Up at the Villa

When Nawal and I were planning this part of the trip, she was interested in spending some time inland in Provence away from the coast.  So, after a few days with me in Villefranche sur Mer, we picked up our rental car in Nice and drove to Saint Paul de Vence to what was titled in the VRBO listing as a "villa".  Now, to be honest, I didn't really think it was going to be a true villa so I wasn't too surprised that it is actually a charming two bedroom cottage with the living room and both bedroom with patio doors opening onto a lovely garden filled with flowers (roses and jasmine bushes), palm trees and birds.  As well, it has a pretty patio.  While I was fine that our accommodation was nothing close to a villa, the real disappointment was that it was much further from the village than I'd been led to believe.  I had specifically asked if we could walk to it for dinner and was told it was about a 15 minute walk.  Now, maybe some Olympic level walker might be able to do it in that time but our best guess, one verified by the guy at the tourist information office, was that it would take more like 40 minutes.  And, that is only part of the problem as the road has no sidewalk, goes straight uphill, and at times is so narrow there is barely enough room for two cars to pass let alone accommodate a pedestrian!  Further, given the French propensity to overdrive any road conditions (in this case speeding), we were pretty clear we were NOT walking into Saint Paul.
 

The "Villa"

 

 

 

 
We spent yesterday exploring Saint Paul a charming hilltop medieval village with its cemetery which, as an aside, is where Marc Chagall is buried.  There are plenty of art galleries and interesting shops with local products.  There are also a few restaurants.  We had lunch at a creperie/saladerie and it was fine - we are not talking anything close to a 3-star anything but still it was good.  We wandered for most of the day, retrieved the car from the parade and headed toward Cagnes sur Mer in search of a bit grocery store to buy supplies.  Later, we went by car into the village, had a fairly non-descript Italian dinner (probably out of a microwave) and left vowing we needed to find a new plan.
 

Views of the hills from our lunch spot

 

The main street in Saint Paul

 

Views from Saint Paul over the cemetery to the Med

 
Wednesday, we drove north through Vence north to visited a couple of villages I had gone to before.  Our first destination was Les Tourettes but, as it was market day, the village parking lot was filled with stalls and there was nothing left in the overflow parking.  We gave up and moved on.  Our next stop was Gourdon which is on the list of "les Plus Beaux Village de France".  It gets that designation for good reason.  Perched high in the Alps Maritime, this medieval village has views that, on a clear day, you can see Corsica.  The few streets ooze charm and there is a store there that sells amber which is something I really like.  We lingered in the village for quite a while having a lovely lunch there with the stunning views south to the Med, north to the Alps Maritimes and above the hang gliders. 
 

Gourdon

 

 

The main street in Gourdon

 

 

Our lunch spot

 On our return through Les Tourettes, the market had gone, parking was free, and the village was as charming as ever.  Besides, there are some interesting shops there.  Nawal found a craftsman (from Mexico - I wondered how he got here from there but it was something about a woman and children) who creates amazing pieces from leather and silver.  Needless to say, she acquired a bracelet.  Later we came upon a boutique selling mostly scarves.  The back story was pretty interesting:  the patterns for the scarves are designed by an Italian and then made by women in Kashmir.  All the earnings go to support educating their daughters.  We didn't need that incentive to buy something but it helped!  Then, after a quick stop at an olive wood store that I have shopped at before, we got back on the road to our "home".  I am still not sure how we lost 2 1/2 hours there but we did!
 

 

 

This evening's dinner of bread and cheese was "chez nous" which meant I could savour a Provence rose without worrying about driving!   Now, we just have to come up with a plan for tomorrow.  Hmm, life is tough!