Vence, France

After having gotten our fill of sun, sand and frosty beverages in Nice we hopped on a bus and headed for the hill town of Vence. We read about it in a book of Mediterranean walks; it was supposed to be a great jumping-off point for hikes through the hills with views of the riviera. We were not disappointed! The town sits below three huge rock outcroppings - we went on a hike which took us all the way across the town, up one of the hills, across a ridge to the other one (also the site of a very old monastery) and then back down through the other side of town. We've very rarely been so tired and sweaty while at the same time grinning hugely. An interesting side note is that the monks were the ones who erected the cross you see in the picture - not an easy feat given the difficulty we had hiking up there.

The town itself is one of the great old walled European towns. Outside the wall it is a fairly normal town, but when you get inside the old wall you realize not much has changed - it is all cobblestone streets, tiny houses (complete with arrow slits on the outside wall) and great restaurants.

Pictures of the town:


And our hike: