St. Paul de Vence - Day 10

It was another wet morning the next day, the bane of all travellers. What's more, this is in supposedly sunny Riviera. After our breakfast at the hotel we set off for our (optional) visit to the medieval hill village of St. Paul de Vence. The rain gives the view along the way a misty and mystic look.

After parking the bus, we made our way to the village on foot.

Looks like most of the tourists are well prepared for the wet weather.

The road was rather slippery because of the rain and the slope and it is a good thing that the road is paved with decorative stone pattens to provide better grip.

We took shelter from the rain in the Collegiate Church that is well-decorated with many paintings and ornaments.

And some colourful stained glass pieces.

Outside, there are many shops in beautiful setting.

There are numerous studios and galleries selling all types of arts

and crafts.

There are signpost leading to the urn-shaped Grande Fountain in one of the squares.

You can also walk along the ramparts around the village or visit the small cemetery that looks mysterious in the rain.

Just wandering around the narrow winding streets among the medieval buildings is very soothing for the eyes and the soul. No wonder so many artists and tourists visit this place.

There is a cafe just outside the village wall where we sipped coffee and watched the world go round before we made our way back to our bus.

After the hill visit, we were dropped off at the sea front of Cannes for our lunch and free time to explore the resort. And finally we saw the sun!

Ronald Kwok

Aix-en-Provence and the French Riviera

How time flies! It is now 4 months since my last post and I was rather busy (and lazy) to post. My eldest daughter got married in January, then it was Chinese New Year followed by Lent and Easter. I was then busy playing with my new HP laptop (handed down by my son-in-law) and actively downloading books for my Kindle all this while and it is now time to finish off what I started, if I can still recall details of my visit.

Here goes. From Arles we left for Aix-en-Provence for our lunch stop. Choosing a place to eat can take some time since I have to look at the menu (as if I understand what is written) and check on the price. This time I decided on a tapas cafe where you can have 3 tapas of your choice for 9.9 euros which is much cheaper than back home and the place is crowded with locals.

Below are some of my choices of 6 tapas and they are good.

By the way, this was the only restaurant in France that I have visited that served plain water with ice without being asked.

After a satisfying lunch we walked along the side streets.

Step into a church, we found along the way.

We were then back at the main street of Cours Mirabeau.

The landmark here is the La Rotonde fountain.

Since Aix is associated with the artist Paul Cezanne, you get to meet him in person.

Beyond the Rotunde fountain is the new part of Aix.

We left Aix and headed for the coast of the French Riviera.

It was a great disappointment as when we arrived, it was raining and rather cold. What happened to sunny Riviera??? We checked into the Holiday Inn at Cannet (just outside Cannes) and there is nothing special here. Its saving grace is its location; there is a minimarket across a sideroad and a bakery across the main road and a bus stop further up the road where the local bus will get you to the centre of Cannes for 1 euro. After some rest, we went into Nice for our optional dinner. These shots were taken from the bus. Note the rough sea in the first shot of the promenade.

Dinner was at a restaurant in Nice and the stewed beef of the main course was very nice. The shot is of the starter.

After dinner, we walked to our bus through the city square but it was not very nice because it started to rain again.

Ronald Kwok