“On the deserted beach, shells and crustaceans,” Brigitte Bardot sang of the melancholy of late summer in her iconic 1963 song “La Madrague,” forever associated with her little corner of paradise on the Route des Canebiers in Saint-Tropez.
The beach—a place to see and be seen—catapulted Brigitte Bardot into the spotlight one day in May 1953. As the Cannes Film Festival was in full swing, a pretty 19-year-old brunette strutted down the Carlton Beach in a floral swimsuit, catching the eye of Kirk Douglas, who ended up playing with her auburn locks to make a mustache out of them. From then on, the actor and musician would forever be associated with the festival’s golden age.
It also marked the beginning of her beautiful love story with the French Riviera and its seaside landscapes. As the summer vacation season begins, we revisit Bardot’s most sun-drenched photos—in which she appears by turns sultry and mischievous—on Mediterranean beaches, and beyond.
