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00:00The era, playground of the rich and famous, and one of the world's great dream destinations.
00:06This is paradise.
00:07And by taking a simple rail trip of just over 100 miles from end to end,
00:12you can see all its sun-drenched glories.
00:16And that's what I'm doing.
00:18Wow.
00:18It's luxury beyond all measure, and I've got the best seat in the house.
00:24As well as the rather nice sea, sand, and sun, I want to explore the region's rich past.
00:30We're sitting pretty much in the exact spot.
00:34And vibrant present.
00:35What a way to toast a new friendship.
00:37I'll discover the famous characters that made the Riviera glitter.
00:41You could say that they invented the Cotezio in the summertime.
00:45And I'll visit the places and meet the people that keep it shimmering today.
00:50Oh, I love this.
00:51What's not to like about my great Riviera rail trip?
01:05Look at that.
01:07Marseille, the oldest city in France.
01:10And the very beginning of the French Riviera,
01:12a shimmering coastline that goes all the way from Marseille in the west
01:16to Montau at the Italian border.
01:18And I'm going to do all of it.
01:20I mean, you know, by train.
01:22I'm not going to walk the whole way, because it's too far.
01:28But first, I have to conquer the station's mighty staircase.
01:32It's an art deco feast.
01:34And with 104 steps, it'll be enough exercise for the whole journey.
01:38That grand staircase, which connects the city with the train station,
01:45is decorated with glorious statues.
01:47This one says,
01:48Le soleil et la mer, the sun and the sea.
01:51And for generations, that is why people have come to the Riviera.
01:54But there is also bucket loads of history and art and literature,
01:57not to mention incredible food and wine.
02:00I mean, it's going to be hell.
02:05With more than 300 days of sunshine a year and skies as blue as the sea,
02:10the Riviera was a ribbon of sleepy fishing villages
02:13until the English upper classes started coming here
02:16in search of a cure-all climate in the 1700s.
02:20The arrival of the train from Paris in the 19th century
02:23transformed the region into the glamorous holiday destination we know today.
02:28Since then, generations of artists and freethinkers
02:32from all over the world have flocked to this slice of paradise.
02:37As a writer myself, I can't wait to follow in their footsteps.
02:41Oh, look.
02:43There's my train.
02:4410.36.
02:44I'm off.
02:50I love this.
02:51It says, don't forget me.
02:52But I mean, if you had a case that size, how would...
02:55I've only got this.
02:56But you'd be amazed how much I can get in here.
02:58It's fabulous.
03:05And the train's actually on time.
03:08Wow.
03:09Double-decker.
03:10The French don't mess around.
03:17That's it.
03:18We're off.
03:19I didn't bring a lot of things because I've got a theory that France has got shops.
03:31I mean, prove me wrong, but that's my theory.
03:36From Marseille, the line goes all the way to Ventimiglia in Italy,
03:40and it stops in so many legendary towns.
03:42Cannes, Nice, Monaco, Montaigne.
03:46And I'm going to visit them all.
03:56I love everything about train travel.
03:58It just seems to be from another era.
04:02I like checking the timetable.
04:03I like having an empty seat in case I might make a friend.
04:05I like the sound of it, the rumble.
04:09Although, of course, there was a time when it was thought dangerous for women to take the train.
04:13There was a wonderful article in the New England Medical Journal in 1870
04:16in which the doctor advised against women enjoying the vibrations of a train
04:21because it might cause uterine dislocation.
04:24I mean, I'm willing to take the risk, it's fine.
04:30And so, with a great sense of jeopardy, I'm approaching my first stop,
04:34the seaside town of Saint-Araix-sur-Mer, only 45 minutes away from Marseille.
04:42And that's the 105th step of the day.
04:45With its pastel facades and picture-perfect port,
04:54Saint-Araix-sur-Mer harks back to that time
04:57when the Riviera was more about fishing than tourism.
05:01The sun is shining, the pace is a gentle dawdle, and I love it.
05:06I feel a new novel coming on.
05:12Let's check out the view.
05:15I mean, sometimes you have a thought in your head
05:28what the view is going to be like.
05:31This is better.
05:32This is...
05:34This is paradise.
05:37Hello.
05:39I'm a writer.
05:41Writing very important work.
05:43Very busy.
05:44Very busy writing.
05:44In case anybody was impressed.
05:49Oh, I could sit at the desk and write.
05:51That would be good.
05:51I could pretend I'm writing here.
05:53I want to live here now.
05:54What makes Saint-Araix's harbour view so special
06:03is the fleet of traditional pointy boats,
06:06or pointy ones, if you're feeling literal.
06:08With their bright colours and wooden bows,
06:11there are a glimpse of life here
06:12before the invasion of the rich and famous.
06:14Since I love sailing,
06:16and it would be rude not to approach the Riviera by sea,
06:19the Puenteuse Association of Saint-Araix
06:21have offered to take me for a spin.
06:24How could I say no?
06:25Cheri.
06:28Hello, Sandy.
06:29Bonjour.
06:30Bonjour.
06:31How nice to meet you.
06:32Nice to meet you, too.
06:33I'm so excited.
06:34So, is this the boat that we're going on?
06:36Yes, absolutely.
06:36Our boat is Tranquilou.
06:38Tranquilou.
06:38Cool.
06:40That's us.
06:40We will be cool.
06:41Okay, yes.
06:42Okay.
