After a seven-hour round-trip to the other side of the Rhone, and finding an apartment … we decided a restaurant dinner was a suitable reward, back on the Cote d’Azur.

Most restaurants in this summer-oriented strip are closed this month, so we went to one we knew was open — the Cafe de France in Sainte Maxime, just down the coast from where we are staying.

And we stumbled into a two-hour celebration of moneyed seniors, well-dressed, well-preserved and seemingly keen to enjoy themselves as long as they can.

This seems to be a trend with those born since, say, 1930, many of whom are, happily, still with us.

The traditional view of old folks, dispensing wisdom back at home, in the bosom of their families, practitioners of self-denial and early-to-bed and early-to-risers … seems to be waning.

More than a few of the seniors are in nice shape, economically, and the idea of an expensive dinner in the best-known restaurant in an expensive part of the French Riviera … probably sounded suitable to them.

We had arrived just ahead of the rush at the resto, which was hosting one of its weekly Friday night live-music shows, this one by the Blue Coffee Jazz Group — five senior citizens who seemed to be anglophones of some sort.

The place was empty when we arrived at 7:15. In 45 minutes, about 80 people, nearly all of them on the high side of 70, were in their places, on the plastic-encased terrace, ordering drinks and dinner off the not-cheap menu.

I was struck by how diverse was the group — Sainte Maxime draws moneyed residents and visitors from all over Europe — and how lively and how keen they were for the live music, which got a warm reception over the next 90 minutes.

No one seemed doddering or physically impaired, and they seemed to be having a great time, and it made me think, at least once: My older “brothers and sisters” are going to live forever and leave nothing behind for the next generation.

Well, good for them. Just because previous generations of grandparents lived more austere (and probably less healthy) lives doesn’t mean the current generation of retirees has to do the same.

They certainly don’t need me to tell them that.