DAY 18

Tuesday 8th July 2008 9:21am Nice

Joining the morning traffic we leave Nice under perfect clear blue skies. The Mediterranean Sea is calm and blue and people enjoy their morning swim, or cycle or jog or walk along the promenade at the waterfront. We will visit the Fraganard Parfumerie at Grasse before driving on to Lyon.

8/7/08 10:50am Grasse

Our sense of smell has been pleasantly overwhelmed by perfume. The French lady from Fraganard gave us an interesting tour and explanation of their factory and perfume-making process. To be a “nez” takes seven years of study in chemistry at university and also needs a natural gift. Five tones of jasmine make 1 litre of essence. Perfume has 25% essence, alcohol and no water. Eau de toilette has 10% essence alcohol and water.

We were given sticks of paper with different perfumes to sample. Now back on the bus we all smell beautiful. Deborah tells us about the region of Provence. Cyprus trees are planted around the perimeters of orchards in Provence to protect the fruit trees from the strong winds – the mistral – that can reach speeds of 260 km/hr.

8/7/08 12:10pm

This French landscape between Nice and Avignon differs a great deal from italy. The motorway passes through a rugged treed landscape free of the electrical wires that ruin the Italian vistas. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the French use nuclear energy for their energy needs. It is a clear sunny day free of any haze and we pass a nuclear power station before driving into Aix-en-Provence.

8/7/08 1:45pm Avignon

This motorway lunch stop was a far improvement from our experiences in Italy. It was not crowded, organized, clean and friendly. I spoke French to order a grainy baguette with salad and tuna, frittes and a boisson of Coca-Cola. I could understand the waitress’s replies and she bid me a friendly “Bon apetit!” Even outside the park was well maintained with cut grass and lots of clean picnic tables.

We are now driving through the area where the orchards are protected by Cyprus tree borders. The rectangles are not big – maybe ½ acre plots. The nearby hills are very rocky and gravelly. It is much cooler today, still summery and we are comfortable in shorts and T-shirts, but without the sweat.

8/7/08 4:17pm Avignon

Avignon was very lively due to the start of the Festival de Avignon. There were street stalls, puppeteers, musicians, dancers, buskers and people everywhere. We wandered around the crowded streets and squares, bought an ice-cream each, and then walked out to the river banks where we sat on the grass in the shade watching the activities. A group of boys paddled their yellow canoes under the famous Pont de St Benezet from the song “Sur le pont d”Avignon”.

People walked out on the arched stone bridge to the end where is finishes mid-stream. Some black dogs chased the ducks out into the current of the river until they tired and struggled back to the bank. It is a lovely river, the river Rhone, which flows from Switzerland. Avignon was a papal city from 1309 – 1377. It is an old stone walled city with a cathedral and a palace where the Pope once resided.

8/7/08 5:18pm

The scenery has changed from the Mediterranean environment we have been enjoying to a much greener and more rural landscape. Lavender plants and sunflowers cover the fields. The trees are lush and the hills are covered with vegetation. We are near Montellimar where the famous nougat is made. Michael sleeps and music plays quietly. I wear a hat to shade myself from the warm sun streaming in through the window. I don’t want to draw the curtain because I don’t want to miss anything.

8/7/08 9pm Lyon

Dinner in Lyon was fantastic. We arrived at 7pm at Restaurant La Voute and had a salad of endive, bacon, egg and tomato. The main course was tender veal in gravy, boiled potato and spinach. Dessert was a slice of chocolate mousse cake with pistachio sauce and strawberries. We drank Beaujolais and had coffee to finish. Out by 8.30pm and then back to the Park & Suites Hotel on the outskirts of Lyon. Michael had said to Deborah that our last few hotel rooms had been less that good and so miraculously this suite is the best by far. It has a separate bedroom and bathroom, a lounge and dining area with a flat screen TV, dishwasher, microwave and more. More that what we need for one night. It is all ultra modern and clean. It is not near the city centre so we won’t get to see any more of Lyon other than what we saw from the bus. Here the Rhone and the Sone rivers meet and so the riverside in the city was very well landscaped for urban needs.