Royal Caribbean’s itinerary said we would be in port at Toulon, but we actually docked in La Seyne-Sur-Mer.
RC charged $15 per person to ride a water shuttle to Toulon, but since we booked a ship’s excursion to St. Tropez (pronounced Tro-pay), we would not be seeing Toulon except from a distance. LaSeyne has a very small cruise terminal with only one cruise ship today, but it looked like it might accommodate two, side-by-side, with the pier between. 
Motor coaches were lined up at the pier, and there were five vendors set up for die-hard shoppers. Mostly, they had soaps, lavender sachets and linen items.
Our tour guide explained that traffic can be really horrible in the peak tourist season. She said it sometimes takes twice as long as planned because there is only one road in and out of St. Tropez. We were there the final week of school holidays, and apparently last-minute European travelers chose somewhere else to go! There were still plenty of people, but it was manageable.
The town is named for her patron saint. Tropez was a general for Nero’s army. when Tropez became a Christian, Nero ordered his death. They tried to kill him twice, without success. Nero ordered him to be put on a ship with two hungry dogs, then they cut Tropez in half and left him with the dogs. When he arrived in the bay, people realized that the dogs refused to eat him. A sculpture of St. Tropez holding a palm branch is on the facade of the church. The palm branch is a symbol of sainthood.
We had some free time to walk around and take some photos before our scheduled lunch.
A Holland America ship was anchored in the harbor.
Our guide explained that it is often very windy at St. Tropez, so most cruise ships won’t stop there – choosing instead to dock where we did because it is safer. She has seen cruise ships anchored in St. Tropez, and it was too windy for the tenders to bing passengers ashore. That would be extremely disappointing.
St. Tropez is a place to see and be seen. All the expensive, name brands like Dolce & Gabanna, Gucci, Armani, etc., have a presence there. As a side note, Bridget Bardot is from St. Tropez.
Our guide told us that Denzel Washington was in town a few weeks prior. Multi-million dollar yachts lined the harbor, and the most coveted berths rent for 1200 Euro PER DAY. 
But I guess if you already own a yacht, that’s small change. Our guide said yachts typically sell for $1 million euros per meter in length. A studio apartment rents for $1000 Euro per week, and the smallest apartment with a view sells for one million. Workers in St. Tropez cannot afford to live there.
I saw no celebrities, but I did get a kick out of seeing one teenage girl with our group who took selfies all day when she wasn’t getting her grandfather (or maybe father? – hopefully not boyfriend!)to take her picture in multiple poses. (She is posing in the above photo.)
Lunch was included in our tour. 
The ceiling was full grapes.
First course was pickled eggplant and tomato slices between mozzarella slices in a pesto sauce with greens on the side. We had French Bread, of course, but wouldn’t all bread be French bread in France?
The main course was chicken breast in a mushroom cream sauce and vegetables . 
They served rose or white wine and seemed slightly baffled when we said, “No thanks.” There was also still and sparkling water in bottles, so we chose still. I never have learned to like carbonated water. Dessert was warm chocolate melting cake. 
After St. Tropez we travelled about twenty minutes to another area: Port Grimaud. 
Port Grimaud was built in 1966, so it was celebrating its 50th anniversary while we were there. The architect took swampy land and built a “Little Venice,” complete with harbors, canals, and pedestrian bridges. 
Our guide bargained with a local tour operator to offer a “refreshing” boat ride for 5 Euro each. We opted to find wifi at a cafe so I could check in for our flights as we enjoyed our last refreshing gelato of the cruise. 
We watched as they boarded and sailed away. The boat was covered with a canopy, but several were in the sun and it was brutally hot; however, in the shade the breeze makes the temperature more bearable. I actually think I melted more here than we did in Pompeii.
I was ready for AC on the bus and the 1.5 hour ride back to our ship.
Alas, tomorrow we arrive in Barcelona and board our flight back to Tennessee. I look forward to being home but hope to keep traveling to new places in the future.