We
had a slight change of plan and went to Monaco instead. The bus (#500)
to Monaco which leaves from Gare Routiere at 20FF per person round trip
is really a steal. It takes you along the cosastline to several cities
along the Mediterranean coast--Villefranche, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Eze-sur-Mer,
and a few more. The bus dropped us off at Monaco on Charles III Blvd. (Note:
the bus continues onto Menton.)
It's a steep walk up a hill to the Prince's Palace. We didn't really
timed it, but we got there at 11:45am and the "Changing of the Guard" starts
at 11:55am daily. So we stuck around in the hot sun and mixed in with the
crowd to watch this free show. At exactly 11:55am, about 6 guards marched
out from the Palace and stodd at the square. The new troop marched out
from another building, led by a marching band. After much formality and
lots of tourists snapping their camera (I'm not one of them), the new Guards
went in and the old Guards left. This "free" show is well worth its fare
and is a much better deal than the 30FF/person they charged for the Palace
"guided" tour.
From
the Palace, we walked downhill towards the harbor where there many yachts
are docked. There happened to be a Columbian sailing ship (Navy) named
Gloria docked there and was having a Open House (er..Open Ship). We went
on board and enjoyed their free Columbian coffee. We met the ship's mascot
Morgan (a labrador type dog who lives on board). We continued to walk along
the harbor and arrived at the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo. It charges 50FF
per person just to go inside. Oh well, that's nto really my cup of tea.
We got back to Nice fairly early. Since Gare Routiere is next to Garibaldi Square, where Grand Cafe di Turin is, we had an early seafood dinner there. Yulin ordered the Assorted Sampler paltter, with oyster, mussels, clams, sea urchins, sea snails, shrimps (large and small midget shrimps) and other unidentifiable shellfish. I wanted the lobster (Homard, en francais) originally, but they did not have it, so I settled for the crayfish (Laragosta). We drank a lot at dinner tonight to make sure that any bacteria in the raw seafood will get killed by the alcohol.
We arrived at Grasse around 10am. From the Tourist Information Center (very close to the bus terminal), we got quite a few local perfume shop brouchures and a local street map. The International Perfume Museum was a total ripoff for 25FF per person. It is not that the exhibits were no good, but the presentation is very hard to follow without any English explanations. You do get free use of their toilettes, which probably is the best part of the tour.
Fragonard is just next door to the International Perfume Museum and their English guided tour was free. Much better. We did buy a little bit of stuff from their gift shop though. The tour showed us how the essence manufacturing started from flowers into the essence, all done by hand. This is quite amazing to see that this process is not automated. Finally, there is the lab where the "Nose" works. Each manufacturer has one "Nose" who is the one who mixes the essence to create new perfumes, usually at the rate of two per year.
Galimard, another perfume factory, offered a Salon des Fragrances course for 200FF to show you how to make your very own perfume. You get to mix essences to your heart's desire and then take 100ml of it home in a special perfume bottle. (The bottle cost extra, BTW.) After almost 2 hours of sniffing, our new "Nose" Yulin got sick of perfumes and is unlikely to step into a perfume shop any time soon.
From Galimard, we got on the #600 bus to Cannes. It was a long bus ride and we got to Cannes around 6pm. We got off at the Cannes train station which is only a few blocks from the beach front. Its location is a lot more convenient than Nice's. The main drag along the beach front is called the Croisette and is lined with palm trees on one side and big fancy hotels on the other. The beach is a sandy beach, so we sat on the beach and watched the sunset. Late train back to Nice cost only 31FF per person one-way.
It
is a sleep-late day. We walked out to the beach after lunch and sat on
the rocky beach and enjoyed the sun and staring at the half naked female
swimmers until Yulin asked me "Will you stop staring?" Oops.
Immediately next to the beach and Castle Hill is Hotel Suisse. Just to kick myself some more over the lousy hotel we had, I went in to check their room rates. 580FF for a room facing the sea and 400FF for one facing the inside garden. !%@$!#%.
Last evening in Nice (and France). In search of the Bouillabaisse, the famous Mediterranean fish soup. I ran into this place called La Faubourg on a side street near our hotel which is advertising their Bouillabaisse for only 120FF for two persons! Can't go wrong with that. On top of that, they have a big sign outside saying that they have been recommended by Let's Go Europe.
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