March stands out as the cruelest month in Saint-Tropez. Though the world imagines this Riviera village as a continuous hedonistic playground for the rich, the enduring fantasy of Bardot-era glamour has little to do with the day by day lifetime of its roughly 4,000 everlasting residents.
Having lived on the Côte d’Azur for many years, I’ve realized to respect Saint-Tropez’s low season moods. Today the solar is pale, the sky milky, and there’s a lingering winter chill in the air. Streets lie almost empty, boutiques stay shuttered. A brisk wind whips throughout the yacht-less harbour.
On the Place des Lices, not a single pétanque participant is in sight. A pewter-haired gentleman pedals previous on a rickety bicycle. A number of designer boutiques have their lights on; exterior one, a bored shopkeeper slips out for a cigarette whereas ready for patrons.
It’s the quieter aspect of Saint-Tropez that guests not often see—the calm earlier than the cameras arrive. Come April, one in all tv’s most talked-about sequence—HBO’s The White Lotus—will start filming its fourth season right here, including a brand new twist to the Riviera’s lengthy custom of mischief and decadent pleasures.
Regional tourism officers say reservations for the approaching spring are already robust alongside the Côte d’Azur—although with the manufacturing nonetheless shrouded in secrecy, it’s unattainable to know whether or not the shoot has something to do with it. “People aren’t saying oh là là this is amazing—at least not yet,” says one staffer tells me.
If the ripple from the present’s earlier success is any information, Saint-Tropez could quickly see a tidal wave of set-jetters.
“When the second season of The White Lotus aired—filmed at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in Taormina, Sicily—the reaction was immediate, ” says Pierre-Alexandre Francin, a personal journey designer with First in Service and a former Saint-Tropez resident. “The hotel was overwhelmed with booking requests—something like 3,000 in the week after the first episode aired.”
“The third season also boosted Thailand far beyond the property,” he provides. “People wanted to experience the destination for themselves.”
For now, behind the scenes, preparations are quietly underway. Local contacts say manufacturing groups have begun trying to find lodging for forged and crew, whereas luxurious automobiles and different logistics are being lined up in and round Saint-Tropez.
At Nice’s Victorine Studios, a casting name for extras for an unspecified “American series,” printed in Nice-Matin, drew a day-long queue of Gen-Z hopefuls—many seemingly unaware of what they had been auditioning for.