Saint Paul de Vence is yet another appealing little village perched on a rocky ledge in the French Riviera. This little commune is a favorite tourist site for art lovers and connoisseurs of the arts. Saint Paul has always been an artist colony for the famous and celebrated artists who have lived there, such as Marc Chagall and more recently, Theodore Tobiasse, Giuliano Mancini and the couple, Bernard Henri Levy and Arielle Dombasle.  During the 1960s, it was frequented by French actors, film directors and scriptwriters: Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Romy Schneider, Roger Moore, Tony Curtis…and poet, Jacques Prevert. The village today houses around 3,000 residents, 350 of these live below the village's glimmering pink rooftops within the village walls.   And it is said that more than 2 million visitors come to Saint Paul de Vence each year.

HOW TO GET THERE   BY CAR -- A8 motorway: exit n° 47 Villeneuve - Loubet, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Vence from Marseille or exit n°48 Cagnes-sur-mer, Vence from Nice or Italie.  Follow signs to "La Colle-sur-Loup/ Vence"on the RD 436  Saint-Paul is located between La Colle-sur-Loup and Vence, just 15 min, from the motorway.   BY AIR-- Nice Côte d'Azur Airport: (Tel. 0820 42 33 33) Take a taxi (tel. 04 93 13 78 78) or a bus N° 400 (takes 1 hour, 8 departures in the week, 4 at weekends)  BY TRAIN --(Nearest station: Cagnes-sur-Mer) Then bus N°400 (Cagnes -sur-Mer to Saint-Paul in 15 min) Paris-Nice direct on the TGV direct links to major towns and cities shuttle train from Antibes/ Nice station/Cagnes-sur-Mer. BY BUS -- From Nice bus station: bus N°400 (Nice /Airport/Saint-Laurent-du-Var/Cagnes-sur-Mer/Saint-Paul and Vence) every 30 to 45 min. Nice/Saint-Paul takes 1 hour.

HISTORY
     Saint Paul was founded in the 9th century. Before long, castrum Santo Paulo, the fortified castle of the 13th century, dominated the entire village. (The only surviving part of the castle today is its dungeon.) In the 16th century, St. Paul was ruled by the Lords of Grasse-Bar, and then it became a Royal Village. In 1537, François I built a second wall to completely enclose the village. Thus, the village itself is one of the most intact medieval examples of the region, with much of the ramparts still standing sturdy and sound.

     Start your walking tour at the (1) church of Sainte Claire a few hundred meters from the village. The chapel dates back to the 15th century and is a pleasant small church standing opposite the entrance to the village. It acts as a  meeting place as well as place of worship.      Nearby, the remains of an old water mill, which used to produce olive oil, is a reminder of what was one of the main resources of the village.   Juliano Mancini's paintings and sculptures are currently on exhibit in the chapel.

(2) You will pass the famous Colombe d' Or Inn that was the haunt of  well-known artists...

       The courtyard terrace at La Colombe d'Or and dining room with masterpieces adorning the walls. This priceless collection of art, includes a Leger mural on the terrace, a Braque dove by the pool and a Picasso and a Matisse in the dining room.

     The Colombe d’Or started life in 1920 when Paul Roux set up “Chez Robinson,” a café bar with an open air-terrace. Curious-looking men kept arriving by a "street-car" carrying drawing notebooks, wooden paint boxes, sometimes canvases, and occasionally a portable easel. These painters became habitués of the hospitable cafe -- drawn by the light and the beauty of the village. In 1932, Paul turned his "Cafe Robinson" into an inn and changed its name. 

     This richly historic and romantic hotel with its ancient, solid oak gate leading into a courtyard dining area is an artistic feast for the eyes in itself.  As you enter through the grand wood paneled doors into the main dining room, you're also entering into one of the world’s greatest art galleries. Picasso, Matisse and a host of other struggling artists that used to stay here settled their bills with paintings.  For decades, the Roux family has been host to many celebrities and it is still run by the same family whose grandfather accepted the paintings in compensation for lodging.

      The dining room is famously hung with modern art pieces which includes Leger, Matisse, Picasso, Bonnard, Utrillo, Miro and Calder and is regarded as a national treasure in France.  Colombe d' Or inn and restaurant, with its extraordinary art collection and history, isn't a museum so you just can't enter and wander.  In fact, you must have reservations to dine here.  But perhaps, if you stop at the little "cave-like" bar for an aperitif, you can peek around and take pleasure in some fabulous art.  Perchance you'll bump into the likes of Elton John, Michael Caine, Roger Moore and Hugh Grant, to name but a few...all regular visitors who mix with every day diners on the crowded restaurant terrace.

   The Colombe d’Or  doesn't have the opulence or grandeur of many hotels but it sure makes up for it with its history, charm and ambiance.

(3) The Cafe de la Place. This cafe is now run by the Pesce family. Located near the entrance of the village you will observe a strange (to us) bowling game going on  with the famous "Cafe de la Place" in the background.  This bowling area has witnessed unforgettable games, often played by celebrities...