06:42And this is great day,
06:43with sunny days and so on,
06:45so...
06:45How lucky are we?
06:46Perfect to sail.
06:47Perfect.
06:47To sail.
06:48Okay, tell me how to get on board.
06:49Yes, I will welcome you on board.
06:52Okay?
06:53Okay, we're good.
06:54And off we go.
06:59You have an association, don't you,
07:01of the boats?
07:02Yes.
07:03Yeah, how many boats?
07:04The association, we have 100 boats,
07:07around 100 boats,
07:09and 200 people in this association.
07:12Wow.
07:13We have to maintain the boat each year.
07:16Sure.
07:16So, this is wood.
07:18All the boats,
07:21so between, I would say,
07:2350 to 100 years.
07:26Our oldest boat is 120 years.
07:29Wow.
07:29It could be destroyed with the time.
07:32Right, if you don't look after it.
07:33Yes, if you don't take care of it.
07:35Yeah.
07:35And they're all different bright colours,
07:37the boats.
07:38Yes.
07:38Is that just the choice of the owner?
07:40Exactly.
07:41The same feeling that if you have an old car,
07:44you have to take care.
07:45Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:46This is the same feeling.
07:47Yes.
07:48Thanks to all the great work from the Pointeux Association,
07:52Sanary proudly boasts the biggest collection of Pointeux in the Riviera.
07:56It must be important for the tourists, I think,
08:01to the way the town looks.
08:03Yeah, yeah.
08:04This is still a small place.
08:06Yes.
08:07Like, I would say, a fisherman village.
08:11Yeah.
08:12Yeah, it still has a feeling about it.
08:14Yeah, yeah.
08:14Well, I am never happier than when I'm at sea.
08:18Yeah.
08:18Because I'm from Denmark, I am a Viking.
08:20I like the boats.
08:21I think the boats are very important.
08:22Personally, also.
08:24Feel good.
08:25Yeah, yeah.
08:27Now, I have a burning question to ask Thierry.
08:31I have a big favour.
08:32Yeah?
08:33Could I have a go at steering?
08:34You want to?
08:35Please?
08:35Yeah.
08:35OK.
08:36Yes, my pleasure.
08:37Is it all right?
08:38My pleasure.
08:41OK.
08:44OK.
08:46I love this.
08:48This is so wonderful.
08:49My pleasure.
08:50Oh, I love boats.
08:50Our pleasure.
08:51I can't believe a Frenchman is trusting a Viking with their boat.
08:57Olivier, we're going to go to England now.
09:02Oh, is that way?
09:03Is that way?
09:03Is that way?
09:03OK.
09:04OK.
09:04South.
09:04OK.
09:05Oh, this is magnificent.
09:07Actually, I'm not quite ready to head home just yet, especially as the dramatic craggy coastline begins to unravel before our eyes.
09:19It's a visual feast and a powerful reminder that the Riviera's roots lie in the sea and those fishing traditions.
09:29That heritage still lingers in the region's most iconic dish, the bouillabaisse.
09:37This is the soup where you are cooking the fish and with potatoes and, uh...
09:45And garlic.
09:46And garlic.
09:47French.
09:47Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:49It has to have garlic in it.
09:50Yeah, yeah.
09:51So, but it's very good taste.
09:54And where in town would I get the best bouillabaisse?
09:56The best, and, uh, I would say with a good reputation, is Hotel de la Tour.
10:03Well, that's handy.
10:05That's my hotel.
10:06It makes tonight's choice for dinner nice and easy.
10:09It's the first time?
10:17Yes.
10:18You know Hotel de la Tour, first time bouillabaisse?
10:20Very excited, yes.
10:21Both.
10:23Ah, so, the bib.
10:24Ah, yes.
10:25Okay.
10:27Oh, isn't that lovely?
10:32Loveless.
10:33I mean, I'm a spiller.
10:34This is perfect.
10:35The bouillabaisse began as a poor man's dish.
10:41The fishermen of Marseille using bony fish that nobody else wanted.
10:45And what sets the bouillabaisse apart from other fish stews is that it's served in two parts.
10:51And here's the bouillabaisse.
10:57First, you get a rich saffron-infused broth served with garlicky bread and some fish,
11:02followed by a second plate of potatoes and more fish.
11:07Wow.
11:08Merci, Mathis.
11:15That is incredible.
11:19That is...
11:21Oh, my.
11:22I'm in the charming port of Salary-sur-Mer, the first stop on my Riviera adventure.
11:46Salary may look like a tranquil seaside town, but back in the 1930s, it was the beating heart
11:52of European intellectual life.
11:55It all began with British author Aldous Huxley, who moved here in 1930 and wrote what became
12:01his most famous novel, Brave New World.
12:05Before long, some of the greatest German writers followed, including Thomas Mann and Bertolt Brecht.
12:11I'm told a few of them even stayed at my hotel.
12:13To find out more about Salary's fascinating literary past, I'm meeting up with Ina Barato,
12:20a German-born local guide.
12:23Ina.
12:24Hello, Sandy.
12:25I'm Sandy.
12:26Shall we do French?
12:27Bonjour.
12:28Bonjour.
12:29And welcome to Salary.
12:31Oh, that's so kind.
12:32I'm so excited to be here.
12:34So I want to know all about the writers that came here.
12:36Why did they come?
12:37Who came?
12:38I mean, I couldn't...
12:40I want to know everything.
