H Stores on French Riviera - Saint-Tropez, Cannes, Monte Carlo

E

ej1972

Member
Apr 20, 2006
22
0
#1
Hi Ladies,
A group of friends and I are planning a "girls-only" trip to the French Riviera. We plan to travel at the end of July. Have any of you been to any of the H stores on the Riviera? Any SAs to recommend? How hard is it to get a Birkin by just walking in? We are planning to go to Saint-Tropez, Cannes, and Monte Carlo.

Also, this is a 32-35 yr. old group, any hotel recommendations? Clubs? Restaurants? We want to party! :yahoo: So far we have heard about Hotel Byblos in Saint-Tropez.

Thank you in advance. :heart:
 
#4
You can get to several stores very easily by train. From the east, Monte Carlo, then Beaulieu (v tiny), then Nice, then Cannes. St Tropez is more troublesome to get to, the easiest way is to drive out of season, otherwise it's a long slow trip by car or the public transport option is a train to St Raphael, then a ferry although there is a day return boat trip from Nice Port too. Or, share the cost of a helicopter from Nice for St T and Monaco, arrive in style, lol. There's not much hope of buying a Birkin off the shelf but there are often Kellys, Bolides, Picotins etc, I would say the chances are the same as for London in my experience. The best bet to buy a Birkin off the shelf might be to take a day trip to Paris from Nice, it's a short flight with easyjet and take a trip to the mothership. Many French take their holiday for the month of August so I suppose that is true for the craftspeople too, I was told by my SA in the UK that all work stops making/repairing bags in August so I wonder if Birkins might be in short supply then anyway. It would be a great trip though, funnily enough I was mentioning the very same trip to a friend recently. I will probably be in Nice at that time so I would love to say hello if you are in the area. Birkin or not, it would be great fun and you will find things that are not in other stores.

I would stay in Nice, you have great access to all those stores from there via train or coach plus the night life, shopping and atmosphere is great. I have found the SAs to be very friendly there. And of course, there in an Hermes store at each terminal of Nice airport. Cannes would also be a good base and has sandy beaches too; just pebbles at Nice.
 
#5
In general, you get the best selection of bags from Mothership in Paris. But, you ladies may get lucky and find some goodies, you never know. ;)


I agree with allaboutnice regarding staying in Nice. It’s a bigger town than Cannes and Monaco, you have more options as far as accomodations, restaurants and nightlife. Cours Saleya in Nice is a great place to look for restaurants. Monaco and Cannes are a short day trip from Nice. Saint Tropez is a bit farther. I think it is well worth staying there for a night. The beaches in Saint Tropez are sandy, like Cannes as well except when you step into the water. In general, I would say a trip to South of France, if you are planning to get out of Nice, is far more pleasant if you rent a car. But, make sure someone in your party knows how to drive a stick shift. Most European rental cars do not come with automatic transmission.

Good luck and have fun! :smile:
 
#6
I was in Monaco less than 2 years ago and went into Hermes. The SA was showing an American couple a couple of Birkins but the customer didn't like the bright colours on offer so declined.
 
#7
Love the french riveriera--so so jealous!! You'll have great weather but the bummer is that I'd think that if you're looking for serious leather, stock might be depleted by all the traffic the H stores must be getting right now with the Cannes Film Festival going on--(think lots of american starlets demanding their Birkins).

Depending on stock, if you're seriously looking to shop I'd consider an overnighter to Paris -- only 4 hours with the new TGV -- fun trip if you've never done it. And IIRC during July/August Paris is empty (because everyone's left town to go to the beach).

If you're looking for a casual night out, right on La Croissette in Cannes (on the other side of the Palm D'or restaurant in the direction of the Carlton Hotel) there's a place called Vesuvio -- great service--family owned with good pizza -- the international millionaire's pizza parlor in Cannes.

Also, directly across the street from the Palais, there's a cafe (next to the bistro which does the fresh oysters) which does a wicked cafe au lait and baguette for breakfast (and after breakfast, you're within spitting distance of the H shop right there on the Croisette) best, steph.
 
#8
Bumping this thread!

Going to the south of France next week, and it looks like Nice and Monaco are now part of the itinerary...any updates re: H boutiques in these 2 cities?

TIA! :flowers:
 
#9
A fabulous and VERY french hotel is the Negresco which I have stayed at .. it is very old and famous because a lot of old hollywood movie starts lived there..

The Hermes store in Nice have gorgeus windows with tons of small goodies showed..

EDITED:

Also stay at the Hotel de Paris in monaco if you can. it is BEYOND amazing, it is right next to the casino and is THE center of things happening..

The chanel stores in both nice and Monaco are fab, VERY friendly staff
 
#12
ALSO

I was in Nice, Cannes and Monaco last week, the Hermes Nice there had awesome windows. The left one was pink and fuschias. There was a long pink ostrich wallet, pink/silver clic clac bracelet, the small shoulderbag with the big H in front in babypink, big pink silk twill scarf with the heart, double wrap Kelly bracelets, lots of different sized bottles of Kelly Caléche, two mannequins with clothes (black)
 
#13
Thanks Mai Britt!! :flowers:. Your responses have gotten me looking forward to my trip even more!

I'm really hoping I find my first Birkin on this trip...it now appears that I will be taking a day trip to Paris (boyfriend has an interview there). So, I will be hitting the H boutiques in Paris, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Nice, and perhaps Geneva and Monaco. :upsidedown:
 
#14
mimiiii ... i'm going to south france next week too ... we might bump into each other at the H store ... my first stop will be Geneva on Monday till Wednesday and then Nice, Cannes, Marseille and Barcelona. OMG!! i am looking forward to this trip :yahoo: I am not going give myself too much hope on getting the birkin coz DH got his scheduled trip with other business partners and their wives already. I'll just see what i can get from H :smile: You probably have a higher chance to score a birkin because maybe you schedule is more flexible than i am and you can pop to H store anytime you want. Good luck to both of us ;)

Cheerrssss :wlae:
 
#15
BirKineSS said:
mimiiii ... i'm going to south france next week too ... we might bump into each other at the H store ... my first stop will be Geneva on Monday till Wednesday and then Nice, Cannes, Marseille and Barcelona. OMG!! i am looking forward to this trip :yahoo: I am not going give myself too much hope on getting the birkin coz DH got his scheduled trip with other business partners and their wives already. I'll just see what i can get from H :smile: You probably have a higher chance to score a birkin because maybe you schedule is more flexible than i am and you can pop to H store anytime you want. Good luck to both of us ;)

Cheerrssss :wlae:
Click to expand...

That's fantastic! I hope we do get to bump into each other, and i hope you find something you like!!!

Here is my itinerary so far...it seems to change every day, though!

- 9/1 Geneva
- 9/2-9/3 Paris
- 9/4 Lyon
- 9/5-9/6 Marseille / Aix-en Provence
- 9/7-9/8 Nice / Monaco

Hehe, I'm practically following a rock star's tour date itinerary!

BirKineSS you're going to have a FANTASTIC time. I've never been to the south of Paris, so visiting all these provencal cities will be a first for me. But I have been to Barcelona, and trust me, you are going to have such a blast there. The food and the cultural life is the top.

Have a wonderful trip!!
 
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