Beautiful Saint-Paul de Vence | Its Sweeping Views

Saint-Paul de Vence and its surroundings gently roll down to the sea

We spilled out of our tour bus at the village entrance, and instead of follow the herd like a good sheep, I turned around and walked away from the village. Where is she going? they probably thought. Don't get me wrong; I couldn't wait to explore this medieval village known as Saint-Paul de Vence, but first, I wanted a picture of the whole enchilada. 

The bus ride to this picturesque destination produced some stunning views and I was determined to capture a few. I would soon see that it was a good decision and well worth the walk down the steep hill.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

With cloud cover softening the look, a photo in sepia looks pretty cool

 

A few pops of color in a roof here and there, and the yellow mimosa trees. It is a breathtaking view!

Back up inside the village walls, and before allowing myself to get lost within its enchanting streets and alleyways (which I couldn't wait to do!), I leaned against the ramparts, and gazed out at the magnificent panoramic views. I felt so fortunate to be in such a place. Terraced gardens flowing toward the sea, tiny vineyards, orange trees, lemon trees, palm trees, and gorgeous homes. Pretty little foothills everywhere! To my left the blue of the Mediterranean, in front of me and to my right the Estérel mountain range, and once on the other side of the village I would see the first foothills of the Alps. 

I looked over the edge of the thick wall and beneath me a man was walking his dog along a path. As they strolled along beside the base of these immense rampart walls I thought, yup, this is a pretty nice spot to walk the dog. 

The sun was setting but my spirits were high as I took in these sweeping views

When your yard (or, garden, to the English) is as steep as this, I suppose it makes sense to have a lawn that resembles a staircase, otherwise you'll slip and slide all the way to the bottom! I saw this type of lawn a lot from this part of the south of France into Italy.

The houses that surround Saint-Paul de Vence are très expensive

Beautiful, sun-kissed homes enjoying the setting sun

Hundreds of homes sprinkled all throughout the foothills, reaching the base of the Alps

I don't know how far it is or how long it took me, but it was a while. My plan was to first walk all around the village, before venturing inside. Once at the halfway point of my journey, I reached the southern tip of the village. I climbed up onto the ramparts and looked out toward the Mediterranean. Just below me was the cemetery (see photo). I didn't go in, but could see a small chapel, and the typical French burial method, which does not allow you to walk all over people's graves. I much prefer the way the French do it. At the majority of our cemeteries in the states, you can walk right on top of where loved ones have been buried. I always thought that was so disprespectful.   

The cemetery is petit, but it's quite nice in appearance. Aimé and Marguerite Maeght (the founders of the art museum nearby), and Marc & Vava Chagall are laid to rest here. 

Look out! Attention!!!-as it translates to in French. Time to suck it in, hug the wall, and pray

Continuing on, I wandered along the edge of the village, between the village homes and the ramparts. I stopped often as I saw photo ops everywhere, beautiful views in all directions taking my breath away. Oh, what a place! I thought of my friends and family back home. Wish you were here!

It's easy to get lost in your own thoughts. I mean, c'mon, imagine yourself exploring a medieval French village! So my advice, if you find yourself in a place like this, remember that the road you're on is also tiny, barely wide enough for you and a car. In Saint-Paul de Vence, the locals treat this road as a mini autobahn. There is no place to go once a car comes screaming your way...you have to just sort of flatten yourself against the wall and yell Merde! (see above).

Below, another shot of the tiny one-way road that wraps tightly inside this medieval village.

A woman and her mom from my tour bus, lovely old village homes

There's really no room for American cars on this road

Making my way toward the northern tip of the village, I saw some more fabulous, sweeping views. When you live this close to the monstrous Alps, you get snow in the winter. Having grown up in snowy Maine, I could easily imagine how beautiful this would all be under a quiet, white blanket. My favorite kind of snow -- which I call 'snow globe' snow because it swirls down this way and that, would be nothing short of magical to see in this region. But add to that driving on these narrow, hilly roads with these teeny tiny cars? Non, merci! 

