Today we took a day trip to Vence. Vence is an old town about 30 minutes drive in from the Riviera and is both steeped in history and hills. The drive to Vence got off to a slow start. My formidable French driving skills have diminished from my short time at sea. My only explanation is that my fresh sea legs were having problems manipulating the break and clutch pedals. Sound plausible? Good.

Once my partner in everything had taken the wheel we could smoothly make our way to Vence. After the briefest of stops to deposit our rented Citroen car we started to enjoy the scenery. Vence is quite high up in the hills. It is famous for its old wall and the stream of artists that have made it home.

View from old wall into the hills.

After the sandy bustle of the port towns Vence is a refreshing change. It is very old. Parts of it are from the Romans.

Refreshing also is good information in French and English. I learned that the forward thinking town council allowed residents to build houses up against the wall. This foresight is single biggest reason the wall exists today.

A fifteen minute stroll from the town centre is a chapel of some significance. The significance escaped me but the views back towards the town were fantastic.

Ice cream was in order and it was great to sit down and watch a wedding emerge from a chapel. A Kodak moment which was marred by a canine friend. A fluffy ginger dog proceeded to urinate on the table next to us and then try to mount another unsuspecting dog.

Truly a French day in Vence.