I have a brick retaining wall, about 3 feet high. It has previously been
covered with sandstone rocks (about half-inch thick), cemented on in a type
of "crazy-paving" pattern. Some of these have fallen off, and the wall needs
renovating. The actual wall itself, however, is fine- just a couple of minor
cracks.

We wanted to get rid of the paving and bag the wall with cement. Today I
removed the loose pavers. I was going to remove them all but most were
cemented on very firmly still, and to get rid of them all would be hard, hot
work (especially here in Australia!). My wife doesn't mind how rough the
finished product is, as long as it looks "Mediterranean". So I thought I'd
roughly cement over the top of the pavers. Is that a reasonable idea?

Also, is it easier/cheaper to colour the cement first, or paint it after? It
would be a lightish colour, so I guess that would rule out normal cement.