(4) The game, called "Pétanque," in Place Charles de Gaulle is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing inside a starting circle with both feet on the ground, to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a  jack.

(5)  The Northern or Royal Gate - 16th century - The entrance to Saint-Paul 

     As you pass through the imposing rampart gate of stacked mortared boulders, it puts the village in historical order. It is ancient…and you are walking through history! The narrow cobbled streets flanked tightly by archaic rock-hewn buildings are a great departure from the architecture seen on the Mediterranean promenades a few miles away.

      Tucked away under the arched porticos are scores of art galleries, tourist shops, and artists’ studios. And if you arrive during the afternoon, you are sure to notice the scores of tourists, elbow to elbow as you make your way around the village.

   The rampart gates, ivy-clad walls, and even the cannons are intermingled with art.  The muzzle of a canon, called " Lacan", sticks out of a bastion: it is a trophy from the Battle of Cerisoles ( 1544 ).

(6)  The Tower Gate - 14th century and
The Machicolated Tower - 15th century are remnants from 14th century fortifications: the floors of its galleries were pierced with tunneled openings through which pitch or boiling water could be dropped on assailants.
 

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(7) Entrance to the Rue Grande Façades
     After going through the Royal Northern Gate and the Tower gate, you find yourself on the Rue Grande: this main street, reserved for pedestrians, leads to St. Michel's Gate, in the far south of the village.
     Besides the ramparts, typical old houses, and shops, there are a few other edifices you won't want to miss. You'll find more photo opportunities here than in any other single town in France. It is a photographic dream village, despite the throngs of tourists! Walk through the town where history is on display; the lovely fountain square, the church and chapel next door, the old dungeon (now used as the town hall), and the stone houses themselves with their laneways and cobbled streets.

(8) Cross-road of the Four Corners
     This picture represents the medieval village, its paved streets, its arches, its fountain and nearby, an old well. It is named after the cross of four main streets going from Rue Grande towards the Church, the ramparts and the St. Remy Bastion. ( west of the ramparts ).

(9) André Verdet's home  
"Once upon a time there was a handsome old stone village shaped like a boat. Its name in Provencal was Sant Paou." - André Verdet, Resident Poet

     At the cross-road of the rue Saint-Esprit and the rue des Verdalettes lives a contemporary poet from St. Paul, a witness of the golden days of St. Paul's culture and a close friend of Prevert, Montand and Chagall, to name only a few.  This man, a major figure of St. Paul, keeps on displaying his eclectic talent and his rich personality.

(10) The "Collegiate Church" - 12th century

     The Collegiate Church of St. Paul’s Conversion was erected in the twelfth century. It houses some treasure, including twelfth century gold pieces and a scroll signed by King Henry III. It also contains the relics of St. Clement
     Located at the highest point of the village, the Collegial Church is dominated by its square bell-tower, reconstructed in 1740. Oriented to greet the sun as it rises and salute it as it sets - like most medieval religious buildings - it was originally designed in the style of a basilica, with a semi-circular apse and a single nave. Originally, its six bells could be heard from all sides of the parish. One of the bells, called the "Bugadiere" (the laundress), was shaped like the container in which clothes were washed ( la Bugado). When the Church Tower collapsed in 1739, it was rebuilt.

      The entrance opens onto a string of four chapels: St. Clement (a masterpiece of baroque art), St. Mathew, the chapel of Mary of the Rosary, and the chapel of the Souls in Purgatory, whose alter bears the date 1677. The church's treasures include precious items of silverware, reliquaries and a parchment dating from 1588.
   

     With its roof in curved tiles and its ochre walls, the church has the rustic outlook of a typical Provence house. The Church of St Paul's Conversion was built in early gothic style in the 12th Century; it has gone through many alterations until the 18th Century.  The choir is the oldest part in the Church and it is divided into three naves. St Clement's Chapel, a lateral chapel in the shape of a transept is a masterpiece of baroque architecture dating back to the 18th Century.
 

(11) The White Penitent's Chapel - 17th century
 

     It was created in the early 17th Century, under the episcopate of Monsignor Godeau, and remained the seat of the White Penitents until 1922.
    It houses several masterpieces, such as the "Transfiguration," after Raphael, and two frescoes dating back to the 17th century, and representing St. Peter and St. Paul. Adjacent to the Church, it now serves as a cultural center for conferences and exhibitions.
 

 

(12) The Church tower - 18th century
The Collegiate Church

(13)  The Old Clock - 15th century

     Located above the dungeon that shelters the Town Hall, the bell is covered by a beautiful piece of wrought iron work, executed to perfection in spite of the bell weight. This bell already existed in the 15th Century, but it was recast twice, in 1443 and in 1637 and bears the following inscription : " Hora est jam de somno surgere," which means " it is time to wake up."
 

      The clock in the Town Hall keep and clock tower still has its medieval mechanism.

