More of the Beauty of Provence

Monday morning and I surprised that I didn’t have any emails until I realised it was a public holiday in Sydney – phew I thought nobody loved me.

For those who have followed below it seems that those flown in to vote have carried the day as Hezbollah and Syria failed to take control in the elections. At the same time the zenophobes seem to have done well in the European elections.

I set off at 09:30 for Cannes arriving at the fruit market to have cherries for breakfast and an early coffee. This was followed by a three hour walk down the back streets of Cannes. Nothing new at all on the shopping front but the vista and weather are most enticing.

Around lunch time I head for Grasse. Grasse has been a perfume town ever since the 17th century, and today is the world's perfume capital. Grasse perfume and food aromas produce two thirds of total French total employing 2,700 people generating a turnover of 600 million Euros. Two million tourists visit the perfume museum, perfume factories and perfume shops every year.

I did a tour of the Museum of Perfume and went to the Fragonard exhibition and - you guessed it – shop where I didn’t feel obliged to buy anything. I also bought two lengths of Provence coated (enduit) tablecloths and the shopkeeper kindly put edges around them as I walked around. I engineered my car out of the narrowest car park and surrounding streets and headed back to my apartment stopping at the supermarket on the way.

I had a spa and sauna before heading back to Cannes – it is only 10 minutes away – for another walk along the waterfront which I had not done in the morning. All in all I am guessing I walked 12+ kms during the day and my legs are tired. I found an artists gallery where there is a painting I fall in love with but alas and on the other hand with delight it is already sold – but it was beautiful. Back to the hotel at 21:00.

All is well with the world – I found the laundry at the hotel which I employed while I prepared my dinner of Mushroom soup (infinitely better than the Dubai version of same) and salad with warm goat’s cheese – yes you can buy goats cheese made to be heated and added to salad – it is served in most restaurants as well inspiring me to buy it and prepare it for dinner. A nice change from restaurant food. Off to bed zzzz.

Up very early next morning and thankful that I had bought some smoked salmon – yes my holidays are all about food as has been noted in previous blogs. I sit down with my girlfriend as the kids call it – GPS to you folks – and plan a route to Tourettes Sur Loup, St Paul de Vence, Cap Ferrat (where I have taken out a second mortgage for my planned cup of coffee in the gardens of the hotel) and Nice. I hit the road about 08:00 as I am planning a nap this afternoon and dinner and some photos up in ‘old’ Mougins tonight – where I will be driving and not walking.

By the time I got to Vence the weather had cleared and it was a clear and sunny 22 degrees. I walked around for two hours before having a light lunch. Then off to what this visit reminded me is one of my favourite places in the world – St Paul de Vence. It is hard to describe why it is so delicious but the winding hilly streets leading past a vast number of galleries with interesting art, sculptures and crystal pieces, the view from every nook and cranny seems to be the essence of Provence for me. I called in to a couple of galleries and I must say that all of the artists, owners and shop assistants were welcoming and charming. I know that this is what one would expect of people trying to sell to you but remember the reputation that the French have.

My time in St P de V took up so much time that Cap Ferrat and Nice had to wait for another time. Back to my apartment for a rest and planned dinner in historic Mougins.

Much as I try I simply cannot capture the essence and beauty of places in Provence. Perhaps this is why painters come here to see if they can manage to do it. I normally like hustle and bustle but I have found that sitting in cafes or in the middle villages and enjoying the peace and tranquillity is exceptionally enjoyable. Here are some of the images I took http://users.tpg.com.au/davstern/provence/

I go up to a café for a simple meal in Mougins and meet a young French student and we end up dining together. He is studying Geography and starting a masters in Town Planning. We strike a deal whereby he will show me around Nice the next day and I will buy him lunch and dinner – sounds fair to me. His family was from Grasse originally so he knew the area very well.

Next day I pick him up around 11:00 and he takes me to a place called Gerault which is on the hill with a very spectacular view of Nice. We then went to the markets and the old part of nice through the winding streets. We decided to go to Monaco for lunch – sounds so decadent really but as we took the turnoff at La Turbie to go down the road past Cap d’Ail to Monte Carlo the traffic was completely backed up so I made a U-Turn and a Thai meal in old Nice did just fine. He showed me more parts of Nice and I must say that this another one of those cities that isn’t very interesting from the outside but when somebody who knows the place well shows you some hidden treasures it turns out to be quite likeable.

We settle on a café he knew well for a light dinner and bade him adieu for a most enjoyable day exchanging email addresses in case he ever find himself in Australia. And yes I did find out his life story but that might be boring here.

I did my washing because I could not possibly leave Mougins with dirty washing – who knows what laundry facilities lie ahead.

Next morning up; early, final packing although it didn’t need to be too well done as I was moving by car from one hotel to another where I will be for 17 nights and intend to fully unpack. I go to Monte Carlo intent on having my lunch there and have a lovely baguette at Lina’s café – a place where Linda and I had many lunches when we spent two weeks during the bridge in Monte Carlo. A quick walk around the wealth, sorry I mean the streets of Monte Carlo and decide to take the coast road through Menton, another town where Linda, Bobby and I had rented the Villa Arcadia for two weeks during a bridge tournament there – all a bit sad really – but I am intent on recalling the very pleasant times we had there.

Across the border to Italy – border shmorder. It is an abandoned and unmanned crossing and has no significance whatsoever. Ventimiglia where I am planning to go to the markets tomorrow depending on the agenda involving journalists for the day and to San Remo.

I arrive at the hotel Marinella – a three star hotel where I have a room with a balcony and lateral views of the ocean – that is the word they used in their email to me. Lateral – from the Italian meaning can be seen with a mirror on the end of a long stick provided you can also bend your head 180 degrees. However the shoe box – sorry I mean room – wasn’t to my taste so I was moved to a larger room without a balcony but at least here I could turn around without hitting anything.

So here I am ready for bridge, writing and a test for what I am hoping will became a late life career or being paid to fly around the world to attend bridge tournaments as either a BBO manager, journalist or Vugraph commentator – sound like fun to me.

So à bientôt
XD