Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Grasse & St Paul de Vence

At dinner Monday night a British couple had told us we should tour one of the perfume factories in Grasse. In Provence, most of the essenses for the world’s perfumes are manufactured. Each company hires a “nose”, who has 6-8 years of training in scents. There are only 150 noses in the world and 100 of them are in Provence. So Tuesday morning we toured a Fragonard factory – it was small but interesting and they really just do it to give a sales pitch to buy their products. Then after a long time trying to get out of Grasse, we made it to St-Paul-de-Vence. It is a medieval walled city on a hill from which you can see the sea.
Jen’s friends had told her eating at La Colombe d’Or was a must. Several artists used to frequent this hotel & restaurant – Matisse, Cezanne, Picasso. We had a very expensive lunch on the terrace. If you go, it’s a must to have reservations. Then we shopped in the town.

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