Travels - St. Paul de Vence and Antibes

We woke up this morning to find a view of the Mediterranean in front of our room. (It was dark when we arrived last night.) After a quick breakfast, we drove by Monaco and then on to Saint Paul de Vence. I ended up with two hours to wander around the town since I didn't go to the nearby modern art museum. Half the shops were open - most are artisan shops, either painters or jewelers with some unbelievable artwork. I loved just looking at all the different paintings. If they had had prints or postcards, I probably would've run out of cash. There was also a chocolatier shop advertising the day's selection of hot chocolate as plain, chocolate with cardamom and chocolate with violets. I knew it was Mimi's (my aunt) type of shop so I went it to look around. They had some of the most incredible looking jars of jams and sauces - all with chocolate, of course. They also had a selection of 32 chocolates to choose from, identified by a letter or character. Things like black chocolate with Provencal thyme, milk chocolate with Earl Grey tips or black chocolate with almonds praline and black olives. I got a few to try later - one with violet, one with lavender, and one with nutmeg, cinnamon, Bourbon vanilla and lemon peel - should be interesting! Saint Paul de Vence was, by far, my favorite part of the trip. After everyone else went to the modern art museum, I got to spend awhile just wandering around by myself taking pictures. It's such a beautiful town with only one entrance through the medieval wall, narrow streets, a couple little dogs running around, men playing Petanque just outside the wall - in other words, perfectly picturesque, historic France. Fabulous - my new camera and I bonded quite well.

After St. Paul de Vence, we all went to Antibes. Antibes was beautiful as well - clearly a town with a lot of money judging from all the boats in the harbor and all the people out sailing. We ate lunch on the beach and spent time just sitting on the rocks overlooking the water. It's such a striking contrast to see people sailing in front of Mediterranean beach towns with the snowy Alps rising up behind them. I definitely need to explore more of this region. We spent a little time walking around before we had to catch the bus again. I went in a small art gallery where I saw the most amazing abstract oil paintings done by a woman named Nash. She travels all over the globe, creating her paintings that are inspired by what she sees in nature. Her colors are so vibrant, I could stare at those all day. Unfortunately, the gallery owner told me she doesn't have a website since she spends all her time painting, but I'll see if I can find any articles.

The bus ride home was uneventful. It dropped us off in the middle of Aix and since there are no buses on Sundays, we walked the 45 minutes home. After all the walking this weekend, I'll sleep well tonight.