A funny coincidence on the Côte d'Azur

Snow-capped mountains to the left, we veered right and headed out across the sparkling blue Mediterranean. I was impatient as it felt that we were heading to Africa! I could feel the warmth of summer despite being enclosed in the aircraft cabin. The excitement of a five-month travel experience mounted as we turned and headed back to the coast to land at Nice Aeroport. Less than thirty hours before, we had departed Sydney, Australia, escaping winter. Collecting the luggage, including Chris’ bicycle box, then fitting it all into the hire car, we were off … well, sort of, as Chris came to grips with driving on the other side of the road and the gearstick in his right hand. Everything was new, different and foreign.

We had chosen a B&B through the Owners Direct website that was run by an English lady, Jane, for our first week in France. Emails had been exchanged asking about the facilities and directions on how to find the property.

Before leaving Australia, we had purchased a Navman GPS, who we affectionally named Navgirl, and maps for Western Europe. However, the word Chemin (Lane) was not in Navgirl’s vocabulary and we were struggling to locate the B&B. Following the written directions for “a yellow house with green shutters”, we stopped at a likely house and asked the lady if she was Jane. As it turned out, she also spoke English and she wasn’t our host but did know where Jane lived because she was actually Jane’s real estate agent. Whoops! I think we had unwittingly dropped Jane into trouble for sub-letting the property.

Beautiful B&B, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Côte d’Azur, France

Jane and her family were lovely and so helpful. I don’t believe we shared our ‘getting lost’ story with her and we wonder if she ever had other guests after us.

We enjoyed a wonderful week at the magnificent property located below the village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Jane didn’t even flinch when Chris asked if he could keep his precious bicycle in our room rather than in the shed. The garden was lovely and included a pool and plenty of space for parking.

C’est moi and Chris enjoying breakfast on our own terrace

Our days started with an amazingly delicious breakfast, consisting of baguettes and croissants, which Jane collected from the boulangerie each morning. These were accompanied by homemade jams, fresh seasonal fruits and a big pot of tea. All of this was set out on the table on the terrace outside of our bedroom’s French doors surrounded be a huge array of terracotta pots filled with red and pink flowering plants. Welcome to paradise!

Gorgeous terracotta pots filled with colour

We had been unaware of the popularity of Saint-Paul-de-Vence before making our booking. When we first visited the village, it was like entering another world. With the warmth of early summer, it was so different from our previous experience in Paris. As we walked the cobbled streets, with crimson bougainvillea cascading over the ancient stone walls and sun warming us, we both fell in love with France.

View of the surrounding area from the ramparts of Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Beautiful bougainvillea adorns the walls of the old town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence during summer

Every day was an adventure, seeing everything for the first time and experiencing utter joy with each new view and taste on offer. We were luxuriating in the first week of a five-month holiday. The days are much longer even than in the height of summer in Sydney and time seemed endless when there was no agenda.

One of first experiences of shopping for food was a quick drive down to Cagnes-sur-Mer. We entered the fresh marketplace and were delighted by the overhead fine misting spray, which kept the fruit and vegetables fresh and made the overall aroma so enticing. Everything looked amazing and there were so many new and interesting options. We couldn’t resist some glossy red strawberries in a little wooden basket.

Next along the street was a patisserie/boulangerie. Oh my, we were heaven! Like small children, it was so hard to choose from the rows and rows of cakes on offer. What I loved about this experience is that, once we had chosen our treats, they were carefully packed and presented in a box with a ribbon for us to take away. This made our day just a little bit more beautiful and special. It was a far cry from a cake shoved into a paper bag with half of the cream or icing staying stuck to the paper, which is the norm at home.

More adventures to follow. See you next time.