Travel Daily | Atout France – St Tropez

PATRICK Benhamou from French Tourism was in characteristic form last night at the Sydney Sofitel Wentworth, where Atout France together with Sofitel, Peugeot and St Tropez Tourism launched a new photo
exhibition titled “Star Spotting in St Tropez”.
The event (naturally) included a catwalk, and Patrick is pictured above discussing global warming and politics with some of the models who took part in a “Sin Tropez” swimwear parade from French designer KIWI.
Hundreds of industry guests took part, enjoying Pommery Champagne, French nibblies and of course fabulous views (of the exhibition of course!).
St Tropez in the south of France swells from its normal population of 5000 to more than 5 million in summer, with regular visitors including Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Hugh Jackman and of course Brigitte Bardot – all of whom are included in the pics.
And it’s a popular destination for Aussies visiting France too, with more Australians invading than some much closer source markets such as Spain and Sweden.
Last night’s festivities saw Claude Maniscalco, director of the St Tropez Tourism Office, appoint Vittoria Coffee owner and long-time Atout France supporter Les Schirato as the first official Australian Ambassador to St Tropez.
The show clearly got Benhamou’s motor running to, and he’s pictured above on a Parisian motor scooter with Claire Kaletka-Neil from Atout France, together reviving a scene from the classic St Tropez movie “And
God Created Woman” starring Brigitte Bardot.