an artist"?

The harbour front patisserie Sennequier offers you a front-row seat on the moving spectacle that is Saint Tropez. Watching in or watching out, everyone is on parade. Here, the first-wives club meet around lunchtime to sip at low calorie fare and gossip.

Tropeziennes are living the ultimate fantasy life: glamour, pleasure, young style, effortless wealth (money made elsewhere, naturally, lots of it, and preferrably by someone else), a sense of being in the centre of a most desirable place.

The Sixties were born here with Bridgitte Bardot's "And God created woman" (and a pretty good job he made of it, if Tropeziennes are anything to go by!). If you are not a starlet you must at least look like one. Anonymous fat people in baggy sportswear with rucksacks? Why not complete the ensemble with a big sign round your neck that shouts "Day-tripper!" Everyone here is sleek and cool.

Here for the season, all eyes hidden behind dark glasses casually scanning everyone passing by. The chance of a minor celeb here. People are the magnet that draws people here. Do you look like someone famous?