After staying at Crillon Le Brave we drove about 3 hours south through southern France to the ancient hilltop village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. I planned our final stop here because I knew that we needed to drop off our rental car in Nice and take the train from Nice into Florence. Saint-Paul-de-Vence is about 30 minutes away from Nice and so it was a good final last stop before heading into Italy. The train system throughout Europe is so wonderful! It is so easy to take a train from one major European city to the other. The fast trains in Italy are also fabulous. You can get from Venice to Florence in 3 hours and then from Florence to Rome or Naples in just 2 hours! Isn’t that just the best?! I wish we had something like that in the US! In this trip we just wanted to see hilltop, provincial towns and so we purposefully stayed away from coastal towns like Nice, Cannes or St. Tropez, although we were very close and could have easily made a stop there. I decided to save the French Riviera for a different trip!
Saint-Paul-de-Vence is absolutely charming and I highly suggest visiting this gorgeous little spot! I totally loved it. Flowers climb the street walls and there are fabulous restaurants around every corner. The town is famous for its incredible art galleries and for being a haven for the artistic and famous. The American writer James Baldwin died here and one of the members of the Rolling Stones currently has a home here. Definitely try to book a reservation at La Colombe d’Or which is based in the town. Pablo Picasso is known for staying at this beautiful spot. If you cannot stay at La Colombe d’Or then book a reservation at their restaurant. The restaurant is supposed to be incredible and more important the walls are covered with an incredible works of art. Eating at the restaurant is supposed to be like eating at an incredible museum filled with a private collection of original Picasso’s, etc. Make sure you book your reservation well in advance, though! We tried to make a reservation and they were completely booked for 3 straight weeks in June. This is a must-do here! Do not make our mistake and not get the chance to see this beautiful, historical spot. Because La Colombe d’Or was totally booked, our hotel recommended that we have dinner at Le Tilleul which I absolutely loved. I had the most fabulous fish, nibbled on goat cheese from the region and drank the smoothest rose. Le Tilleul was also totally affordable and had beautiful outdoor seating where you could watch the sunset over the hills of the Cote d’Azur. I loved our meal there. It was just one of those meals that I will never forget!