(14) The Dungeon - 12th century
The Town Hall
     Located close to the Church, on the right side of a little square at the heart of the town, this building from the 12th Century, altered in the 13th and 14th Century, was erected where the "castrum" of St. Paul once stood. It used to be linked with the castle itself.
     Built with large diamond-shaped stones, it still bears the vestiges of doors and stairs and even a twin-arch window. On the top of it, you will see the Old Clock covered by wrought iron work (photo above). On 28th March, 1863, the Town Council decided to use it as Town House.

     And this part of a long-since vanished castle still houses the Town Hall. Unlike other dungeons  where the tower is on a small scale, this dungeon is roomy, and divided into three spacious stories. The dungeon seems to have suffered some major upheavals judging from the building techniques and the use of stone, typical of the 12th and 18th centuries.

(15) Fountain Square - 17th Century

     The Grande fountain on rue Grande, an incredibly famous Provencal style one in the heart of St. Paul, was built in 1615 by Martin Melchior, a stonemason in the village and classified as a monument since 1850.  It  is one of the most famous fountains in France.  You will probably recognize it from countless paintings and photographs taken of it throughout the years as it inspired many painters and photographers. Iron bars above the fountain's bowl were used for hanging jugs - today, the bars are a bit bent.

 Beautiful old dwellings overlook the squares, such as that of the Barcillons', an ancient noble family from Catalonia that held public and religious office; that of Monsignor de Laurens, Archbishop of Embrun; or that of the Bernardi, founding members of St Clement's chapel, in which a member of the Grimaldi family lived as governor of St. Paul.

    
    Walk up Rue Grande, a former Roman road, lined with many 16th and 17th century houses with doors bearing coats-of-arms. Take note of the sidewalks, laden with impressive stone mosaics all throughout the town.  Be sure to notice the little statues in arched alcoves as you wend your way around the village. Just a few things have changed over the centuries; clay streets replaced by what else? Stone flowers!

(16) House of Jacques Prévert - "La Miette"

(17)  The "Pontis" -- The street bridge over the Rue Grande The passage over the street between two houses on both sides of the street is an original example of medieval architecture.

(18)  The Placette (The Small Square)
     You might stop at the Placette and sip the water that has been running since 1611.
     On the other side of the Placette, you will find the Hotel St. Paul, which used to be the dwelling of the Alziary de Roquefort family, a lineage of St Paul residents, who played a major role in the 17th and 18th century.
 

(19) Nice Gate -16th century

    

     It is still possible to walk around the ramparts where the guards used to do their rounds in the 15th Century. From there, you will enjoy a gorgeous panorama of the surrounding mountains, the " Baous" for instance, and of the greenish and harmonious Malvan Valley, still carrying the vestiges of the past, the cultures and the shepherds and their herds.

 St. Michel's Gate, also named Nice Gate, dating back to the 16th century, is located very close to St Michel's Chapel which is now in the cemetery, it may be the oldest church of St Paul. The Gate of Saint-Michel is on the other side, named for the chapel it is located next to.

(20) Saint-Michel's Bastion - 16th century
Panorama of the sea, towards the West
This Bastion is in the south of the village, and is part of the ramparts protecting the town.

Breathtaking views of mountains, valley and the sea from the cemetery

The Cemetery  Marc Chagall lived in Saint-Paul from 1966 to 1985. During that time, he relentlessly incorporated the village and its ramparts into his paintings. Enveloped in the Mediterranean landscapes he found so fascinating, Marc Chagall painted love: couples in love and multi-colored bouquets swirling above the village in an eternally serene sky. All year long visitors come and place pebbles on Marc Chagall's tomb as tributes (from a Russian and Jewish tradition).  As the sun goes down each evening, everything it touches gleams golden and in this simple poetic setting, in plain gravestones, surrounded by a tiny chapel and century old cypress trees, the souls of the departed  Marc and Vava Chagall and Aime and Marquerite Maeght repose in solemn tranquility. Their work is done for all to enjoy for an eternity.                                                                             Marc Chagall - 1887 - 1985

 The Fondation Maeght

     On a pine hill north of town, a white concrete and red brick that epitomizes Mediterranean avant-garde architecture was designed by Jose Luis Sert.   The building he created still looks modern today and harmonizes perfectly with the art exhibited inside and outdoors. Its founder, Aimé Maeght (1906-1981) was a legendary Parisian art dealer and friend of many modern artists.  Marguerite and Aime Maeght were art dealers in Cannes who hobnobbed with Chagall, Matisse and Joan Miro.  The couple's private collections form the basis of the museum.  An Alexander Calder abstract sculpture of wire and sheet metals rises from the lawn like a futuristic monster.  In the courtyard, marble statues by Miro and mosaics by Chagall form a surrealistic garden.  A labyrinth displays yet more sculpture and ceramics by Miro and a chapel has spectacular stained glass signed by Georges Braque and Raoul Ubac.   The views of St. Paul De Vence and the French Riviera are breathtaking from the Gardens.