Coastal walk

You’ll need a bit of puff – and a decent pair of shoes – for this one. But it’s a quite splendid way of clearing St Tropez excesses out of the mind (and body) and getting in touch with the elements.

The coastal path (‘Sentier du Littoral’) starts in the village before sweeping up, down and round the rugged rocks for about seven miles to the famous Pampelonne beach. The track can be a little stiff and wild in places, but it’s well-maintained, well-signposted and utterly exhilarating.

Pick up the “Sentier du Littoral” leaflet at the Tourist Office on Quai Jean-Jaurès, take bottled water and a mobile phone – and kick off from the Ponche district, in the lee of the citadel. Early on, you’ll pass the sea-side maritime cemetery, where film director Roger Vadim is taking a deserved rest after lives with Brigitte Bardot, Cathérine Deneuve, Jane Fonda and several others.

And then on, by Bardot’s own place, round headlands and lesser-known beaches with, if you’re lucky, only wind, light and the enormity of the Med for company.

If you’ve kept up a reasonable pace – and not stopped at any of the little beaches en route – then some three-and-a-half hours later you should be arriving at the top end of Pampelonne Beach.

If you’re anything like me, your instinct might be to turn straight round and return along the track. The crowds and sheer worldliness of Pampelonne are a bit overwhelming after the natural glories of one of the loveliest little walks in the region.