Up early in Barcelona and bags outside the door by 7.30am, then downstairs for a very quick breakfast and then race onto the bus. There were plenty of seats due to overseas passengers missing their flights so almost everyone had a window seat, the only seat in contention was always the front pair opposite the driver. Our bus driver must have been an ex rally driver due to having a led foot and being able to manoeuvre the bus through any obstacle.
By the time I turned on the camera and sorted out what I wanted to take a photo of it was normally gone from my view out the window or I got a blurred street sign that popped out of nowhere. I’ve deleted thousands of photos because the focus of the photo was an unknown blur or a reflection off the glass.
This post continues on the journey I took with my son in 2010 around the world. If you would like to see the story so far you can start it all here.
LINK: My First World Trip : Where It All Started
Arles
After a four hour trip up the coast and crossing into France, we stopped at Arles for lunch. This lovely town is where the Rhone River splits into the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone, with the Great Rhone flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
We arrived just after the town markets had finished, a bit of a disappointment, but we still found some lunch and with only an hour to spend here we wandered around the town eating on the run. Going to the markets in any new town lets you know alot about the place. What they grow locally, what the locals like to eat and a feel for the local people and prices.
Buildings and streets are very close together and there is no chance of double parking. Someone told us that when they park behind one another, to get out they release the hand brakes and push them back. It’s a bit strange.
Much to my son’s annoyance that I must always stop to smell the roses, I managed to find another lovely garden hidden away amongst the buildings as always.
Cannes, Nice
We didn’t get to see much of Cannes or Nice as we were staying the night in Monaco and were on a tight schedule. But while the driver fuelled up, we grabbed a bite to eat in the restaurant that was attached to the garage. Talk about good cheap food and plenty of it. And they also sell things like alcohol, fruit, clothes and souvenirs. Seems strange that you can buy alcohol at a garage as it is against the law in Australia, as you can only buy it at registered liquor stores.
Monaco
We arrived in Monaco in the afternoon and walked up past the Prince’s Palace of Monaco (the home of the Grimaldi family). We took a few photos including the church where Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace were married. Such a great view down to the Marina and the Harbour. We had dinner in a lovely little restaurant down near the Casino and wandered back to the bus and were soon at our hotel.
Don’t we all love a good harbour! The though of the ocean the restaurants and the relaxed lifestyle does it for me every time. Travelling on a sailing boat is still on the bucket list at some point but maybe not having to do the actual sailing.
As we left Monaco we took a detour to the Parfumerie Fragonard in Eze, France. They make their own perfumes and soaps on site. As soon as we left the bus we were overwhelmed by the most beautiful perfume of flowers. Some didn’t think it was so great, but not me. I always choose floral scented perfume, so it was right up my alley.
We were all given a small bottle of one of their most popular scents as a gift. I couldn’t decide what else I would buy as everything was so nice. Finally decided on lemon soaps in the shape of a lemon, and a lovely floral eau de parfum. Only a small bottle though as they were tourist prices and through the local shop and cheaper to buy online.
This is where we found out about “The Nose” or simply Nez in French, a special job at the Parfumerie that was responsible for the smell of each perfume. They are not allowed to drink, smoke or eat anything that will interfere with their heightened smelling ability. My son always says that I have a heightened sense of smell being able to detect things he can’t. I would think about coming out of retirement but stopping drinking wine and limiting my food put me off it.
The chart above is a list of all the fragrances they can use to blend together to make each specialised perfume.
We took a tour of the oldest and the latest machinery used to extract the perfumes. It was very interesting. Then we were able to wander through the showroom and pick out whatever we wanted to buy. Before we left we were given a small sample bottle of our favourite scent. I got roses. Still have a little left in the bottle, and smell it when I find it in my perfume drawer. Still brings back lovely memories.
Above is a picture of essentially a still where they extract the essential oils that are used for the making of the perfume.
Finally, above is the lab where all the blending happens and this is where they confirmed the difference between Eau de toilette (Cologne) and Eau de Parfum (real perfume) being the amount of the oil essence in the mix. So essentially the Perfume just has more oil so it lasts longer on the skin and has a stronger fragrance so you only need to use a little bit instead. I knew this already but as you can imagine this was all new to my son and the men on the tour.