Beautiful Village in the Hills of Vence near Nice ; St Paul de Vence

Cote D'Azur Map with Vence to the NW of Nice 

This is another lovely memory of our 13 day trip to the Cote Azur, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, St Paul de Vence and then on to Italy, Florence and finally Turin before heading back to Nice and onward to Singapore. We left Singapore on 2nd December and returned on 13th December. 

We visited St Paul de Vence on the 3rd day of our trip where we had based ourselves in Nice. The main city of the Cote d'Azur. Taking a tip from the tour guide on the 2nd day, we took the bus from the main city square for approximately EUR 2 and after 30 minutes reached the small village perched on the hilltop. 

Bus with departure times from Nice and to /from St Paul 

It was practically empty the day we visited it, and headed to the Touriste Bureau for directions. Below is the clock tower and the narrow alleyways show how life was like living in close quarters (some 2 meters at best) to the opposite house. December is low season and with few tourists, we had the town most to ourselves. 

Bell Tower of Church at Town Centre 

Beautiful late autumn leaves 

The town is small, perhaps with 100 inhabitants, and many are arts and craft people, I recall buying 2 fabulously good pieces of 3D art from a German couple called Filo and Tess. Their shop is called Atelier Filo Tess. 

Atelier Filo-Tess

8 Monte de la Castro

06570 

St Paul de Vence.

Here below is one of the 2 pieces of 3 D artwork which i bought from them. They are very warm and hospitable people from my short interaction time with them. 

At the top of the village stands the church and now converted to a museum. Inside are displays of some Freemason artist and it was an oasis of calm.  The hand and the dove symbolises peace and love, and unlike many of the churches and cathedrals we visited in the past years, was absent of anything symbolising the Roman Catholic faith so prevalent of Europe in the last 600 years. 

Artwork inside the church at St Paul de Vence.

We also ventured inside the castle of St Paul de Vence to see the history of this small village. Apparently it was fortified to protect against any attacks by the neighbouring county ruled by the Grimaldis, if my history serves me correctly.

St Paul de Vence exactly on the Map 

View of St Paul de Vence Fortifications