Vence La Jolie (Map)
I don’t know exactly what year this map is from. I suspect it is from the 1980s or maybe 1990s, but there is no date on it anywhere. Also hard to say who put it out. Maybe the Office de Tourisme? Maybe the Chamber of Commerce? It folds up to a size of about 16cm by 22cm. There are eight panels and when open it measures about 44cm by 64cm creating a nice poster.
Download a high quality PDF of this map (43mb)
Download a good quality PDF of this map (3mb)
[click on any image to see sample pages – more info after the samples]
The “front” side of the poster features a variety of ads for local merchants along with the cover and a small map of the larger Vence area. I’m sure it would be possible to date the map based on some of the merchants so maybe someone can help me with that. I recognize a few of them, such as Le Château du Domaine Saint-Martin, Krys, La Closerie des Genêts (the first hotel I ever stayed at in Vence), Le Credit Agricole, Hotel le Provence and more. But, many of them I’m not familiar with such as Supermarché IFA, Ambiance, Au Val d’Azur and a lot more.
The “back” side of the poster features a large map of Vence. There’s a list of all the streets in the town as well as the “places” (squares). There’s also a list of the streets featured on the larger map on the other side. At the bottom is a list of the “monuments” and “public services” (such as the town hall, the tourist office, the police, etc.). There’s a detailed and in-depth list of sites to visit in the old town with comments about each one.
Overall, it’s a great little map from a specific point in Vence’s history. I found it at “Chine & Bouquine” and wonderful little bookshop here in Vence. If you have a chance, stop by and visit them (4, rue saint Véran, near the Porte d’Orient).
Maps are such a great insight to a location. I like the buildings on the second side showing the likenesses. How did you get such a good electronic version of it? Anytime I try to photograph a flat piece like this it comes out terrible, This is a fantastic capture!
Jim, I scanned it! Since the scanner has a much smaller surface than the map I had to make 8 scans for each side, one panel at a time, and then connect them all in Photoshop. It took some time, but I was quite happy with the results. If you look really, really closely you can find a few spots where things don’t line up exactly, they’re off by a couple of pixels here and there. But, it was the best I could do.