St. Paul de Vence

A morning drive brings us to St. Paul de Vence, one of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera. Marc Chagall spent the rest of his life here. He and his wife Vava loved it here and attracted many artists to the area. This, too, is a walled town which retains it medieval character and is a haven for artists. Cobbelstones are laid out in artistic designs, its a treasure trove of workshops and galleries.

We wander the cobbled streets to the central fountain and pay our respect to Marc Chagall in the little cemetary on top overlooking the beautiful village which surrounds it. Each shop is unique and most are handmade items from leather, to clothing, honey, hats, paintings pretty much anything you can imagine. The artist is at work in their studio and it's a pleasure to stop and see them create they beautiful works of art.

Back to Nice we go where we decide to make the most of our last day here and walk The Promenade de Anglais (now under major construction to install security barriers) due to the truck that drove into the crowd where 89 people were killed, 350 wounded on July 14, 2016l . A tragic day here and it will be forever changed. Many are still suffering from shock. Drs. of Psychology created a list that provide free services to help those in need. A sign of solidarity.

We venture into the old city center to Messina Square. Just by the looks of the narrow streets and the open shutters up above, the neighbors can actually shake hands with one another....that's how close the buildings are. Laundry hangs from the windows. No traffic in this town, just tourists. We spend the afternoon wandering all over town and enjoy every minute of it. We stop for a glass of wine and Socca, a local thin pancake made of chick peas, flour, salt and pepper and a Caprese salad. Very enjoyable. We sit and watch the people go by, take our time and finally continue on. We stop on the way for an ice cream and fully enjoy every moment.

Some popular menus in this area are mainly mediteranian cuisine with seafood, zucchini, Socca (mentioned above) Paznat (sandwich) made of tomatoes, tuna eggs, red peppers, olive oil....then there is Salad Nicoise...tuna, anchovies, onions, tomatoes. Tons of delicacies to choose from.

Here are a few fun facts about the French Riviera:

This area used to be the winter health resort for European and Brits ... they came to escape the bad weather.

14 million people come to the French Riviera every year

5 billion Euros and 20% of the jobs are dedicated to tourism

25% arrive by Nice airport

Nice Airport is the 3rd busiest airport in France besides Charles de Gaulle and Orly and their take-off lane is on the water

The weather is mostly hot and dry..they get more rain than in Paris...about five days of rain! When it rains...it rains heavily. On average they get 300 days of sunshine per year.

Monet lived here for a short while but didn't stay long because he couldn't find the right shade of blue to paint so he moved North.

It's also known as the "Cote de Zur"...Sea of blue (and it is....indescribable).

It's been a great 58th and 60th!