The Social Event at TestCom 2003 will bring us to St Paul de Vence where we will have a guided tour through this wonderful village followed by a dinner at a very famous hotel complex on the French Riviera "Le Mas d'Artigny" built in the middle of a magnificent 20-acre pine forest.

St. Paul, beautiful medieval fortified village perched on a narrow spur between two deep valleys overlooks the surrounding landscape, with the Mediterranean sea and the Cap d'Antibes, the Alps and the Esterel Mountains. Saint-Paul is fascinating, not only for its charm but also for its great cultural and artistic influence. This minute corner of Provence attracts talented and discerning artists from around the world, who settle here or meet up at the numerous art-galleries.

Saint-Paul's protected heritage:
Once upon a time there stood an old village of ancient stone, shaped like a boat and known as Sant-Paou. It was so old that no one throughout the course of History, no person through the timeless ages could ever recall to mind its original walls. Maybe it was itself timeless, an isle of bliss when the seas of an ageless past beat around it boundaries and the hills and vales we know today lay deep beneath the waters that washed the slopes of the surrounding heights. Then one day, the old village reached out against the open sky at the top of a gentle hill, at the very heart of a vortex of hills, high waves of an ocean suddenly frozen still. Sant-Paou was born under its provençal name.
André VERDET - extract from "Saint-Paul de Vence et sa légende"

Art enthusiasts should definitely make a turn at the Maeght Foundation that was created in 1964. It is the second museum of its kind in France. Its terraced garden is a labyrinth of statues, fountains and sculptures, the works of some well known artists such as Miro, Chagall, Braque, etc. The Foundation also owns a large collection of 20th century works by Matisse, Léger, Pol Bury, and Tal-Coat.