12:41And now you can perhaps already start to understand a little bit, because when you see this lovely
12:47day, when you see the blue sky, the sunshine, then you can imagine that those people, when
12:54they have had problems in Germany, it was from 1933, when Hitler took the power, certain writers,
13:03the one that was against Hitler, they have had to leave Germany, because even some of them
13:11lost their nationality.
13:13Wow.
13:13All their goods, all their money has been blocked, their houses has been confiscated.
13:21So I understand why they left.
13:23But why here?
13:24Why this spot?
13:24Why Salary?
13:26There's one important reason.
13:27Salary was not expensive.
13:29See, now, look, all of the yachts in this.
13:32Nobody changed today.
13:34It's not anymore the same.
13:35And so Salary became the capital of German literature.
13:42It was a kind of must to come to the hotel.
13:47To give you an example, Bertolt Brecht, famous...
13:52The stripping opera.
13:53Yeah, absolutely.
13:54And Bertolt Brecht, for instance, he came from 1933.
14:00Several times he came with his mistress.
14:03Yeah, I mean, officially he was his collaborator.
14:08She was a young communist, because Brecht was a communist, and they stood a couple of
14:15weeks in the hotel, and during this time, he was writing the opera, the three penny opera.
14:22The three penny opera, yeah.
14:22You know this.
14:23Yes.
14:26During his stay here, while enjoying the company of said mistress, Brecht wrote to his wife,
14:30one gets bored on the Mediterranean.
14:33I don't know how he had time.
14:36So I'm trying to imagine this life, right?
14:38I'm trying to imagine there's all these writers and so on.
14:40What are they?
14:41They must be sitting in the cafes and drinking and enjoying their lives.
14:44Absolutely.
14:45If not together.
14:46Hello, for instance, you have the cafes on the other side there.
14:49Yeah.
14:49It was called Chez Schwarm.
14:53And is this this right here?
14:54It's the one that we have just on the other side.
14:57I want to imagine that I'm a writer here, and you're going to ask me
15:00in German for a drink, please.
15:02Yes.
15:03So we say just, lasst uns einen trinken.
15:06Ja, bitte.
15:07Good.
15:07Okay, let's do it.
15:09So let's pretend we're German intellectuals and sit for a drink.
15:14Or if I get to choose.
15:16It'll always be an ice cream.
15:18I'm trying to think, if I was in exile.
15:19Yeah.
15:21With other people.
15:22Yeah.
15:22I would want to come to a cafe.
15:23I think it would seem like a way of believing that life continues.
15:27Yeah.
15:28To go in the cafe was as well the opportunity to talk with other writers.
15:36They made a circle of, did you say, literature?
15:41Yeah.
15:41Circle of literature.
15:42But only the elite came.
15:45Right.
15:45Okay.
15:45And, of course, with elitism comes rivalry.
15:51Behind the cheerful cafe scenes simmered intellectual tension.
15:56Aldous Huxley wasn't thrilled by the influx of German writers in Saint-Oré.
16:00He reportedly found them arrogant and full of themselves.
16:04But this, of course, did not inhibit the Germans.
16:07Bertolt Brecht, he was singing satiric songs on Goebbels and Hitler.
16:16He was playing on his guitar.
16:19I'm listening to all these wonderful stories that you're telling me.
16:22But I can't get over it.
16:23We're sitting pretty much in the exact spot where they would have sat inventing stories.
16:29So he's very famous, Bertolt Brecht now.
16:31But somebody sat in this cafe and went, hey, Bertolt, give us a song.
16:34I love that.
16:34Oh, yes, it was.
16:35So you could say they have had a life a little bit like exile in paradise.
16:45But those days of happy exile were short-lived.
16:49In 1940, France fell under German occupation.
16:52Saint-Oré was no longer a safe haven for the exiled writers,
16:55who became persecuted by the collaborating French authorities.
17:00French authority would deliver him to the Nazis.
17:03So to Auschwitz or somewhere?
17:05Yeah, yeah.
17:06Right, okay.
17:08Some, like Thomas Mann and Bertolt Brecht, managed to escape to America.
17:13But many other writers were arrested and deported to the death camps.
17:17Is that a history that the French have been able to confront about themselves?
17:25They start now to confront it.
17:28A very long time, they didn't want to see or to hear anything on this.
17:36But now, as we have younger people, they want to know.
17:49Surrounded by such beauty, it's hard to imagine that this idyllic, peaceful place once witnessed some of history's darkest chapters.
17:57Yet, despite the scars left behind, this town rose from the ashes and blossomed once again, soon after the war.
18:07It's time for me to say goodbye to Saint-Oré and its fascinating history and continue my journey.
18:29Only 15 minutes away by train, heading back towards Marseille, is the seaside town of La Ciotta.
18:39And I've been told, its station holds a rather fascinating claim to fame.
18:45I'm going to be honest with you, we have made a slight detour, but it's 100% worth it, because this is the exact spot of the birthplace of cinema.
18:54In 1895, the Lumiere brothers shot the arrival of a train along the platform.
18:58It's a very short piece of footage, but from here, the whole of cinema explodes.
19:03And France went on to become one of the greatest makers of film in the whole history of cinema.
19:09While spending their summer in the family holiday home in La Ciotta, Louis and Auguste Lumiere began filming scenes of daily life.
19:20This footage of the train arriving in La Ciotta was shown to the public in December 1895.
