A visit to St. Paul de Vence - Part 4

A visit to St. Paul de Vence - Part 4

The forth part of this series will take us into the town to start exploring the streets and shops.

You start your visit from the square with a short walk up a small incline and enter through the solid and imposing 14th century Porte de Vence.

The whole town is pedestrian only apart from the access road to the right of the main entrance which allows for the delivery of suitcases and some goods. After you pass through the main entrance the Rue Grande stretches out ahead of you. The steep steps and high walls make this a most evocative street as it run the length of town. Almost all of the stone houses along it are from the 16th and 17th centuries with many of them still displaying the coats of arms carved there by the original builders. Today most of the houses are antiques shops, arts and crafts galleries, and souvenir and gift shops. There are a few that are still artists’ studios but most aspiring artists were priced out of this area a long time ago.

Just inside the main entrance you will find the tourist office at the start of the Rue Grande which traverses the village from north to south. A good starting point for a walking tour is to go from one end to the other. This should give you a feeling of the place and help with later navigation. During this easy stroll you come across a cross section of what is on offer, art galleries, small squares and ornate buildings. All this combines to show just how well off the village was through the ages. Half way through the walk you will come across one of the later additions to the village, a beautiful fountain in a square which was built around 1850.

As the main street runs north to south you are heading to the part of the town with the most spectacular views. As you reach the southern point of the village you exit through the large Porte de Nice gate. At this point you can climb up on the walls and enjoy the uninterrupted views towards Nice and the coast as you can see from the photos. When you are here if you look down and to the right you will see the local cemetery. This has some famous occupants, notably Marc Chagall who died in St Paul in 1985.

Now that we walked through the main street it’s time to go and explore the rest of the town in the 5th part of the article.