More Things we did in January

GRASSE ~ Where we live now.

Fountain in Round-about middle of Grasse ~
Note the perfume bottle in the middle of the sculpture

Grasse

Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, where the French perfume industry began in the 16th century, is located 15 km north of Cannes, and 30 minutes west of Nice. It is at a high altitude and one can actually see the ocean from here. Grasse originally renowned for the quality of its leather goods until the sixteenth century (perfumed gloves introduced from Italy), switched to perfume production and now contains more than thirty perfumeries. The most famous of these are Fragonard, Galimard and Molinard, all of which offer free tours. The old village is pretty small and we live on the south side of the city. It is very scenic with most of the village on the side of a steep mountain side.

Perfume tour at Fragonard Perfumerie

Street in Grasse ~ you don't need a "StairMaster" if you live in Grasse

Perfume "stuff" sculpture in Grasse

Village of Mouans-Sartoux

This is where we lived in January with Frederic and his family. This is a small village located between Grasse and Cannes. Initially two separate villages, the two villages were joined into the current Mouans-Sartoux in 1858 by Napoleon III. There are some nice places to see – Here’s some pictures.

Sheep drive in village of Mouans-Sartoux

Chateau de Mouans

Pitching little steel balls in Mouans-Sartoux

My first train ride and visit to Cannes.

I got up early, walked over to the train station to go to Cannes. Had to wait for a long time for the train to arrive as I had misread the timetable. I got someone to buy me a ticket and show me how the ticket machines worked.

Cannes, France, about a half hour west of Nice, is a picturesque city. A very popular tourist destination, it is also the venue for the Cannes Film Festival, which is held at the Palais de Festivals in May each year.

I arrived in Cannes about 12:15. It was a really beautiful day – I walked along the streets – looked at all shops to see what was on sale (window shopping). The Boulevard de la Croisette, the street facing the ocean, is lined with magnificent hotels, restaurants and exquisite shops, designer stores like Chanel, Pierre Cardin, YSL, Christian Dior, Gucci, Versaci, Louis Vuitton, Hermes Hugo Boss, Long Champ .. you name it …it is pretty amazing, like you see in the magazines. It also has an English Bookshop, souvenir stores, and other boutiques with a range of products. Took a long walk on the beach – the ocean, the color of the water, is captivating. Since then I have taken a number of trips to Cannes and its always been awesome.

Typical apartment houses near beach in Cannes

View east down the beach ~ Cannes

Cannes at the beach

Skiing in Greolieres

We woke up early, yes we were going skiing – Frederic, Alexis, Gene and I, the first for me. The ski lodge is about an hours drive from Frederic’s, north of Grasse. The drive to the mountains was really scenic and we drove past a beautiful village called Gourdon. We rented some skiis and Frederic and Alexis went on their 10k ski. Gene stayed with me – as I was trying to walk, fall, land on butt, etc. we were there for 3 hours and I got a little better and less scared as we came to the end of the run. All the “landings” will hurt tomorrow. We left at about 2:00pm and had lunch at village at a restaurant called La barricade in Greolieres village, it was really busy and we had to wait for a while.We then drove a scenic route home.

I think she is getting the hang of this!!!

Lunch after a hard morning of skiing

Visit to Nice

Nice is called the Queen of the Cote d'Azur or the Paris of the South. It is located on the French Riviera in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 30 minutes east of Monaco. From breathtaking beaches, the Promenades des Anglais (English Promenade), museums, historic buildings, tourists attractions, there is a lot to see and do… We drove to Nice and spent the entire day. It was a beautiful Sunny day – the ocean was just spectacular, we drove around for a long while – ended up at Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat and then drove back to downtown Nice, and had lunch at a Pizza place. We walked around, trying to absorb all that we saw, historic buildings, shops, amazing architecture, the list goes on. I wanted to go to a casino but was not allowed to go in as I did not have my passport – I did not believe this as this was the first time I was ever asked for a passport to enter a casino.

The Color of the water is unbelievable

Square in Nice

Villafranche-sur-Mer


Hotel in Nice

Buying a Car

Another thing to do. We test-drove a number of them – as budget did not permit buying something expensive, we looked for something that was reasonable and took us from A to B. Finally found one, end of January, a 1993 VW Golf for 1500 Euros and we have driven it about 4,000km since – works really good.

This is the good side

Finding the Asia Market Express

We were given directions to this store… but it took us a long time to find it. Yes, we get lost quite a lot. We finally found it and it felt really good to know that Asian groceries that we used at home were there if we needed it. The 45 minute drive turned into a 3 hour adventure with stopping twice to get directions from people who speak only French.

Visit to Mougins Village

Mougins is an enchanting medieval village of the French Riviera situated about 5 minutes from my office. The village is a picturesque hilltop town surrounded by 15th century ramparts and a fortified gate. These stone walls preserved the village from devastation and destruction during the 16th century. From the 18th century on, Mougins flourished from the production of its olives and jasmine and crops of its vineyards and rose fields (whole fields of rose bushes for the perfumeries). This is the village where Picasso spent his final years.

Fountain in the Center of the Village Square

Alley way in Mougins