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A Summer in France - Part 5 of 6

Michael Swanson

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July 5th, 2015 - 05:06 PM

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A Summer in France - Part 5 of 6

Our daily excursions to seek more far flung Cote d’azur villages around Vence, was becoming a chore for in August most of Europe stops for annual summer holidays and heads south to the Cote d'azur.

The roads become clogged with all manner of vehicles shoveling their occupants
to the Mediterranean, from Motorcycles to Camper Vans, the roads are mostly grid locked. In order to enjoy our remaining summer in France we decided to avoid much of this by exploring the area closer to us. There are an amazing variety of unique places within earshot of Vence.
One of the most famous is St.Paul de Vence, about 2 miles south of our Villa it is a centuries old fortified hilltop village of approximately 3000 inhabitants which can swell to the thousands in tourist season. One enters the village through a portal in the stone ramparts and is greeted by a labyrinth of narrow alleys with stepped tributaries running in every direction. Shops and Art Galleries line the walls, selling everything from high fashions to Jewelry to Art.
This area of France is blessed with a lot of natural artesian wells which for years the villages harnessed in the form of the public fountains. Many are hundreds of years old and usually the center piece of the town. I couldn't resist painting this one. The Place de la Grande Fountaine where once the town's women came to was the clothes and socialize.
Another must for anyone visiting this centuries old wonder village is to partake of the many culinary delights which the French are renowned for. The amazing entrance to La Grange hints at its gastronomic wonders inside.
Close by is La Fondation Maeght an art gallery /museum founded by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght in the early 1950's after a family tragedy. The grounds exhibits a collection of many statues and other works of 3 dimensional art while the gallery hosts ongoing exhibits of originals by world renown artists like Lucian Fraud which I spent an afternoon studying.

Close by, the town of Antibes, originally a 5th century BC Greek colony, has had many famous citizens like Pablo Picasso, The Duke of Windsor, Aristotle Onassis and others. It also hosts many events such as International Jazz Festival, a major Yacht show including antique boats and various other cultural festivals.
My wife wanted to mail some postcards home and went to the post office located in the town center, while waiting for her on a bench outside my eye caught a glimpse of a lace curtain gently blowing gently in and out of a large open window framed by a profusion of plants on the balcony which of course I had to paint.

The town sits on a spit of land jutting into the Mediterranean which also forms the Bay of Antibes harboring the town of Juan Les Pins. While driving around the outer road which follows the shoreline and has many walled palatial homes, I spotted two traditional fishing boats tied to an old rickety pier, the weather was warm and the afternoon sun turned everything into a warm, laid back ambiance which, surprise, I also just had to paint.
The following day greeted us with a hot summer sun shining straight down as we returned to visit Juan les Pins. The relatively small beach was packed with every shade of tan one could imagine so we found a spot somewhere in the middle and settled in for some R&R.
Juan Les Pins is famous as the place where the first topless bathing suit attempted to shock the world, created by fashion guru Rudi Gernriech in 1964, its strategically placed straps where pretty much anti climatic by the standards that surrounded us today. This little jewel of the Riviera has become the spring break capital of Southern France with all manner of attractions including a below ground motorcycle arcade and one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten anywhere. It also has one of the most exclusive hotels, the Eden Rock's whose accommodations has played host to some of the world's biggest who's who.

Driving for any length in a non English speaking country can become tiring after a while, fortunately there was Riviera Radio, an English broadcast station one can pick up from St Tropez to Menton, it featured local news while playing all the great hits like UB40's Kingston town which to this day brings all those wonderful memories back each time I hear it.
Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town a bit further to the east where Renoir lived in his later years. Complete with a bronze statue in the front yard, his studio is set up to mimic the day to day activities of this legendary artist.
The town center sports a medieval tower from where one can get a great view of a large part of the Cote 'd'azur coastline.
Returning to our villa, our host invited us to spend an evening in the courtyard of his home & studio. Along with various other artists we sat around the center fishpond filled with lilies discussing the merits of art, world affairs and how can one live a life like this forever.

Michael Swanson is a Canadian Artist who enjoys traveling to capture some of the world's great places. You can subscribe to these blogs at upper left of screen.

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