If you live in Europe and you're a celebrity, sports figure, or just very rich, you probably spend part of your summer vacation on the beaches of St. Tropez. There's a good chance you get there via helicopter, and that has locals ripping the hair out of their suntanned heads.
St. Tropez's year round residents say the private helicopters that shuttle the Cristal and caviar crowd to and fro at all hours generate noise and pollution that is depressing their property values, messing with their sleep cycles, and making life generally miserable. They've formed a pressure group called Halte Helico (Halt Helicopter, for those of you who failed French in college), and say they won't rest until the helicopters do.
"It's hellish, they come over every five minutes," complains Halte Helico CEO Jean-Claude Molho of the nonstop flights. "It starts in April and goes on until the end of August." He has spearheaded a petition drive and gathered over 4,000 signatures from residents, demanding better regulation of helicopter operators. He says that if action isn't taken, they'll blockcade one of the town's landing pads, preventing passengers from boarding their flights. Let's hope Naomi Campbell isn't scheduled to fly out that day.
The helicopter operators argue that they're providing a vital service for the entitled rich of Europe. "We have to provide these people with the best possible transportation we can manage," says one of them. What he doesn't say is that at €650 per flight, it's in his interest to carry as many passengers as possible.
St. Tropez's locals aren't stupid -- they know they'd be screwed without the Euros that four months of tourism bring into their charming hamlet on the French Rivera, which is why they're not advocating anything as dramatic as a helicopter ban. "We're not extremists," Molho says. "We know we can't stop the helicopters and we don't want to stop them."
He says what the townspeople do want is an occasional break from the constant noise, especially early in the morning and late at night.
After all, even the little people deserve a good night's sleep.
Photo: Krzysztof Biega?ski
