My mother-in-law is taking us on a 2 week bus tour of France in May. Some of the excursions--day trips--we can choose are to Eze, St Paul de Vence, La Turbie and St Martin. Are any of these worth doing? We like quaint, charming, picturesque, shopping for local products. Thanks.

Sue

I would definitely pick St. Paul de Vence and Eze! St. Paul was done on a bus ride through winding roads from Nice a few years back and I am not a good traveler when one is overlooking a cliff from the bus seat. But once we got there it was a really cute town with great restaurants,wonderful views and lots of interesting shops (touristy and non touristy).

St. Paul de Vence is more than beautiful; narrow streets (very narrow), full of art galeries and of shops. Small, nice houses and a nice view.
Please visit it, you will enjoy!

La Turbie is also interesting, and you would probably also want to add Eze-village: fabulous views. St-Martin isn't anything special, but St-Paul-de-Vence and the nearby Vence both fit your criteria. Another possibility is old Mougins, and I'd add Valbonne also. It's a charming small town that's not on the tourist circuit; we learned of it from French friends who live nearby.

Of the four you mention, I've been to Eze and St-Paul-de-Vence. Eze has the spectacular view but I could happily return to St-Paul. Besides being charming, as you say, it has world-famous art (Maeght Foundation museum).

You can eat lunch at the pretty and delcious (well, years ago anyway, don't know how it stands now) Colombe d'Or restaurant (also filled with art) or at any number of little places to eat.

Waybe it would help if you could tell us what places you would be giving up to do the day trips...

I found this true on a cruise which offered excursions but we figured we would miss out on a lot of things and it would cost more money to do the day trip add ons...