Agenda:
2. Walk-through visit of the Fragonard perfume factory
3. Viewing of the changing of the guards in Monaco
4. Free time to explore Nice
Most of us had a better sleep last night, and although our
hotel receptionist said la meteo
predicted rain, it was a sunny, beautiful day. Our private coach arrived right
on time, at 9 am, and we boarded the bus for a beautiful, 40 minute drive along
the Mediterranean coastline. We learned along the way Princess Grace (Kelly)
had died in a car accident along this route long ago, and that Elton John has a
house in the hills right above the blue coastline (he apparently just arrived a
few days ago, but we didn’t hear any notes of “Benny and Jets” floating from
above). Our driver, Sebastian, stopped along the way to let us off for some
photos as the views were breathtaking and the colors of the Mediterranean
really popped.
In about 20 minutes we arrived in
Eze, a small village perched atop a rocky outcrop with panoramic views of the
sea. The kids had fun discovering the small alleys, and I wish we would have
had more time to really explore all of the nooks and holes that Quincy could
fit into for a photo!
Five minutes away was the
Fragonard perfume factory where we learned about les nez and the process of making quality, natural perfume. Did you
know it takes 3 tons of flowers to make just 1 kilo of perfume? After our guide
explained the process of extracting the flower essence (drop by drop), we
tested our nez to see if we could
identify 8 scents. Helen was incredibly fast at identify her mystery jars—she
may just be one the 15 nez in the
world that can identify over 1000 different essences!
After leaving the factory, we
continued on our way to Monaco, trying to get there in time for la relevee des guards (changing of the
guards). Marc had mentioned wanting to arrive by 11:30 so that the more petite of us could find a good spot in
front of the throngs of tourists also there to see la relevee. Malheureusement, we were a bit too late and finding a
spot meant fitting ourselves between other tourists or holding our cameras up
to film the tradition that happens once per day at 12 pm. Allison W. and Regina
found some nice German tourists who let them stand in front to take photos.
Merci, les allemands!
After Monaco we headed back to
Nice and said au revoir to our
driver, Sebastian. We headed once again back into the center of Nice to finish
up souvenir shopping or exploring side streets before dinner at a restaurant
right on the Promenade des Anglais. We had the traditional ratatouille followed by porc
a la moutarde with pasta, and we finished with une tarte aux pommes et chantilly
(whipped cream).
By the time we left the
restaurant, 11 of us headed back to the hotel, while 3 of us (Kaili, Helen, and
Marina) headed back to Vieux Nice to get lost one last time in the winding
alley-ways lined with trendy and traditional bars, restaurants, (closed)
stores, and a crepe stand, complete with a Frenchman wearing a beret and scarf
(we decided he was doing this for show—there were many tourists in town because
of Easter Sunday and the Monday off in Europe). After the long wait for a
simple but delicious crepes beurre-sucre, caramel sale, and nutella, we took
our time walking back to the hotel through la Coulee Verte, the greenspace that
Nice recently created to beautify the city and what was once a moche, gray bus parking lot.
Please excuse missing accents! I'm working on a small, slow computer without an easier way to add them + save time!!
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