Honeymoon at the French Riviera
Immortalised by film, exalted by novel and scandalized by gossip magazine, this spectacular strip of coastline - sandwiched between the foothills of the Alps and the Mediterranean and stretching from St Tropez to Monaco- is still untouchable as the world's favourite celebrity playgroun.
In recent years a few of the sultry starlets have been substituted for footballers and villas of urbane movie producers overtaken by F-1 drivers, but the craggy coastal mountains still host the richest seam of celebrity wealth and self-indulgent exhibitionism in the world.
From Nice to Antibes, Cannes and St Tropez, this is where the stars feign a retreat from the spotlight only to be conveniently "caught" by the paparazzi in the glare of the Mediterranean sun. Those who complain that the beaches are unimpressive are missing the point; the beaches serve merely as silicone stages. And what star would want her silicone assets upstaged by the Riviera's?
Yes, the place is all about being seen. The fact that the bikini made its debut on the Riviera really does say it all.