Day #8 St Paul de Vence and Farewell Dinner

 It's the last day! Today we went to St Paul de Vence and had our Farewell Dinner. The highlights.... 

St Paul de Vence is a walled city in the French Alps. It's been an artist's colony for most of its life and has plenty of tiny shops and art galleries. It's a fun place to walk around, then sit with a glass of wine and watch the world go by. I may have done some good shopping while I was there, with things that are more difficult to find in America, but I wouldn't admit to it.....  :)  St Paul's also did a good job of reminding me that we were in the French Alps. Lots of hills and steps! 

Later that evening was the Farewell Dinner at Bozzi. Departures started at 6am the next day, so this was the last chance we all had to hang out. I have to give credit to Collette Tours, they did a good job of finding restaurants with good food and that could accommodate a group of 40+ people. Eating French food for the past 8+ days has really given me incentive to cook better things for myself. The difference in taste is amazing. 

One more story, even though it's technically the day after. Most of you know my fascination with Hermes. I was in the London airport with 15 minutes to spare on my way home, and passed right by the Hermes store. The rumors were that the airport stores were tiny and never had anything good. But.....I made the split second decision to try. And I got my bag! The one I wanted, in a gorgeous color. The sales ladies were the nicest I'd ever worked with in an Hermes store, as well. Totally a worthwhile stop! :) 

......and now, the pictures! 

St Paul - tiny streets, mostly uphill. Looked like something out of a medieval fairy tale. 

Couldn't get a good picture of it, but I loved the sculpture in the window. 

More of pretty St Paul 

The walled city

Can you imagine walking down this alley in America? Again, the definition of normal.... 

At lunch we spoke with a lady who had a home in St Paul and one in Monaco. Wow..... 

Pretty walking places

Most of the mailboxes were painted with intricate scenes. Again, art everywhere 

A bulldog on a skateboard, carrying an Hermes bag. Made me giggle. 

I got the bag! 

More art, this time from the airport. 

Final view from the hotel room. Gorgeous.... 

Jill told me I had to put this picture of her in the blog. She kept us laughing for most of the trip. 

More of the ladies - Caroline and Ruth

The dinner table

40+ people at dinner - not an easy feat to accomplish! 

Teri and Jill - some of the ladies

Caroline - the one I want to be able to dress like. She helped me tie my scarf on the way to dinner.... 

This was labeled on the menu as "chocolate cake". So much better than just chocolate cake!

Beef with gnocchi. Yummmmmm....... 

Roasted veggies with some sort of sausage filling. Gonna need to learn how to make this myself. 

The menu from the farewell dinner. All good food!