Buzios - Brigitte's Hideaway

The golden beaches of Buzios

In her heyday, Brigitte Bardot was a sensation who was dogged by the international paparazzi.  

The “sex kitten” found her holiday escape from the spotlight, albeit temporarily, in Buzios, Brazil, a quiet fishing village blessed with numerous beautiful beaches. That is, until the paparazzi tracked her down.

Originally settled by pirates and slave traders, Buzios has the feel of the French Riviera about it, its main cobbled street, Orla Bardot, winding lazily along the oceanfront. 

The buildings that house the town’s restaurants, shops and galleries are architecturally interesting - rustic in appearance and restricted to two storeys, they are bedecked with shrubs and flowers. 

Buzios is a good shopping haunt and judging by the number of swimwear shops, evidently the place to purchase one of those revealing Brazilian bikinis. 

Brigitte would likely agree.  

A short walk along the beachfront and there she was, caste in bronze sitting on a suitcase looking out to sea, no doubt contemplating the irony of her own admission that in discovering Buzios her fame had destroyed its innocence.

In his dreams

All that seemed to be missing from her tiny hand was a Caipirinha, the local cocktail made from Cachaca, Brazil’s sugarcane rum, sugar and lime. Then she would have been ready to contemplate the sunset.