10/06/2021
Dancers of Saint Paul
Interesting article in France Today, the dancers of Saint Paul de Vence.
https://www.francetoday.com/learn/books/hidden-history-the-dancers-of-saint-paul/
A description of Saint Paul from the article:
About 500 years ago when they built the enormous ramparts to fortify Saint-Paul against the armies of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, they could hardly have imagined the curious invaders of the 20th and 21st centuries. The village is so improbably picturesque, so romantically perched on its hill, gazing south over the Mediterranean towards Antibes with a protective cloak of mountains to the north, it could hardly fail to attract new kinds of attention.
It started in the 1920s. They came, drawn by the light and the charm of the terraces covered with vines, olive trees, orange blossom, roses and jasmine. At first it was the painters, sculptors, novelists and poets. Then came the film stars and celebrities. You’ll see photos of them dining on the terrace of the Colombe d’Or and playing pétanque in front of the Café de la Place. The star-studded cast included artists Picasso, Matisse, Verdet, Miró, Dufy, Braque, Signac, Chagall, Calder and writers Hemingway, Jacques Prévert, F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Baldwin. Celebrity endorsement followed with screen stars Yves Montand, Lino Ventura, Alain Delon, Simone Signoret, Kirk Douglas, Orson Welles, Roger Moore – the list goes on.
