Current category: France

Elton John and his party of merry men were in St Tropez today for lunch at the chic Club 55.

Elton was hard to miss in a bright pink shirt and mirrored sunglasses, while his husband David Furnish was more subdued in a blue striped shirt.

Elton was all smiles as he posed for fans and photographers.

Sting and Trudie Styler  had a big  night out in St Tropez last night. The couple partied with 80's supermodel Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber.

The famous foursome had a few drinks at a nightclub before leaving looking a little worse for wear. After leaving Sting and Trudie performed for the paparazzi with a very public smooch in the street.

The group then made their made to an after party on a yacht.

Supermodel Kate Moss is enjoying a getaway with her rocker boyfriend Jamie Hince.

They have spent several days in the resort town with a group of friends and Kate's daughter Lila Grace.

Kate and her party were ferried in a speedboat to an awaiting yacht where they hung out with friends and sunbathed topless.

It wasn't all smiles though as apparently Kate and Jamie had a fight over where to sit for dinner yesterday. Showing that celebrities really are just like us.

Is it the sun? The beaches? Or the A-list resorts? Whatever it is celebs can't get enough of the fashionable St Tropez.

This week we welcome another gaggle of celebrities including:

Is there any celeb that is not in St Tropez this summer?

After his flight on a space shuttle at the beginning of the week, Richard Branson moored his yacht in the hot spot and spent time with family and friends.

He relaxed in the sun during the day and had a few glasses of wine at night.

Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson's expanding waistline was on full display as he took a dip in the South of France.

He showed his age as he gently lowered himself into the water for a swim in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat.

The actor may be 72 but he was not short of female company as there were  several attractive young ladies onboard the boat.

After taking a dip Jack covered up in a bright yellow t-shirt and went for a stroll around town.

Tara Reid showed off her toned body as she holidayed on a yacht in the French Rivera.

The party girl, who had  botched plastic surgery in 2004 which left her with saggy skin on her abdomen, now looks comfortable in a bikini as she showed off her new figure.

The yacht was moored near St Tropez and she used the opportunity to have some fun on a jet ski with her boyfriend, German internet entrepreneur, Michale Axtmann.

She recently spent two months in celebrity rehab centre, Promises, and says that she has put her wild past behind her and is now clean and focused on her career.

While in St Tropez Tara hung out with fashion designer Roberto Cavalli and visited him on his yacht.

Avril Lavigne is making the most of her girlie holiday by making her way round St Tropez's party circuit. Avril husband rocker, Derek Whibley, is nowhere to be seen.

She has been spotted in the hottest nightspots and was seen last night doing shots straight from a bottle in a VIP area of a club. She was joined in the club by model and Leonardo DiCaprio's ex, Bar Refaeli and actor Stephen Dorff.

The non-stop partying did not seem to have an effect, as Avril smiled and looked bright eyed as she made her way across the water with her friends to a private yacht for yet another party.

Eva Longoria is taking some time out in St Tropez with husband Tony Parker on a private luxury yacht in the latest stop on their European vacation.

The Desperate Housewives actress has been enjoying some time off from filming and in the last two weeks has jetted from Los Angeles to Cannes to Vienna to Rome to Paris and back to the French Riviera.

How the other half live!

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban proudly showed off five-month-old daughter Sunday Rose yesterday as they enjoyed a family outing to the Picasso exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Yeah, where the hell *is* Matt?  Celebsonholiday just came across this rather lovely and heartwarming video in which Matt Harding dances his way around the world (42 countries to be precise) and encourages people to join in.

Aaah, doesn't it warm the cockles of your heart!?. You can also read how it all started at the Where The Hell Is Matt website

The gorgeous Take That lads have been spotted at St Pancras heading for Paris to promote their new album 'The Circus'.

Below: the lovely Take That boys: Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Jason Orange... don't they get better with age!

Benicio del Toro was spotted doing a spot of shopping at über trendy concept store Colette in the ultrachic Saint-Honoré fashion district of Paris.

I assume he was looking for something decent to replace that ghastly orange New York Knicks baseball cap... 

 

What were you thinking, Benicio?

Samantha Ronson is reported to be furious after her girlfriend Lindsay Lohan was hit with flour by anti-fur protesters outside the VIP Room Nightclub in Paris at the weekend.

"The girl who threw [the flour] acted like an animal herself," Samantha wrote in her blog yesterday.

Adding afterwards, "I take that back, it's an insult to animals to group her in with them, my dog is FAR more civilized than that person".

 

Lohan was attacked for wearing a black fur stole (see above); she was helped to clean up by the owner of the nightclub before hitting the red carpet and posing for photographers. 

Lindsay Lohan, 22, and girlfriend Samantha Ronson, 31, are rumoured to be getting engaged in Paris this weekend.

Though if the photos are anything to go by, I wonder if the pair had a falling out?  Ronson looks extremely grumpy and given the allegedly romantic nature of their Parisian break, you'd think they'd be a bit more, well, together?!...

Edith Piaf is greeted by Orson Welles (r) and an unidentified friend after a trip to America, Orly Airport, Paris. France in 1953

Here are some lovely archive photos of screen icon Sophia Loren playing boules (or is it petanque?) with Italian film producer husband-to-be Carlo Ponti on holiday in St Tropez on September 2 1958. 

 

Originally born Sofia Villani Scicolone on September 20, 1934, she changed her name to Sofia Lazzaro and then again to Sophia Loren after meeting Carlo Ponti.

It's quite a love story actually...

Ponti and Loren met in 1950 and although Ponti was already married, the pair fell in love and became a couple.  

In 1957 Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his wife Giuliana and, in turn, a marriage by proxy to Loren.  However, due to divorce not being recognised in Italy at that time, the marriage was denounced by the Catholic Church and annulled in 1962.

Ponti, Loren and Ponti's wife Giuliana then moved to France (which *did* allow divorce) and became French citizens.  This allowed Giuliana to file for divorce in 1965 which in turn allowed Ponti to marry Loren in a civil wedding in Sevres the following year.

The couple remained together for over 50 years until Ponti's death on 10 January 2007. 

Carlo Ponti had over 140 production credits to his name, the most famous being Federico Fellini's La Strada and David Lean's Doctor Zhivago

• Carlo Ponti's obituary (Independent)

It's been a busy week for superstar Latino singer Jennifer Lopez.

First the 39 year old completed the Nautica Malibu Triathlon in two hours, 23 minutes. 

Quick pause for breath then Lopez swiftly moved on to organising (and keeping secret) hubby Marc Anthony's surprise 40th birthday bash at the Bowery Hotel, New York.

Then, after departing for a supposedly "relaxing" European break (Portofino and St Tropez - there's a surprise), she's jetted out to Athens for two days to perform at the Olympic Stadium for the first leg of her World Tour, promote her latest boutique AND take part in a photo shoot at the Acropolis in Athens.

Oh, and in case you forgot, she gave birth to twins seven months ago!

Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, has dipped into her £10m earnings to purchase a £1m holiday home in Meribel.

According to reports, the pretty French-born actress (who lived in Paris until the age of five) will be be spending thousands more on improvements to the ski chalet, located in the French Alps.

Wealthy Watson -  set to replace Keira Knightly as the face of Coco Mademoiselle in a deal reported to be worth £3m -  took control of her earnings when she turned 18 this April

Below: Watson raises a glass to her millions.  Hurah!  

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