19:26It was one of the first times moving images were shown in a theatre, and people were shocked.
19:32Some, reportedly, ran away from the large screen.
19:35To celebrate this great heritage, the train station at La Ciotta has been turned into a mini-museum.
19:43There's the most wonderful quote up on the wall here by one of the Lumiere brothers,
19:47saying basically that he thought that moving pictures were always going to be a scientific curiosity,
19:51but they didn't really have a future.
19:53And there's great photographs of the early equipment.
19:56Look at this.
19:57They would hand crank, not just to shoot the thing, but to show it.
20:02They projected their films using this exact device in a local cinema called The Eden.
20:08And guess what?
20:08It still exists today in the town centre of La Ciotta,
20:12proudly claiming the title of the oldest cinema in the world.
20:17But with skies like these, it's not a day for the cinema, and my train is arriving.
20:21Let's hop back on and make some movie magic of my own.
20:27I'm travelling along the glorious French Riviera,
20:48and after some quality time in La Ciotta and Saint-Neris-sur-Mer,
20:52I'm approaching my next stop, the city of Yers.
20:55Nestled between the hills and the sea, Yers enjoys a front-row seat to the Mediterranean.
21:02It was this prime location that lured in British aristocrats in the 18th century,
21:08transforming the town into the Riviera's very first resort.
21:14Yers is a tale of two cities,
21:16a modern town with majestic palm-lined avenues
21:19and a medieval heart with winding lanes and charmingly crumbling facades.
21:24But it's idyllic, and frankly, I'm starting to question all my life choices.
21:30Oh, look at this. Look.
21:32This is for rent, right?
21:33And in another life, I rent this, and I sit here and I write,
21:36I become the mad old hag of Yers.
21:39I mean, I haven't got time, but I love the idea.
21:44Guiding me around the city
21:45is American writer and Riviera expert, Lainey Goodman.
21:50Lainey?
21:50Oh.
21:51I'm Sandy. I brought you ice cream.
21:52Thank you so much, of course.
21:55Oh, this is nice.
21:56This is very nice.
21:57I can't quite believe we're sitting in the shadow of a 12th century tower.
22:02This town, Yers, is really properly old, isn't it?
22:05It is, and I think that most people don't even realise
22:08all of the history behind it.
22:10It feels lived in.
22:12Well, I would agree, because I find it very laid back.
22:15Um, I think a lot of people ignore that this is the Cote d'Azur,
22:20a different Cote d'Azur.
22:21Mm.
22:23Lainey's not the only American I know
22:24to appreciate the laid-back charms of a year.
22:27New York-born writer Edith Wharton
22:29lived here between the two world wars,
22:31and her house and gardens still exist.
22:35Well, I have felt all my life
22:37that not enough people are in love
22:38with the American author Edith Wharton.
22:40I am in love with her.
22:42I have always wanted to see her garden.
22:44Are you going to show it to me?
22:45Yes, absolutely.
22:46Do you know what?
22:47This is one of the best days of my life.
22:48Let's take our ice cream, brothers.
22:50Come on.
22:51Okay.
22:54I'm so excited because Edith Wharton,
23:05really important author to me,
23:06but I'm always surprised how many people don't know her.
23:09How do you introduce her to people?
23:11Well, I would say that she's part of a media from New York,
23:16old money, that's sort of turn of the century.
23:20Having grown up in high society,
23:22Edith Wharton became one of its sharpest critics
23:24in novels like The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence.
23:30It took a director like Martin Scorsese
23:32to adapt The Age of Innocence,
23:34one of her greatest novels,
23:36for people to start understanding who she was.
23:38Then people went back and read the novel.
23:41There are a lot of people who are trying now
23:43to adapt some of her stories.
23:44So, little by little, like Jane Austen,
23:47you know, people are coming, Hollywood and...
23:49Rediscovering.
23:50Yes, rediscovering her and reworking her
23:52because some of the themes, I think,
23:55will be around forever.
23:56Oh, I feel the book's still read is fresh.
23:59Exactly.
23:59And modern.
24:00And, of course, we mustn't forget,
24:02first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
24:04So, let's go enjoy her garden, shall we?
24:07Yes.
24:07Fleeing an unhappy marriage
24:16and the strict confines of her social world,
24:19Edith moved to France in 1910 and settled in Paris.
24:23Then in 1919, at the age of 57,
24:26she discovered this hilltop haven,
24:30the House of Sinclair,
24:32built into the walls of a medieval castle,
24:34and she turned it into her winter retreat.
24:38Today, her perched garden is a free public park.
24:44Wow, it's high up.
24:46It's very high.
24:48Both the views and the climb up here are breathtaking.
24:54She must have been fit, living up here.
24:56She was, and she, even in her 60s and 70s,
24:59she went tramping all around the gardens with her guests.
25:02In fact, she obliged them after lunch.
25:04Some people complained they couldn't have their nap.
25:07And the garden's her creation,
25:08as much as the books are her creation, aren't they?
25:10Absolutely.
25:11The money that she got for the Pulitzer Prize,
25:14which was, at the time, considerable,
25:15what did she do with it?
25:16She poured it into her gardens.
25:18Oh, it's here?
25:18Yeah.
25:18It's right here.
25:19She said, I'm thrilled to the spine.
25:22With her passion for gardening,
25:24Wharton threw herself into this horticultural adventure,
25:27cultivating Mediterranean plants that were entirely new to her.
