No Sex in St. Tropez

By Rosalie Unger

NO SEX IN ST. TROPEZ: A memoir in search of an agent.

Jacques was fascinated with me. He couldn’t believe an American mother

of two boys, at my age would stop her life to traipse after a dream in

another part of the world, climbing in and out of people’s lives, leaving a

mark on many, gobbling up feed for memories and moving on to the next

adventure. Was that me?

At thirty-six, Rosalie Linver just has to experience life in Europe. So when her sixteen- year-old son living with his fourteen-year-old brother and their divorced father asks her, “What are you going to be when you grow up, Mom?” it’s confirmed that she hasn’t grown up yet. And now is the time!

In 1974, Rosalie is expected to go to college, find a husband, have children, stay home, do what she is told and be happy. Her mother suggests she find a rich husband to take her to Europe like her sister did. “She has everything you should want,” her mother tells her.

But Rosalie has other plans.

Lacking enough funds to live in Europe for a year, she is going to have to work. A singing career could be her answer. Roger and Jenny in London share their whirlwind lives with her. She renews last year’s love in Italy. She meets a crazy American writer living in Morocco. In Portugal, she lands in the middle of a coup d’etat. Eduardo in Lisbon is handsome and attentive, but they don’t have a language in common…which doesn’t matter..

Back in London her application at the au pair agency has been accepted. She is hired by a French couple in St. Tropez, the world’s most glamorous resort. In St. Tropez Rosalie takes care of two small children while living and working for the Dorels from mid-May until mid-September. The Dorel family speaks no English. Rosalie speaks no French.

The summer is one every reader will want to live. Sunshine and topless beaches. Beautiful people, luxurious yachts and the blue Mediterranean Sea. French cuisine and a language made for love. This is what can be, but Rosalie is taking care of eight-year-old Frederic who has majored in mischief. His one-year-old sister, Geraldine, is precious and captures Rosalie’s heart. Everyday is an adventure; Find out what happens when Frederic puts laxatives in the pepper mill and pees on her head from a balcony. Laugh, then cry when Rosalie has to leave.

More than thirty years later when she meets up with Geraldine, now a beautiful gentle English-speaking woman, who reads part of this untitled book and says, “Rosalie, you must put St. Tropez in the title. Call it Sex in St. Tropez.”

“But Geraldine," I say, "I didn’t have sex in St. Tropez.”

“Then, call it No Sex In St. Tropez.” Voila!