Pre-trip work!

 April 8, 2025   St. Paul de Vance

St. Paul was recommended by someone at the tourist office. We could drive to it, take a bus, or hike 1.5 hours from Vence to St. Paul's. We opted to hike. We progressed through town, to country roads, to rustic paths, back to country roads, to the town of St. Paul.

Country roads.

Rustic paths down.

Crossed a creek.

Rustic paths up.

Country roads.

Approaching St. Paul's. Not much for sidewalks!

Found Collin's house.

Coming into St. Paul.

A glimpse of the city.

"The old town of Saint-Paul de Vence was built on a small hill, from which there is a view of the whole area. The village lies a few kilometers from the sea, but you can see the Mediterranean. To the north-west you can see the snow-capped peaks of the Maritime Alps. In the Middle Ages, it was an ideal location for erecting a fortress surrounded by thick walls."

A view of St. Paul's off a website.

"Some of the buildings of historic St-Paul even date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The city walls were built in 1538 by Francis I Valois, King of France, who sat on the throne from 1515 to 1547. In the second half of the 19th century, the town’s inhabitants had to buy these walls to protect them from destruction."

We were able to walk on some of the walls that protected the city. There was a sign at the entry point that said "Walk at your own risk." In some areas, it wasn't too far from the ground, but in others, our knees were shaking!

Sign at the top of the stairs, "Walk at your own risk."

Rod's hanging on while admiring the wisteria. It's in bloom all over the area.

It's kinda high here.

Looking over the walls.

Some of the views.

The Mediterranean is visible in the top left corner of the picture.

Getting close to the end of the wall walk.

Some pictures around the town. Many cute narrow streets and shops. Art is very important to the town and many shops sell original pieces.

An art shop.

"At the highest point in the village there was once a castle, but unfortunately today only a small building is left in which the city hall is located. Right next to it stands a church from the 14th century, which was raised to collegiate status (Collégiale de la Conversion-de-Saint-Paul) in the 17th century."

The church.

Inside the church.

Stages of the construction of the church.

Old postcard of the dungeon.

The dungeon door today.

Some more streets and shops. 

Window shopping.

I mentioned that art was important to St. Paul. "St-Paul is a medieval village, and today it is a real mecca for artists, who have been coming here since 1920. Among others, Picasso, Dufy, Matisse, and Marc Chagall have stayed here and created their works. Chagall lived in St-Paul for 19 years and is buried in the local cemetery (on the right after entering the cemetery)."

A view of the cemetery from above. The people in the photo are gathered around Marc Chagall's tombstone.

Marc Chagall's tomb.

His wife and brother-in-law are buried with him.

Here is a 1979 mosaic of Chagall's that is here in Vance where we are attending church. We weren't familiar with his work before this trip.

By end of day, Rod and I were pretty pooped, so we took a bus back to Vance while the 4 kids hiked back 1.5 hours to the Airbnb. Here are the last shots of the day.

Kids heading back on foot.

Random building on the way to the bus stop.