25:31She turned a tangled hillside wilderness
25:33into this glorious terraced garden.
25:36Imagine owning this.
25:38It's unbelievable, isn't it?
25:42The house was a wreck when she found it, is that right?
25:44It was a ruin.
25:45A ruin.
25:45Okay, that's never a good...
25:46They don't put that on the particulars when you buy something.
25:49It's a ruin.
25:50Why here?
25:51Why did she settle here?
25:52She saw the ruin, and she fell in love with it.
25:55She talked about being torn away,
25:58shrieking from Yer sometimes when she had to go back to Paris.
26:01So she really did love it, and she loved the view.
26:05Oh, I wish she was here.
26:06We could have tea.
26:07But maybe she wouldn't like us.
26:09I don't know.
26:13Edith ended up spending all her winters in this house
26:15until her death in 1937,
26:18writing, entertaining in style,
26:20and tending lovingly to her beloved garden.
26:24A true slice of paradise,
26:26which she captured beautifully in this poem.
26:31Mistral in the Marquis, by Edith Wharton.
26:35Roofed in with creaking pines we lie
26:37and see the waters burn and whiten.
26:41The wild seas race the racing sky,
26:44the tossing landscape gloom and lighten.
26:49Here's to you, Edith.
26:50The next stop on my Riviera adventure
27:12is arguably the most famous holiday spot in the world,
27:16the fabulous and ultra-glamorous Saint-Tropez.
27:19Do I need jeans covered in sequins?
27:24I'm discussing it with myself.
27:28For the train nerds out there,
27:30there is actually no train station in Saint-Tropez.
27:34The nearest is in Saint-Raphael,
27:36just under 25 miles away.
27:38And like me,
27:39you'll have to rely on the kindness of strangers to get here.
27:42I'm told that if you want to see the real Saint-Tropez,
27:47you have to get down to the beach early,
27:49so I've come to the legendary Pampelone Beach,
27:52a three-mile stretch of white sands and turquoise water
27:56just south of Saint-Tropez's old town.
28:00I've just arrived at Pampelone Beach.
28:02I mean, I think, strictly speaking,
28:03I should be coming out of the water in some sexy way.
28:05It was in 1956 that Brigitte Bardot
28:08made this beach famous
28:10in a film called And God Created Woman.
28:13And it kind of started that whole tanned sexual revolution.
28:17Once hailed as the most beautiful woman in the world,
28:21Bardot put Saint-Tropez on the map,
28:24transforming a sleepy fishing village
28:26into the beating heart of 1960s bohemian life.
28:30I prefer Saint-Tropez for the beach,
28:32for the young people
28:33and all the fun evenings we spend.
28:37It was on this very beach that bikinis shrank,
28:40tops vanished,
28:41and a new era of sexual freedom began.
28:47Today, with its exclusive beach clubs,
28:49Pampelone has become a playground for the rich and famous.
28:53Word has it that it's the perfect place
28:55for a bit of celebrity spotting.
28:57Let's see if I can see one or two.
29:02It's a little bit early,
29:03so we haven't got the maximum number of people
29:06living their best life, but...
29:07Oh, look at all that...
29:09Look at...
29:10Wow, look at all that donkey...
29:13Yep.
29:16Okay, there are donkeys on the beach.
29:19This is not quite the Saint-Tropez glamour I was expecting.
29:24You know sometimes you see a big ass on the beach.
29:27Two.
29:30Let's go and investigate.
29:32Bonjour.
29:33Bonjour.
29:33Bonjour.
29:34Bonjour.
29:34Je m'appelle Sandy.
29:35Je m'appelle William.
29:36William.
29:36Ah, William.
29:38Bonjour, Laurent.
29:38Bonjour.
29:39Eh, eh, eh, eh, il s'appelle...
29:41Princesse.
29:42Ah, elle!
29:42Elle s'appelle Princesse.
29:43Elle s'appelle Princesse.
29:44Princesse, oui, okay.
29:44Et Justin.
29:45Justin.
29:46With hundreds of thousands of tourists visiting Pompelonne every year, keeping the beach
29:52clean is a challenge.
29:54But the local council has come up with a genius and environmentally friendly solution.
30:01Every morning, Princesse and Justin roam the sands of Pompelonne and help pick up litter
30:06left by holidaymakers.
30:0730,000 items a day, on average.
30:13Oh, Princesse, you do such a good job.
30:17Is it friendly?
30:18Yes, yes, yes.
30:19Hi.
30:20Hello.
30:21Beautiful.
30:22Bye, Princess.
30:23Bye, Justin.
30:24What a great idea.
30:26Huh?
30:27Donkeys and rubbish.
30:28I mean, what a great job you guys are doing.
30:31Saving the planet.
30:37As much as I enjoy the company of donkeys, the reason I'm in Saint-Tropez is to experience
30:42some of the glitz and glamour.
30:44And my next date promises exactly that.
30:47Frederick Mausch has written a book on Epiplage, one of the trendiest beach clubs on Pompelonne,
30:54and he's invited me for a private tour.
30:57Frederick.
30:59Hello.
31:00Hi.
31:01OK, so I can tell you this.
31:02I've just been on the beach, and I have so much sand in my shoe that I think I have taken
31:06part of the beach with me.
31:08Sorry about it.
31:09I'm so sorry to get undressed as soon as we meet.
31:11I apologize.
