On the 3rd day, we woke up at around 7 am. Gradually, our biological clock had adjusted to the local time.
Initially we wanted to take the breakfast in hotel. But the spray of foods were really not so inviting when compare to its relatively high price. Therefore, we had decided to go for breakfast when we reached the 1st destination later.
The place we wanted to go in that early morning is not far from Nice city. Husband said we should arrive at there within 30 minutes time. Sounds great.
Without many hassles, we found this medieval village sits high on a hill, called St Paul De Vence. Actually, there are many medieval villages all around Provence, France. It just a matter of how well preserved it is, and how developed it is to bloom the tourism.
The time was around 8.30 am when we entered the village's compound.
Checking....
Ready to go into this fortified village...
A cat was there to welcome us.
Yo, let's go.
The place was all so quiet. I think we were the only tourists in town at that time.
St Paul de Vence is a charming hilltop fortified village in Provence, well known for its modern and contemporary art museums, galleries, boutiques and sidewalk cafes.
This cat kept following us, or perhaps she was following Vincent, who is usually the "target" of small animals.
It's very disappointed to find that none of the cafe restaurant in the village was opened for business at early morning. So, we had to exit the village and back to the car park area to settle our breakfast.
The only place we could find foods is a restaurant-hotel located just opposite the village.
As usual, their breakfast contains the most basic items, which is baguette (with cheese or ham as option), croissants and coffee, nothing more.This simple breakfast had cost us HK$ 160.
Seriously, I wonder how can one eat the same foods for breakfast for 365 days a year? Sigh...
Walking along the ancient city walls is such a pleasant thing to do....
This place is so charming and artistic, no wonder it is filled with many art galleries.
It's hard to find something ugly about this quaint village, even can turn the people in it beautiful too....(cough cough).
Besides the ramparts and the typical old houses, the most predominant things to see in the village are the scores of art galleries, boutiques, tourist shops, pseudo "artisanal" shops, all very expensive.
Although the village itself is one of the most intact medieval examples of the region, with many ramparts still there, it's hard to see anything inside the village except other tourists.
Off season, the village is full of tourists. During the summer and holidays, the village is so packed with tourists that they walk shoulder-to-shoulder through the narrow streets.
Walking through the village, one must look up often so as not to miss some of the artwork embedded in the walls.
Before 9.30 am, this whole village is all ours....great.
We hardly took a few steps without happening on an art gallery. Even if we are not ready to spend money on original artwork or prints, it's simply enjoyable to gaze at the various works.
Does Mona Lisa look prettier in this outfit?
Hello, anybody home?
It's not the usual fountain we get to see in modern city, but it's no less elegant...
Only when there is no other tourists around...
The fact is, William has also grown up that big that I can hardly cuddle him like a teddy bear anymore.
When I looked back to the old photos that we have taken in the past summer vacation, I was marveled of how quick the kids have grown up.
Vincent is also growing up into his puberty that he can get moody some of the time. How I wish he will go over this period smoothly and happily.
As time pass, husband and I are also growing older...inevitably.
Like it or not,life goes on...
Finally, we found a shop which has opened for business in that 'early' morning.
But the items that were sold there are so ordinary....
I really like their door's design, looks so cool and unique...
The world out there is so bright...quite different from inside the village.
Very expensive items for my liking...
The 1st tourist (other than us) we have got to see in that morning.
Sweet...
Again, the outside world looks so bright.
Will we feel like being forgotten?
Just like this spider, who hang there in the lost of time?
I think one need to have a passion or hobby when living here...can't just sleep and eat all the time, right?
While we moved on, we saw this beautiful cafe near the end of the street.
But it's weird that no body was around. We couldn't even see the shop keeper...
And it's such a nice place to take photos with.
That's the end point of one side...
There isn't too many things to see but a quiet cemetery lying outside the great wall.
And also, this big house at the end of the street...
Very French-feel...
5 minutes later, we headed back.
Walked back the same path...
It's nice to walk through this passage of time once again, in reverse direction...
5 minutes later, we have walked back to the square with this fountain in it.
When I looked up this time, I saw this was placed on the wall at one of the shops there.
Provence is famous for its lavender, too bad the harvest time was over by the time we visited the region.
Taking a short break...
While they were resting, William and I continued to walk to the other side of the village...
This side is less commercial, more residential.
One thing that has amazed me is they managed to keep every streets and corners so clean...
It's not possible to find a single trash in the place.
When I looked up this time, I saw this dog was staring at me. Such a cute dog.
We met up with husband and Vincent at this bell tower. This was the highest point in the village.
More visitors came in the village by the time we were about to leave...at around 11 am.
We left the village at around 11.30 am. To me, this was another good experience....though the scale of this village is smaller than Eze Village.
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