Yeah, but with St. Paul you don't get the view of the village being over the coastline....

Jill--We LOVED St. Paul de Vence. We adored the Fondation Maeght museum--it is SUPERB in an area that is an artful eyeful--and we loved walking through the village of artisans. We toured the graveyard there and were so touched.

However, as far as views???? You, my dear, have the right idea. The view over the coastline wins. I hope you get to do both.

Yes, you may take a bus up to Eze. Or you may enjoy the hike. Either one is enjoyable. And now that I'm going on 57 and still relatively out of shape, I'd still choose the hike.

Why? Because I still can.

Gosh, I think I want to see St. Paul too!! It sounds so lovely. Perhaps we can leave Cannes early in the morning, go to St. Paul for breakfast and walk around, head to Eze and visit there and have a late lunch and then head to Monaco later....

I guess we will see how ambitious we are feeling that day. I want to come back to the coast and spend 2 weeks.

www.chateaueza.com If you go to Eza, have a lunch/drink on the terrace overlooking the sea. Magical Richard

St Paul is different than St Paul-de-Vence where the Maeghet
Foundation is. The art Gallery is worth seeing. The arts outside on grounds as well as the interior. One visit, the usual paintings inside was unavailable, we didn't know it was a special show of Russian painters. We were allowed in and I met the Late Pres, Boris Yltsin(sp?) and he was charming
and allowed me to take photos. Later back at the Colombe D'or I told my waiter about meeing him, who said Boris had been here earlier for lunch with the king of Sweden. He was staying with them.

I have been reading the Fodors guide for the French Riviera and it says Peillon is the most spectacular village perched high above the sea. Do you agree or do you think Eze is more charming? So many villages! Is Peillon medieval looking like Eze?

The bus ride from Nice to Eze Village is beautiful. I was slightly disappointed with the village itself. Shops and more shops.

I have been to both Eze and St Paul de Vence. I actually think St Paul de Vence is nicer. They are both very touristy but Eze more so. I was there in November so not over run by tourists - in fact it was positively deserted which says to me that it is "just" a tourist town. There was one art gallery open, that's it, all the restaurants, shops, closed. They cater to tourists. St Paul de Vence on the other hand, has some actual people living there. They are both beautiful stone towns. And there are others. Here are some of my photos of Eze (www.pbase.com/annforcier/image/120247892). In the "france" gallery there are some shots of St Paul de Vence.

You definitely want to take the bus from Nice to the village of Eze (hilltown) and not to Eze sur Mer. You can take the train from Cannes, but then you will need to walk (less than half an hour) or take the tram from the Nice train station to the Nice bus station. Nice itself is worth some time. The old town is lovely, as are views from the hill top garden (chateau). There are photos of Nice in the same gallery as Eze.

Hi; Peillon is as it was centuries ago. Very nice restaurant there. Very nice dinner. We had an interesting drive to the village, as it is two way, but one lane with a few turnouts. However, Eza is beautiful. They are different, as Eza has many tourists [me], but Peillon has few. Decisions. www.provencebeyond.com/villages/peillon.html www.provencebeyond.com/villages/eze.html
Richard

Peillon isn't "medieval looking." It IS medieval. One of the best preserved medieval towns in the area. No streets to speak of, just stairs and alleyways.

Well, copy edit ProvenceBeyond then. The description says:

"Peillon is a very picturesque, perched fortified village only 20 km north of Nice. The village is very medieval looking, on top of a high narrow rocky peak..."

StCirq - interesting!! Gosh, there are just so many choices. It is so hard to pick which one to decide on. You really need at least 2 weeks in the Riviera. St. Paul sounds lovely, but I am really enthralled by how Eze is perched over the sea. However, this Peillon is also perched over the sea.....

Hubby and I stayed in Monaco a couple of years ago and drove to Cannes and back easily in a day. We drove the autobahn to Cannes in about 2 hours and then took the corniches back to Monaco so that we could see the many villages along the way.

I HIGHLY recommed renting a car and driving to Eze and seeing the cities on the corniches. The trains will not do it any justice. Eze is very small..pretty but not much to do there. St Paul is very cute and quaint but very quiet. I would recommend staying in Monaco or Cannes. Monaco was really pretty and was a great homebase for evenings. There are many restaurants there and much to walk around to do and see. Cannes has many restaurants also and alot of shopping.

So beautiful!! Have fun!!

Enlehman76 - so glad to hear your reply because our home base is Cannes. We are only in Cannes for three days, so I only want to take one day to do a side trip. Do you think it is worth it to rent a car for that one day? Will there be tons of traffic since I am going in July?

Curious - I want to see Eze and Monaco on my one side trip day from Cannes. Do you think that St. Paul is so worth it that we squeeze it in?

How much is a car rental for one day in France? I only need a basic car, but GPS would be nice.

A one-day car rental is usually about the same cost as a three-day rental, so not very cost-effective. You can check prices at www.autoeurope.com.

Personally, I'd skip Monaco in favor of the older villages. Monaco does absolutely nothing for me, but I realize that's subjective.

zep, just because some website also calls it "medieval looking" doesn't make it make sense. Rick Steves, a recognized "travel guru," regularly calls just about everything he encounters in Europe either "medieval" or "Gothic." Historically, he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.

I have loved all the perche villages I have visited including Gourdon, where we stayed below that hill at a hotel.


http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/alpmarit...on/gourdon.htm

Go to Eze, another time you can visit all the many perche villages they all think they are the best

>You would not find Fragonard in wikipedia's list of 50 well-known parfum manufacturers.<

ROFL!!!

You are as stupid as a pile of rocks.

Everyone knows that Fragonard supplies the base perfumes for Chanel, YSL, and Guerlain, among others.

Some of us don't get our travel info. from wikipedia.

We've been there, done that. ROFL!!!!!!!!

Thin, who is quoted in the Italy Fodor's Guide WOM for Farmacia Santa Maria Novella

<<Some of us don't get our travel info. from wikipedia.>>

Some of us don't get ANY "information" from Wikipedia.

LOL...I never kknew some use Wikipedia for travel,
Don;' they know it's not accurate or up to date?