31:12Don't need any shoes to get in.
31:13Don't need any shoes?
31:14I just want to take them off then.
31:15OK, this is perfect.
31:16There we go.
31:17All right.
31:18I'll do the same.
31:19See?
31:20We're friends already.
31:21Love it.
31:22Oh, do the socks have to come off?
31:23No.
31:24I'm going to keep socks on.
31:25There's a line for the British.
31:26I think it's socks.
31:27OK, let's go in.
31:28Yep.
31:31Thank you, sweetie.
31:32Frederick's parents used to own Epiplage, so he knows all its stories and secrets.
31:38Here's the oasis.
31:39Oh, my.
31:40I was not expecting that.
31:42Oh, look at that.
31:45Yeah.
31:46That's refreshing, isn't it?
31:47It's like a movie.
31:48Oh, my.
31:49It looks like Hollywood.
31:50Yeah, but it's...
31:51And that's so appropriate, isn't it?
31:53Because the sunshine feels like California, doesn't it?
31:55Totally.
31:56And actually, the constructions here are inspired by, like, the American-like construction from
32:00the 50s.
32:01Wow.
32:02And it was built, actually, in the 50s.
32:03Late 50s.
32:04So was I.
32:05Yeah.
32:06Oh, late 50s.
32:07Yeah, me too.
32:08So I feel right at home.
32:09I think it's my...
32:10Oh!
32:12With its restaurants and nine bungalows tucked behind the sand dunes, Epiplage is the ultimate
32:18private club.
32:19You can stay the night, enjoy a leisurely lunch, lounge by the pool, or even all three.
32:26Perfect, perfect, perfect.
32:30So you grew up here?
32:33Yeah, kind of.
32:34I mean, this was our, like, summer house.
32:37So I was, like, one year old when I first came here.
32:40Yeah.
32:41I mean, I can't even imagine the life.
32:43So when you're a boy, do you get used to it?
32:45You just think, oh, it's the pool, it's the beach, it's all, you know?
32:48Well, first of all, it wasn't as, like, fancy as it is right now.
32:50Okay.
32:51It was much more bohemian.
32:52Yeah.
32:53Actually, here, it was really, like, a center for, like, music, creativity, like, starting
32:58in the late 50s.
32:59A lot of artists came here, intellectuals, like, Allen Ginsberg, for example, was here.
33:05Marlon Brando.
33:06Oh, wow.
33:07There was, like, this melting pot of these, like, superstars.
33:10And then, like, you had, like, people who were, like, a little bit more in the grey
33:14zone, painters, bourgeois bohèmes, as we call them.
33:18Yes.
33:19You know, people who were not doing much, you know?
33:21I have to mention your book.
33:24Brigitte Bardot.
33:25Is that here on the beach?
33:27It's actually right here where we're sitting, exactly here, this place.
33:30And Brigitte Bardot in the middle, which everybody knows.
33:33On the right, if you're from the UK, maybe you don't know Johnny Holiday, which is, like,
33:37the French superstar.
33:38Oh, yeah.
33:39Absolutely.
33:40People came here to be forgotten, like, so you had, like, the billionaire talking to
33:43the worker or the agriculturer.
33:45I always think there's something about when you come to the beach and people strip off
33:49their shoes.
33:50It sort of levels people out.
33:52In this place, I can tell you in the 70s, people were not just taking off their shoes.
33:56Okay.
33:57Right.
33:58But it was a different time.
33:59Yeah.
34:00No, I, and, you know, that's fine, too.
34:01I think that sounds good.
34:03Maybe I would have been fine with my socks off after all.
34:07And does it feel weird to be back now because you've not been here for a while?
34:10Actually, it has changed a lot, which is fine, you know.
34:15I think it's more in line with today, you know, the high-end luxury, the expectation of
34:22the market right now is very different.
34:24It has kept its, like, Robinson Crusoe spirit, which I like, you know, and they've stayed
34:30faithful, like, to the constructions.
34:32It feels very relaxed to me at the moment.
34:35I was expecting many more people, but we're not in the high season.
34:39I mean, the high season, the real high season, where you don't want to be here, is very short.
34:44It's basically between the 14th of July, which is the French national day, till the 30th of August.
34:50And it's absolutely crazy.
34:51You can't really drive around, move around.
34:54But beyond that, it's really nice all year long.
34:57Yeah.
34:58Because Paris is closed in August, completely.
35:00France is closed.
35:01France is closed in August.
35:02France is closed in August.
35:03I think that's a very sensible thing that we should all do.
35:05I like that.
35:06If only that was an option for me.
35:09But alas, I'll have to keep exploring this fabulous town and seeing what other delights modern-day Saint-Tropez has in store.
35:16I'm in Glitzy Saint-Tropez, a name that's synonymous with the French Riviera.
35:33After receiving the VIP treatment on Pompelone Beach, I've made my way to the bustling Old Town, where the harbour is packed with jaw-dropping yachts.
35:42Judging by the crowds, watching the super yachts has become a tourist attraction in its own right.
35:48But I have a more pressing priority.
35:51You never, ever take for granted that I can travel, and I love it, and I know how privileged I am.
35:57But I miss my children.
35:59And now I have four grandchildren.
36:01So the way I get over that is I find them a postcard that I think will amuse.
36:10Okay.
36:11Uh, wow.
36:13Okay.
36:14That's...
36:15That is...
36:16This one?
