Yet another sunny day on the Côte d’Azur, and this weekend I was off to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, a medieval village located a short distance north west of Nice. It is well known for its reputation of having attracted many world class artists, most notably Marc Chagall.
Marina and Alexia have joined me on this trip to add some Croatian and French glamour respectively. There’s only so much Peterborough related glamour that these small towns in France can handle. We met late morning at the hostel café “Le Guitry” to pick up our packed lunches for the day. A wide range of tasty paninis and sandwiches are available so why not try a “Plat du Matt” or “Dan’s Delight”? (Matt and Dan are the two delightful lads working in the café, but please note that these options do not actually appear on the menu). One argument with a bus driver later, we eventually located the stop for the number 400 bus to Saint-Paul-de-Vence. At the time of writing, it leaves from the bus stop at the end of Avenue de Verdun, opposite Le Méridien. The bus appears, 15 minutes late. I know, I’m already painting a terrible picture of the local bus company here, but it was a nice ride. Although Saint-Paul-de-Vence is only approximately 20km away from Nice, the bus takes an hour to get there as it zig zags its way through St-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer. Arguably the best bit is the beginning as the bus makes its way alongside the Promenade des Anglais with brilliant views out to the glistening Mediterranean water. Every few minutes a plane sears across the blue sky on its ascent into the atmosphere or descent into Nice, and I’m thinking to myself, if only I had my favourite toy with me…
Having discussed important topics such as what my “type” of female is, our favourite European city and how Marina once met former Welsh football manager John Toshack, we all arrived in St-Paul-de-Vence at a bus stop on the edge of the old town. On our way in we passed by a small boutique, and I remembered that I was travelling with two girls, so a stop in the shop was therefore going to be compulsory. Surprisingly, after only seven minutes of sniffing perfumes and smiling at soap stored in egg boxes, we entered the medieval old town itself. The views from the ramparts are scintillating, particularly from the western side. From here you can see the villages below and also out towards the Cap d’Antibes. Unfortunately you can also see that hideous building in the Port de Marina Baie des Anges. How is it not on this list? We continue further along the ramparts to the cemetery at southernmost point of the village. This is where Chagall was buried in 1985, and we set out on a mission to find his grave. 15 minutes of aimless searching later, we had no luck and left. Luckily though, I glanced back at the entrance for no particular reason, and spotted a small map hiding behind the bars. A map which showed where Chagall’s grave was…
We headed right through the heart of the village towards La Place de l’Église. On the way, Alexia declared her appreciation for the local residents’ doors, and we also saw a statue of a naked man hanging in a narrow alleyway. The true delights of Saint-Paul-de-Vence! Most people, however, come here to see interesting things such as the art galleries, of which there is an abundance. The weather turns a bit chilly but the sun still shines brightly, and we see this as an excuse to go and get a coffee. Again there is a plethora of places to choose from, but we opt for a lovely little café on the western ramparts with a cute inside décor and playing Paolo Nutini in the background (but thankfully not for too long).
If you are an art fan and want to come to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, then I’d advise that the only preparation you make is to pick out those galleries of interest to you (click on the link in the above paragraph). Then simply just take the bus from Nice and get yourself lost wandering in the streets of the old village, a little like in Entrevaux. You might also want to double check the Lignes D’Azur website to confirm the actual location of the bus stop and whether any buses are actually running, considering the French public transport system’s notoriety to strike…
All in all, a very good day out and I would recommend Saint-Paul-de-Vence as a place to visit. If you want to live there then the cost of some properties are up to 5 million euros. It only costs 1 euro for one way on the bus so there’s no excuse to not at least visit! The next blog’s destination is undecided, therefore we can keep you hanging for the next week or so…
À bientôt!
