A dream to be realized: a weekend completely dedicated to art in France.
The perfect destination, and if you want low cost, it is St. Paul de Vence: a magnificent medieval village in the lower Provence.
Behind the Southern Alps, and before your eyes the Mediterranean, the magnificent French village is a jewel of the Côte d'Azur: the mild climate, the Mediterranean vegetation, the intimate and discreet charm have always made it a destination for tourist pilgrimages, especially with an artistic background.
THEmodern art you can breathe in every corner and hole of the cobbled alleys that wind between the medieval walls, perched on the magnificent promontory with a view.
The art tour begins just outside of St. Paul's Maeght Foundation: a surprise for the eyes, and for the heart.
The futuristic architectural structure designed by Josep-Louis Sert fits into the Mediterranean vegetation, hiding, almost merging with the natural environment. The exhibition path is a crescendo of amazement starting from works by Tintoretto and Cosmè Tura, up to Mirò, Picasso, Klee, Braque, Chagall, Kandiskij, Matisse, together with Basquiat and Rothko: a unique collection in Europe, really pleasant to taste, and for only 15 euros, accompanied by the hand by the architecture itself, by the trees, the pebbles, the windows, the wood, the marbles, the mosaics and the labyrinths of this harmonious structure that seems to have a life of its own standing.
What awaits you in St. Paul is no less: the yellow earth of the ancient bowling green, la Bowling, in which the most famous artists who passed by here played, then indulging in refreshments in the adjacent Cafe de la Place. Here you can eat a dish of the day for 11 euros in the company of paintings by Picasso, Mirò, Matisse: legend has it that since the first bohemian and penniless artists had the habit of paying with their works, instead of with money, the same custom spread among their successors, thus making the modest inn a real art gallery full of history.
Once you cross the gates of the village, you will be flooded by the lights and colors of the numerous modern art galleries, these really cheap, but so pleasant to admire, that dot the village: you can find yourself in front of the Lichtenstein originals and you can also buy them for the modest sum of 90 thousand euros! But there is no shortage of ateliers of local artists, where you can make some good deals ... and maybe discover some new talent!
A perfect destiny for the place that hosted Marc Chagall for an important part of his life: he is still there, in his tomb overlooking the sea, on which you can place, together with the others, a pebble as a sign of gratitude and love for the artist and his land.