One of my favorite pictures -- the multi-layered view...and love that roof!

The road you see in this photo, the one in the middle, darkly paved and sloping downward, is where you come out, where you end up if you walk around the village. And where I'm standing to take this pic, I'm right over the entrance to the village. At this point I'm about to enter and I'm so pumped up on fresh mountain air that I'm giddy. So my advice is bring a friend! Because at times I couldn't help but walk along with a big smile on my face. At least with a friend there I could pretend she'd said something funny! 

Traveling Tip:
Just as I entered this village my camera needed a battery change. Thankfully I had some.
So, be sure you have batteries or a fully-charged camera, delete photos on your cell so you have room there, and have a fresh SD card. Because believe me, you'll fill up the SD card you have! (Right, Mum? LOL)

Happy travels, everyone!!

Beautiful Saint-Paul de Vence | Medieval French Doors

A door is simply a revolving barrier to the entrance of a building, room, cupboard, or a car. And many of us have the most basic of doors. I mean, how much thought do you put into your door. You just need it to do its job, right? Yeah, we might slap some nice paint on it, give it a shiny door knob, or decorate it at Christmas, but that's about it. I guess we'd rather spend our money elsewhere in the house.

We're not very nice to doors, if you think about it. We kick them, bang our knuckles on them, sometimes slam them, and jam our keys in them. I couldn't imagine doing that to any of these doors that I saw in this village. I mean, some of them looked so thick that all the banging and kicking in the world would do nothing other than injure your toes!

No, these old, and I mean old-looking medieval doors were impressive to the eye. And some quite beautiful, actually. So well-built, so massive, so intimidating, and handsome in appearance, that they ought to be considered a piece of furniture rather than just a door. Whether they had huge bolts, extra large hinges, thick, heavy wood, or attached chunks of iron, they all look pretty striking in appearance. They're probably soundproof, too! I think that to say these French doors are solid is an understatement. Like a rock.

Exploring this charming village called Saint-Paul de Vence was more to me than just taking general photographs of all the typical things like the cafés, streets and alleyways. Once you start to notice the details, taking pictures becomes way more interesting. My treasure hunt through Saint-Paul de Vence for awesome medieval doors was a blast.

Doors immediately caught my eye as I wandered the village, and I began snapping away. A man and a woman strolled past me and I heard them say, "What is she taking a picture of?" They stopped. "Oh, the door...wow...it's REALLY nice."
You can say that again.

Alors, on y va! Let me share with you my photos of some truly awesome French doors in the medieval village called Saint-Paul de Vence. 

~ Megs and Paul, lovers of doors! This post is for you ~

A fairly simple door, but the door knob smack in the middle is what caught my eye. Dark, rich color, looks quite solid.

If the doors are this cool-looking, I can't help but wonder what the rest of the townhouse looks like. Doesn't anyone want to invite a friendly American in for un café? No?

French cars are petite. This is probably a garage. So much character! No remote for this puppy, though.

The word medieval means primitive; it means not modern, old-fashioned. The complete opposite of the contemporary, state-of-the-art interior design that we see everywhere today. Old-fashioned seems strong, warm and comfortable to me. Maybe I'm a little old-fashioned.

I imagine that on the other side of the stately door is an equally stately, plump cat, and a loyal dog, curled up next to a grandiose fireplace. I also imagine that this door weighs far more than what I'm used to back in the states. Try to quickly swing closed one of these heavy, medieval doors and you're likely to rattle the windows...and disturb the sleeping cat.

 

Previously a dungeon?

OK, so there's no picture of a door here...it's in on the right, hiding. I didn't want to get that close to it! But the entrance way was just too charming not to capture. I imagine it with Christmas lights, flowers, a lazy, fat cat.

A more normal looking door, but I love their door knocker, and little ledge for the plants. So charming!

Happy travels, everyone!!