St. Paul de Vence, Cagnes Sur Mer, & Renoir

St. Paul de Vence    Cagnes Sur Mer    Renoir 

      So France, like Spain, has a lot of "perched" villages, as they are called.  They are tiny little hamlets that were built on the tippy-top of peaks in the old, old, olden days. They are usually surrounded by a stone wall complete with a gate, so you can let in your friends and keep out your enemies. (Hey, I guess that makes them kind of like an ooooold version of facebook, ha!)  Like Nice's vieille ville, these old towns have streets that are too narrow for cars. In fact, some of the streets, as you can see in one of the photos below, is almost too narrow for anyone who might have eaten a little bit too much pasta at dinner! Today, these villages are mostly for tourists and those who serve tourists.  The old 'maisons' have been converted into shops, galleries, boutiques, restaurants and bars, plus a few charming hotels.  St. Paul de Vence is one such town, perched above the hills of Cagnes Sur Mer which is, itself, just down the coast from Nice. 

     Cagnes Sur Mer is where Renoir lived and raised his children, painting and sculpting the whole time, and apparently, also hosting a steady parade of other artists contemporary to his time.  His old chateau  is now the home of the Renoir Museum.  My favorite part of this museum was a room on the 2^nd floor which held a painting of a landscape.  The landscape in the painting was of the view that could be seen out of a window in the room. The window was the one right next to where the painting was hung.  It almost made me feel like I was standing next to Renoir himself.  Here was his painting of what he saw while he looked out this window, and there I was looking out the same window.  Pretty cool. ;

A charming mailbox painted with a scene of the village itself. You can see it painted right over the slot where the letters go.

Another painted mailbox scene of the village from afar. 

Quaint streets of St. Paul de Vence

Some tourist, sitting on the edge of the town water source.
Those Americans!

Ok, this looks like a stairwell, but this is an ACTUAL STREET, with a street sign and everything. This is the one you might not want to walk up after indulging in too much pasta & wine!

One of the "main" streets, with shops and galleries.

The view from the south edge of town, at the Rampart.
Below is the cemetary (no room inside the walls!),
and in the distance is the Mediterranean. 

Renoir's painting, hanging on the 2nd floor of his old house next to the window that held this particular view. Below is the view out of that same window.