Some interesting tiki sightings in France

France is an amazing country to travel through - its got everything: history, nature, mountains, beaches, cities... But not much tiki. Here's what I found during my travels.

The Kon Tiki camping site in southern france:

from the beach:

On closer inspection the tiki huts on the beach didn't look too appealing...

Virani had already posted a thread about tiki campsites in France here -
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28593&forum=16&hilite=france I presume this is one of them?

Near Antibes there was a day beach resort with a tahitian theme, and some nice carved tikis:

and even some island style crooners entertaining the beautiful people, but I passed on the 20 euros for a lounge:

In the beautiful little old town of Antibes you have to visit the Absinthe museum/bar.

But the most interesting place in Juan Les Pins (near Antibes) is an ice cream/cocktail bar named Pam Pam. It was just like the ideal exotic paradise that we imagine every tiki bar should be, but replace the south seas imagery with that of an exotic african island like Zanzibar or something. The lighting was dim, the decor over the top, the drinks interesting and the entertainment outrageous - but not one tiki in sight, just over the top exotic africa-ness everywhere you look.

By day:

By night, the place was heaving:

Drinks were served in varying unique vessels:

Enjoying my little pigmy hut cocktail with the band in the background:

Its a shame i didn't have my proper camera with me to get better shots of the interior, but there was plenty of foliage, masks, congos and drums made into lights etc. Here's some of the live entertainment:

After analysing that "souvenir-ing" a mug or menu was out of the question, I got talking to one of the waiters and asked if there was any old menus I could have - he got my hopes up by running to the bar but only brought back a coaster and a coconut monkey style drink decoration which was pretty cool nevertheless.

Of course in Spain we had plenty of tiki bars to visit (I'll try to add some pics to their respective threads), but I thought I might mention a traditional after-dinner drink we shared in the Costa Brava region called cramat, or something like that. It was a mix of the dregs from the barrels of brandy, cognac and other local spirits that they make in the region, served warm in a shallow bowl, then set alight (see pic!). Then you pour hot coffee over the top and serve into coffee cups. It was a spectacle that reminded me a lot of the mystery bowl ritual.

Hope you enjoyed these pics as much as I loved travelling through France. Of course the best part was meeting the locals, especially Virani on our last night in France - thanks again amigo!

you're welcome !! It was a pleasure to meet you.

I know, the PAM PAM, best ice cream of the riviera too (well, maybe not) ! As a kid, I used to go in Juan Les Pins sometimes, as a family member have an appartment there, and I loved the place. You can have all kinds of fireworks, lightings, decors in your ice cream, and I loved it.
They change the band every year, so sometimes it's brazilian, or african music... but yeah, the place is really cool, and I never tasted their drinks.
I always wanted to go back now as a tikiphile ! thanks for the pics.

Wow Tim,Always wanted to go the camp site,Looks like a lot of fun,Hope you are enjoying your tour!