Saint Paul de Vence

After waking at 5AM and looking to the BowCam for any sight of land I showered and grabbed the camera and computer and headed for cyberland to wait for the sun to come up. About 6:15 the sky behind the ship was a rich pink and lights were appearing off the port side. There is a new pier in Monte Carlo but they were setting up a fireworks barge and we had to drop anchor off shore. A flotilla of tenders carried everyone to shore where we contracted with a taxi to take us to Saint Paul de Vence. We had originally planned a HAL excursion but found out it would be returning to the ship at 12 or 12:30PM and our reservation at L’Colombe D’Or was for noon. Gerard Fontaine picked us up at the pier within 5 minutes of calling him. He was driving a new Mercedes crossover that I had not seen before. It was very comfortable and got us to St. Paul in under an hour. I took his number to call him when we wanted to return. The drive was charming and picaresque but hardly prepared us for the beauty of St. Paul. We passed a small dirt plaza where older gentlemen were playing petanque. We watched for a while then headed into the village. We walked up through an ancient gate to an artistically cobbled road that was wide enough for small car but certainly nothing larger. Most of the shops were galleries of modern art and most of it wasn’t very sophisticated. Picasso, Leger, Miro and Chagall must be turning over in their graves at what now passes for fine art. But nothing could sully the beauty of this place. The first thing Dotty said when we started to climb into the village was “I could live here.” It must be a sentiment that gets echoed in these corridors 100s of times a day. After an hour of sightseeing and people watching we headed to the restaurant. We were seated under a lime tree with a view down the valley. The menus were huge Chagall-esque affairs with everything a bright crayola French. We ordered the fresh crudités and the hors d'oeuvre. What arrived at the table was a basket of fresh produce [radishes, celery, beets, zucchini, etc.]; it was accompanied by a terrine of pate, olives, bread, anchovy sauce and hard-boiled eggs. It was enough food for 8. The hors d'oeuvre consisted on 14 ramekins filled with the most incredible and varied treats. We had deep fried anchovies, red cabbage “slaw,” Sautéed mushrooms, blood sausage, marinated fish, stewed fish, saffron rice with peas, corn and bell pepper, huge white beans, garbanzos, lightly oiled and grilled sun-dried tomatoes, green cabbage “slaw,” Tiny stuffed and baked zucchini, lentils, and I guess one more I can’t remember. I had a wonderful sole with a dijonaise, Jim & Dotty both had steaks, Craig Had shrimp and an enormous mixed green salad that must have had 3 sliced tomatoes… not 3 slices but 3 tomatoes, sliced. We washed it down with the house Rose that was perfection. We called another cabbie, Daniel, one of 2 in St. P dV and rode back to the ship. BTW, one never asks for a cab in Italy, France or Monaco. They don’t seem to know the word. It is taxi and only taxi. The fare is pretty steep on the Cote d’Azur… 120 Euros each way. The standard fare listed at the port to go to St.PdV was 130 Euros. Tomorrow is a restful day at sea.