Between sea, sand and cloud, are the things made by man. Fishnets and roof tiles, shopping baskets and hats. And somehow, here at the French seaside, they all blend into a harmonious tapestry.

In the realm of the manmade, the classic motifs reigned supreme: stripes and polka dots. They were everywhere. T-shirts, espadrilles, hatbands, and bags. Blended with weaves and inverted. The predominant colors? But of course! For the stripes, navy blue with off white. This is the mother of all French seaside patterns. The polka dots? Black and white. Or white and black. Of course there were florals and the (by now) been-there-done-that acid green and mauve combination, but the tried-and-true remain the crisp, clean winners of the show.

In the midst of the beautiful “usual,” however, was a quirky take on the classic French shopping panier: a woven bag with a wide, black lace border. Seaside bungalow meets Parisian boudoir. Well-suited to the woman who sleeps so late in the morning that she’s required to do her shopping in the evening, when the heat is a thing of the past and when one might have to knock down an aperitivo between buying bread and selecting the ripest cherry tomatoes. Very nice.