A hundred years ago, Saint--Tropez was a quiet fishing and comTHANK YOUal harbour far away from modern hustle and bustle. There were no cafes or restaurants on the pier, but cellars and workshops for trades that are no more... Its shipyards were famous, and some captains came purposely to have their ship built here, only the shallowness of the harbour prevented the building of very large ones.

In 1860 the «Reine des Anges», a 740 three masted tonner was launched from the Saint-Tropez shipyards, it was the jewel of the Merchant Navy. Tropezians were fishermen, ocean going sailors, or peasants. One of them, a navigating merchant, opened the first French counter in Madagascar... The earth was constantly littered with wood for carpenters, sand, or barrels of wine, and covered up cases ready for loading, between which horses had to find their way. Men were paid for each task, they were sturdy, spoke a rough provençal dialect in a loud voice, their caracter was as strong as the sea. Some were sawing wood, others poured water in cauldrons, Caulkers dipped calk in hot peat. Blacksmiths made barrels, ropemakers worked hemp, while sailmakers sewed canvas... the piers smelt of wood, sawdust, cork, canvas, or tar. Men wore velvet work clothes and caps, while women in thick linen dresses mended the fishing nets under the sun at la Ponche... This was a hundred years ago, and since 1866 the «Bailli de Suffren» overlooked all this active population with a benevolent smile...

Ship building slowed down. Before 1914 there were still 200 fishing captains in Saint-Tropez. In 1923 Chériane Leon Paul Fargue stated that «she had had a real difficulty to obtain an omelette at the only «restaurant» on the harbour, which had only 2 tables on its terrace»... «later» she added, «when we returned to Saint-Tropez, it was crowded, crowded with yachts, cars and holiday makers buying clothes in «Vachon», dancing at Palmyre, or at «La Tour». Shipyards became mechanical workshop, former ship docking cellars, restaurants for the first tourists, and parisians began coming over to enjoy the first night parties...

Today, the harbour has been renovated, waterproof cases have been recently laid under water, inside, high technology equipments will facilitate the distribution of electricity and drinking water to the boats, as well as giving them access to satellite television and security systems, a perfectly modern equipment will automatically collect wasted water, thanks to a centralized computer at the Capitainerie. A few months away from the year 2000 all this equipment turns Saint-Tropez into the most modern harbour of the «Cote d'Azur» well ahead of Cannes Antibes or even Monaco. What a revolution over a hundred years ! ...