36:17Not for the grandchildren.
36:18This is definitely not...
36:19Uh...
36:20I mean, that's very annoying, because they've used my picture in the...
36:24That's very irritating.
36:25That one is annoying.
36:26Um, something...
36:27I think something less naughty.
36:29Oh, here we go.
36:30Oh.
36:31In Danish, uh, we say mormel.
36:34Mother, mother.
36:35And all of these are from mormel.
36:38The port's a little too busy for my liking, so I'm heading deeper into the old town, in search of a quiet corner to write my postcards.
36:50But first, I need a little pick-me-up.
36:53Hello.
36:54Hello.
36:55Hello.
36:56Hello.
36:57Tarte tropezienne petite.
36:58Yes.
36:59Trois petite.
37:00Yes, thank you.
37:01Yes.
37:02Trois petite.
37:03Yes, thank you.
37:04Yes.
37:05This shop is dedicated to the local delicacy, the tropezienne tart.
37:10It's a halved brioche, generously filled with a mix of thick buttercream and topped with pearl sugar.
37:17Just gonna put that diet on hold for today.
37:20Here is la tarte tropezienne.
37:23And then, uh, I mean, it looks like a mini-burger.
37:32Mm-hmm.
37:36I mean, it's a lot of sugar content.
37:40That, that, that.
37:41Wow.
37:42Okay.
37:43I maybe eat that slowly.
37:45Right.
37:46Watch this one.
37:48There we go.
37:52More More is working so hard and having a nightmare time.
38:03I don't want them to think it's too easy.
38:08Just a short stroll from the hustle of the port, this laid-back square, Place des Lys, feels quintessentially French.
38:15The kind of place that makes you want to try a bit of parler Francais and strike up a conversation with the locals.
38:22Oh, look.
38:24Uh, est-ce que je dis bonjour?
38:27Oh, sure.
38:28Oh, we know you.
38:29We're, we're English.
38:30Oh, fine.
38:31That was me.
38:32My best friend.
38:33Can I tell you?
38:34I am Sandy.
38:35How do you know me?
38:36From, from, from QI.
38:37Ah, from QI.
38:38QI.
38:39I'm Sue.
38:40Sue?
38:41And Richard.
38:42Oh, this sounds very silly, but it sounds nice to be able to just speak fluent.
38:46What are you doing here?
38:47Obviously on holiday.
38:48Yes, we're on holiday.
38:49We brought our caravan.
38:51Where from?
38:52Down front.
38:53We live in Yorkshire near Bradford.
38:54Note to self.
38:55Not everyone you meet on holiday is a local.
38:58So, would you like a QI fact about Saint-Cropez?
39:01Yes, please.
39:02Do you know why it's called Saint-Cropez?
39:05No.
39:06Okay, so I love this.
39:07This is one of my favourite stories.
39:08Uh, so there was a knight, um, about 2,000 years ago in the time of Nero, okay?
39:13And he converted to Christianity and Nero did not think this was a good idea.
39:16So he beheaded him, which is not nice.
39:18And then people started to worship the body of the knight without his head on.
39:23So they put the knight without his head in a rotting boat with a dog and a rooster
39:28and set it out to sea, okay?
39:30And this guy is Saint-Cropez, and he landed on the coast just here.
39:35And people thought it was a sign, and so they named it after him.
39:38And the dog and the rooster pushed off and each founded their own village nearby,
39:43which I don't think is kind, to just leave the beheaded guy.
39:46Oh, to leave him?
39:47Yeah.
39:48Right.
39:49Well, we've learned something new.
39:50It's not quite as romantic as the place itself, then.
39:52It's a good QI story, though.
39:53It is. It's excellent.
39:54Do you like that one?
39:55Yeah, I do.
39:56The joy of holidays is that they're made of lovely encounters like this.
40:01Now, I don't want to stereotype, but these men over here surely can only be French.
40:08The origin of boule, or pétanque, dates back to ancient Greece.
40:15But the current version of the game was invented in the early 20th century in La Ceuta.
40:20Yes, the very same town where cinema was born.
40:24And, of course, the Lumiere brothers filmed it.
40:27Please.
40:28Please.
40:29Please.
40:30Here, d'ici.
40:31Mark the boule.
40:32Mark the boule.
40:33Boulette.
40:34Boulette.
40:35OK.
40:36The bouillon.
40:37The bouillon.
40:38The bouillon.
40:39These days, pétanque is as popular as ever.
40:43Played in squares like this one, right across France.
40:47And as it turns out, I'm not too bad at it.
40:52Oh, he's not as good as me.
40:53After that extremely energetic workout, I need a drink.
40:55So I'm heading for the hills above Saint-Tropez in search of refreshment.
41:00This region is renowned for its rosé wine.
41:01And I can't think of a better way of getting a drink.
41:02I'm heading for the hills above Saint-Tropez in search of refreshment.
41:07This region is renowned for its rosé wine, and I can't think of a better way of wrapping
41:14up my time in Saint-Tropez than visiting a vineyard.
41:20So I'm meeting winemaker Gwendolyn Berger for a tour and tasting.
41:27This is going to seem incredible to you, but I don't think I've ever seen grapes growing
41:33in real life on television.
41:34Yes, really, honestly.
41:35So show me how many would you have on a plant like this.
41:38So there is the grapes, so we can count and eat.
41:40Punches of grapes.
41:41Okay.
41:42Now, it's falling over.
