Le Tilleul – Lunch in Saint Paul de Vence

April 15th

Heeding the advice of our driver to visit Saint Paul de Vence, a medieval town on the French Riviera we landed in this lovely little restaurant Le Tilleul, which turned out to be exceptionally delicious. This weighty Meursault paired extremely well with the canard. I love it when the unexpected turns into something wonderful. The dessert was as delightful as it appears to be and yes this comes with a price – – a longer yoga session and more ab work.

Saint Paul de Vence - Le Tilleul — Saint Paul de Vence – Le Tilleul

After enjoying a really great lunch at Le Tilleul a stroll through the streets of Saint Paul de Vence was quite the treat. As artists displayed their work and drew the casual passerby into spaces unattended do to the mundane events of daily life, you could truly get a since of how special this medieval town is and has always been.

As this little excursion came to a close right before leaving the walled town, a map of Saint Paul de Vence dispalyed a Relais & Chateaux property – – how could I have missed a Relais & Chateaux property. Off we went to find Le Saint-Paul. As we made our way back through the town, we remembered a sous chef we’d met in Lago di Garda who moved to the Côte d’Azur and was working at a Relais & Chateaux property but, I could not remember the village where he landed.

Arriving just a few doors where we ended our strolling about the town, was the entrance to Le Saint-Paul. The courtyard and outdoor dining was unbelievable – – very quaint and picturesque. Full of excitement and hoping this would be where the sous chef from Lago di Garda had settled in, I immediately asked for the chef. As the attendant enter one door, out walks Chef Laurent Paccini from another – – we all were speechless and shocked. We all looked like three deer caught in headlights. And then the laughter and welcomed embraces followed. For a moment it felt as if we were all were back in Italy preparing to be wowed with amazing food and drink. Laurent immediately offered lunch but, having just stuffed ourselves we could only do dessert, again. Mmmmmmm….yummy cannoli. This is how all cannoli should taste. After catching up, Laurent insisted we dine at Le Saint-Paul as he wanted to prepare a special menu to welcome us, how could we say no. So right then and there he laid out the menu. How exciting, not only were we reconnecting but, a special menu was being prepared to celebrate this encounter.