Sunday, June 12, 2011

Fragonard and Eze

In France this weekend we have an extra day to celebrate Pentacost. So it was the perfect time to
explore the surroundings a bit more.

The area around Nice, Provence, is well known in
France for perfume production, since flowers grow well in the moderate climate. On our 2006 trip, we visited the perfumerie Fragonard, and another visit was in order. The visit started with a guided tour of their factory. The factory here handles all of their soaps and cosmetics, while the factory in Grasse makes all of the perfumes. The colored ovals shown in the photo are soaps which are each hand-stamped into their final shape. After a perfume testing in the boutique, it was time to visit the village itself.

 Eze was first populated around 2000 BC. At some point in the 1200's, the castle (now destroyed) was built and in the 1300's a church was built, which is still standing today. The town has been maintained and is now filled with little shops, restaurants and lots of flowers.  At the very top of the hill is a garden surrounding the ruins of the castle. From this height you can see a fair amount of the riviera coastline, and on a clear day, Corsica. At several points during the visit, C asked herself "do I really live here?"






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