41:43Yes, it's falling over because for the moment they have a lot of fruit.
41:46It's falling over because of the time they are growing.
41:49It's falling over.
41:50Yes, it's falling over because of the moment they have a lot of fruit.
41:53It's falling over because of the fruit and fruit.
41:56It's falling over.
41:57Punches of grapes.
41:58Okay.
41:59Yes, absolutely.
42:00Now, it's falling over.
42:01Yes, it's falling over because for the moment there is no palissage.
42:06Like a stick?
42:07It's just a stick and a line in steel.
42:10Yes.
42:11So what we can do to take them straight, you can just dry them.
42:17I show you in the little piece.
42:19Okay.
42:20You turn like that.
42:22Oh, okay.
42:23And wind it round.
42:24You can just take these two pieces and...
42:28And wind them round.
42:29And wind them around.
42:30Oh, so they look after each other.
42:32I show you?
42:33Yes.
42:34And then it's your turn.
42:35Okay.
42:36Oh, no.
42:37Okay.
42:38Honestly, I think I'm working too hard on this trip.
42:41So tell me about how you look after it.
42:43Tell me about the soil and what you do to look after it.
42:46So I am working since the beginning in an organic way and I am not using
42:53pesticide and nothing.
42:56Only infusion.
42:57Right.
42:58Infusion to get stronger the vines.
43:01That works in two years.
43:03Wow.
43:04The plants say just thank you.
43:06Yeah.
43:07They look so healthy.
43:10Gwendolyn also follows the principles of biodynamic farming, which takes a holistic view of the vineyard.
43:16She treats it as a living ecosystem, which gives it a beautiful wild look.
43:23When did you first decide I want to make wine?
43:27Do you remember how old you were?
43:29My first memory is when I was 12.
43:31We just moved from another country to the south of France with my parents.
43:36And I asked them if I could make the harvest.
43:39And they said, okay.
43:40And so I did it.
43:42And the end of October of September when there were some grapes still at the end.
43:49I just took it.
43:50I pressed it.
43:51And I put that in the big bottle, five liters.
43:55And without knowing I was doing my first Blanc de Noir because that was Grenache Noir.
44:00Then I make a white wine.
44:02So that was my first Blanc de Noir.
44:04Wow.
44:0512 years old.
44:06Yes.
44:07This magnificent view.
44:08Yes.
44:09Do you ever get tired of it?
44:10No.
44:11No, no.
44:12Not yet.
44:13No.
44:14I don't think.
44:15I will never.
44:16No.
44:17But you can feel the breeze from the sea.
44:18Does it make a difference?
44:19Yes.
44:20That makes a difference because the wind which is coming from the sea is bringing freshness,
44:23is bringing salt.
44:24Salt?
44:25Yes.
44:26Oh, okay.
44:27And this, you will find that in your mouth when you will taste it.
44:32You can taste it.
44:33Shall we go and try the wine?
44:36Okay.
44:37With pleasure.
44:38I loved walking here.
44:40This is, look at these so pretty.
44:45Gwendolyn shares her passion with her husband who has joined her in this wonderful wine making adventure.
44:53Okay.
44:54Ah, here is mine.
44:55Is your husband?
44:56Yes.
44:57Ah, bonjour.
44:58There is Jean-Jacques.
44:59Jean-Jacques.
45:00Let me introduce you to Jean-Jacques.
45:01How are you doing, Sandy?
45:02I'm fine.
45:03Nice to meet you.
45:04Nice to meet you.
45:06Oh, no, no.
45:07Please, please, please.
45:08Oh, okay.
45:10So what is the name of the wine?
45:11The name is Le Rosé.
45:12Because actually we only have one rosé.
45:15And Clou de Bé is the name of the vineyard?
45:17Clou de Bé is the name of the vineyard.
45:18Why?
45:19Why?
45:20Why?
45:21Why?
45:22Because Jean-Jacques, his last name is Branger.
45:24And my last name is Berger.
45:27Okay.
45:28So then we decided to name it Clou de Bé as we start together.
45:33I like that.
45:34That's...
45:35Okay.
45:36That's our aventure.
45:37The new aventure.
45:38Cheers.
45:39Cheers.
45:40Cheers.
45:41Oh my goodness.
45:44It's very fresh.
45:45It's totally natural.
45:47There is no sulfate in.
45:49It's delicious.
45:52It's so good.
45:53It's nice.
45:54It's come to be pink.
45:55It's the same as the rosé now.
45:56Oh, congratulations.
45:57It's a dream.
45:58It's a dream.
45:59We make a dream.
46:00It's fantastic.
46:01And it stays with you.
46:03It's got beautiful flavour.
46:05What a way to toast a new friendship.
46:08To the sea.
46:09To the sea.
46:10What do we say in France?
46:11To the sea.
46:12To the sea.
46:13To the sea.
46:14To the sea.
46:15To the sea.
46:16To the sea.
46:17To the sea.
46:18To the sea.
46:19To the sea.
46:20Cheers.
46:21Cheers.
46:32And Sandy continues her journey onto Cannes next Saturday at 5 past 8.
46:37Looking for ultra-realistic textures.
46:39Almost good enough to eat this week.
46:41New game of wool, Britain's best knitter continues tomorrow night at 8.
46:45Next, mulled cider.
46:47Tis the season after all.
46:48Bevan and Cornwall at Christmas is on the way.
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