the Matisse Chapel, a stroll through Vence, lunch

We didn't come just to eat. Well, we did, but restaurant staff has its rest times, too, and so we practiced with the GPS until we got it to speak English and to give us the fastest (as opposed to the most direct) route. We have learned the hard way that setting a language so that it stays set is key, having gone into a panic on an earlier trip when the car started speaking Swedish as we entered a double traffic circle at rush hour. On another trip, the renter-on-a-budget before us had left the GPS stuck on "cheapest, no tolls" and "most direct." We didn't figure this out till we found ourselves on a one-lane unpaved track through farmland, with ancient tractor approaching from the opposite direction, and the lovely modern autoroute visible up in the air a short distance away. "Oh, lutefisk," I growled, that being the closest thing to a cussword that I can say in Swedish.
Somehow we've missed the Matisse Chapel every time we've been in this area, and we were determined not to let it slide this time. It's tiny and modest, and M. Matisse designed it as a thank-you to nuns who nursed him during a serious illness. The exterior is unprepossessing. Once inside you go down a short flight of stairs, everything around here is built on a hillside, and enter the chapel. We were fortunate to have done this on a sunny day, there are two large stained glass windows and their color was a shout of Gloria.
The colors are yellow, blue, and green, the repeated motifs are familiar to lovers of Matisse, the leaves and the pointed ovals.
A small museum room off the chapel proper houses a complete set of vestments for each ecclesiastical season, also designed by M. Matisse.
After we left the chapel, we drove down to the historic center of Vence and treated ourselves to a stroll through old streets, squares, walls.

Thisis the Fountain of Foux, long famous for the purity of its water. Until the late 1800's, it was one of only three public water sources in the town.
They meant it about the purity, it's still tested regularly.
The residents have decorated their house fronts and doorways to express their individuality. The little niche may still be holding a female saint, just updated.

An unexpected symbol of defiance... sad thoughts of Wild Geese...
OK, we're so close to Nice, I had to have a Salade Niçoise for lunch. The giant black pot behind my plate is the light snack of mussels Himself ordered. How giant? He couldn't finish them!
And olive branches, always a welcome sight in this sore and tired old world.