Back in the US, we had a collection of vintage train travel posters with scenes from the UK and France. Our goal was to visit all of these places and given that they were sponsored by railway companies, it was easy enough to do.  From John o’ Groats at the top of Scotland to Land’s End at the bottom of England we went. While our estimate is that we’ve been to 400 French villages, towns, and cities, we had never managed to make it to the town you see featured in the poster here in this paragraph. If you’re looking at the coastline of the Côte d’Azur, names like Nice and Cannes probably sound familiar but perhaps not Agay—until you discover who wrote a famous novel and visited there often.

For students in the process of learning French, the first recommended book for leisure reading is often Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It’s a fable where the young boy learns, “We see clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.” The story is partly biographical as it includes aviation references important to the author-pilot and he wrote of a rose as a beautiful, vain, and demanding flower, clearly meant to be his wife.

Saint-Exupéry’s youngest sister married the owner of the Château d’Agay in 1923, and the property became a sanctuary for the author. He spent significant time there resting, writing, and watching the stars. Today, the estate is still owned and managed by his descendants, so it’s closed to the public.

The protected bay and beach of Agay were known to the ancient Greeks and then the Romans, who used it as a trading port, especially for timber and pottery. Centuries later, during World War II, Operation Dragoon was launched from here in August 1944. Like the Normandy invasion two months prior, the goal was to liberate parts of France and specifically to capture deepwater ports in the south to establish supply lines from North Africa. Luckily the day we visited we saw only inviting sandy beaches and calm Mediterranean waters.

Our next day out from Antibes had to be either with a combination of the train and a bus or two buses but always changing at Cagnes-sur-Mer to head up into the hills toward Saint-Paul-de-Vence. We had been there 20 years ago and we both remember the same two things from that visit: all of the art galleries that there wasn’t enough time to go into and our first taste of genuine Provençal rosé wine. There are an estimated 50 galleries that line the winding, cobblestone streets of this hilltop medieval village. It’s well documented that artists like Chagall, Miró, Matisse, and Picasso lived and/or worked there and even frequented the town’s cafés and restaurants, perhaps enjoying a glass of rosé?

Beyond the art world, the village itself gives you the feeling of walking through medieval history. The 16th-century ramparts, built under King François I, offers panoramic views out to the Mediterranean Sea. Once through the village gates you see and hear the ancient stone fountain that, in season, still works after centuries of providing fresh water. Although we didn’t encounter anyone especially well known, writer James Baldwin and Hollywood actor/script writer Orson Welles were once frequent visitors. With the walled village visit complete, it was time to descend into the shade of the plane trees to find that refreshing drink we first had two decades ago.

Photo note: For the featured photo of Agay across the top of today’s post, Bill stood where we imagine that Parisian artist Roger Broders was positioned in 1928 when he created the original painting for the poster shown in the first paragraph.