Page 96 - FOYER_Cannes 2001

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BERLIN • LOSANGELES • MILAN • FOYER • CANNES • TOKYO • LONDON DIARY
Parisians, like Yvon and Jackie Samuel, don’t like Paris in the summer when it sizzles. After 14 July anyone with an ounce of cool flees south. Le
Grand Départ is serious business for the city’s hippest. And luckily for them, the hottest nightspots in the capital also take flight for the benefit of their clientele and bank balances. During July and August, while intellec- tuals and Catholics head for sober Normandy and the Atlantic beaches, the Riviera becomes Paris by the sea.
Since the mayor banned heli- copters from landing in or around St. Tropez (too much noise), visitors to the Riviera’s most glamorous resort and its nearby super trendy beach hang-outs have had to transfer from Nice airport by cab, a sweaty two- hour journey that can cost as much as £150, depending on traffic.
Those in the know and prefer- ably old monied head directly for one particular portion of the Plage de Pampelonne, a little over a mile or two out of town. Paul Tomaselli is owner of the infamous La Voile Rouge, a beach restaurant and bar known for its table-dancing, its clien- tele, and Russians who order 30 bot- tles of Dom Perignon with which to douse themselves when the going gets hot. Host to celebrities such as Robert De Niro, Claudia Schiffer, Sylvester Stallone, Ivana Trump, George Michael, Liza Minnelli, Mick Jagger and Dodi Fayed, he is a man of many means and methods.
Ange, Tomaselli’s son, takes care of publicity, aware of the fact that his father’s moods can be very up and down. He explains that this is
a family-run busi-
ness as they are all
originally from the
south of Italy some
32 years now. Ange
speaks in short sen-
tences and has a
long scar just above
his shorts. His
father table-hops
like a pro, toking on
a fat cigar all the
while, always smil-
ing with the irk-
some (his patrons
would say endear-
ing) habit of helping
himself to any food
or drink on the
tables. Today he is
dressed unremark-
ably in shorts and
T-shirt, although his
penchant for wear-
ing a hat shaped
like a penis has
been well docu-
mented in the celeb-
photos that hang on
all the available
walls. When two French journalists turn up to interview him about the mayor’s attempt to close him down things turn a little more Italian than French. The mayor thinks La Voile Rouge epitomises all that is wrong with St. Tropez. It is noisy and trashy and detracts from the natural beauty of the Riviera, which he would like to see restored. So far, it would appear that the mayor is losing his battle.
Looking round at the punters, it is not hard to see why. A Thai girl is dancing topless on a table, her body
slick with champagne. A boy whose father owns all the taxis in Switzerland is blithely spraying Laurent Perrier over her — and everyone else in range. Save for a few women worried about the ruina- tion of their expensive dresses, everyone laughs approvingly.
Since Brigitte Bardot docked down in 1961 with Roger Vadim, St Tropez has been a mecca for the rich and famous who want to pose and party. Here, Mick and Bianca mar- ried, Ivana celebrated her divorce from Donald, and Diana and Dodi
HIGHLIFE
HIGHLIFE
Photo main: Jennifer Flavin (left) and Sylvester Stallone relax on the La Voile Rouge with host Paul Tomaselli