Saint Paul de Vence is a beautiful medieval town in the South of France, close to Nice. It has nice narrow streets, terraces, restaurants and breathtaking views of the surrounding area. We loved walking around in this picturesque place!
The main square of the town is just outside of the city walls and it is the place where people play ‘pétanque’. It has terraces with a view on the pétanque court, so you could sit here and watch the game be played.
If you continue, you access the town through an old stone entrance tunnel which takes you to the other side of the ramparts and then you just wander on the small cobbled pedestrian streets.
A lot of artists are known to have been to Saint Paul de Vence in the past. Chagall, Picasso and Matisse, just to name a few. The small town still attracts art lovers as the town has plenty of galleries, mostly with modern art. We liked looking at the contrast of the old and historical streets and buildings, combined with all the modern and colorful artwork we saw while walking around. There are also a lot of shops with local food from the Provence area, like for instance the shop called ‘Aux saveurs sucrées’ where we bought nice local jam.
Windows and doors
Street full of plants
We had lunch at Restaurant ‘Le Tilleul’ which is located on your left after entering the medieval town center. It has a nice terrace outside and really good food!
Later on, we also saw Restaurant ‘La Térrasse’ which has a small terrace at the back (so reserving a table could be worth it) but with a really remarkable view. We haven’t tasted their food, but the terrace is a beautiful place for drinks.
Of course, you can end your visit to Saint Paul de Vence with a stop at the Fondation Maeght, a museum of modern and contemporary art, which is located very close to Saint Paul de Vence.
If you would like to read my recommendations on what to do for families in the Cote d’Azur area, click HERE to see the entire article.
And how about it if you would get the taste of the Provence at home to get in the mood for the trip and learn an easy to make recipe of a local? If you like cooking, then read how to make Denise’s ‘Poulet Provençal au citron de Menton’ here.