Vence and the Musee Renoir

We had hoped to go for a walk today, but rather unusually, the sky was cloudy and the air was a bit nippy. So we decided to do some low-key touristy stuff instead, by visiting Vence. Vence is a pretty famous little town, which was pretty influential in the olden days, and is actually just down the road from Cagnes. So we figured it was about time to pay it a visit.

The old town was very pretty, as they normally are around here, and pretty well preserved. In spite of its fair share of shops, it didn’t seem all that touristy, or busy, either (that’s probably because of the lousy weather – it even started raining, imagine…!). After a walk around the twisty alleys and narrow passages, Mathilde was starting to feel the chill a bit, so we popped into the nearest Brasserie for a quick lunch and a coffee.

After this the plan was to visit the Chapelle du Rosaire, a chapel made famous by the fact that it was decorated by Henri Matisse (who spent a large part of his life on the Riviera). Unfortunately, it was closed, though… So instead, we headed back to Cagnes and visited Musee Renoir – a museum dedicated to Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the famous artiste. The museum is located in the house, called Les Collettes, where he spent the last 12 years of his life. It’s a nice enough museum, showing how the old chap lived – actually there isn’t that much art by him on display. There gardens are also pretty nice, and afford great views over the old town of Cagnes.