Turn inland to escape Riviera crowds

(No boutique shortage here.) Once a haunt of D.H. Lawrence, Henri Matisse and Chagall (who later settled in St.-Paul), the town has a buzzing daily market and a small cathedral (Notre-Dame de la Nativité) with a fine Chagall mosaic depicting a baby Moses being saved from the waters of the Nile.

The modest chapel holds a simple series of black-on-white tile panels and uses three symbolic colors in its stained glass windows: yellow (sunlight and the light of God), green (nature) and blue (the Mediterranean sky).

Eze-le-Village, floating high above the sea, is a spectacular medieval town mixing perfume outlets, fancy boutiques, outrageously priced hotels, steep cobbled lanes and magnificent views, making it a handy stop between Nice and Monaco.

Touristy as it is, its stony state of preservation and magnificent hilltop setting over the Mediterranean make it memorable.

The chateau’s tearoom, on a cliff overlooking the jagged cliffs and the sea, offers the most scenic coffee or beer break you’ll ever enjoy — for a price.

Or visit the Jardin d’Eze, a prickly festival of cactus and exotic plants suspended between the sea and sky at the top of Eze-le-Village.

Since 1949, the ruins of an old chateau have been home to hundreds of different plants 1,400 feet above the sea.

While tourists are struggling to find a peaceful corner of the coast, you’ll be thankful that you ventured away — to enjoy some of France’s most perfectly perched hill towns, evocative monuments and splendid scenery.