Chapelle du Rosaire

It's been quite awhile...like, 3 weeks since my last post and all. I am once again in the beautiful Hawaii Nei, and although I am missing the French vibrations, I have missed the beach and the rawness of this island. I am going to continue blogging until I have gotten everything covered from A to Z of the trip. I am sorry it's so late, jet lag strikes the lazy-ones weeks-long. ;)

Anyway, welcome to Saint Paul de Vence. A medieval town in a city called Vence, it may have been a fortress from long ago, but who knows? I definitely don't.

Before we visited Saint Paul, we went to the Matisse Chapel. Henri Matisse is an artist who was greatly influenced by Moroccan and Polynesian art. There were many traces of these art in the chapel which he created for Sister Jacques-Marie, who took care of him when he had a surgery. It was by far one of the most serene place I have ever stepped foot on. Sadly, we could not take pictures of the chapel, so I hope my words would suffice. Matisse's chapel oozed purity. The quiet and subtle art housed beautiful stained-glass windows and Matisse's murals, one of which were the stations of the cross. It was as if I was wafted gently by an imaginary breeze of peace.

The presenter explained that the stained glass windows had three colors: green, blue, and yellow. The green represented earth which we live in. The blue representing the sky and the yellow representing the sun and God. Although the green and blue stained glasses were clear, the yellow ones were opaque. It was believed that because the yellow represented God, Matisse made it so it symbolized the way people could not see through God and his miracles.

Another beautiful aspect of the stained glasses were the reflected light against the white walls and tiled floors of the chapel. The stained glasses reflected pink against the sunlight. It was very interesting that the three colors' green, blue, and yellow would reflect the color pink, a color that symbolizes hope.

Even now, the Matisse Chapel is still one of my favorite places.

After the visit of Matisse's chapel, we explored the town of Vence with all of it's cobble-stoned glory. It was magical, every corner we turned, art emerged. It was as if I was walking through it in the time of the renaissance. Of course with modern technologies in hand. And candies.

Oh! I have never tasted better candies and jams so good than in Vence. Believe it or not, these cobbled steps hold the best raspberry rose jam. Of course I loved the chocolate, je suis gourmande, after all.