We visited the train station and realized that there is a reservation fee for long train rides in addition to the cost of the Eurail Pass. I guess even if we were to buy the ticket at the station, we would still need to pay a reservation fee. The travel industry gets you where they can.
So, we embarked on a quest for a restroom since there were not any at the station and it was actually quite the expedition. We were even willing to buy food in a restaurant if they had a restroom. Many of the small eateries that lined the streets had nothing of the sort. We made it to the harbor filled with yachts and saw A MCDONALDS! We noticed there were kiosks that looked like ATMs where you could make your order outside and then come in and pick it up. The McDonald’s was packed and even overflowing with people. It seemed the popular place for young lovers to eat lunch. We tried to sneak in to use the restroom (squeezing around all the people) and there was a code on the door! You had to buy something before they would give you the code. So we bought two double cheeseburgers and a frappe which tasted like they did in the States. In fact, they used American cheese but they called it “cheese fondue.”
After browsing the street market of silverware, art, and crafts, we headed to the beach. It looked like they had to import sand.
We thought we would enjoy some of the snacks we brought. Well, I had never actually cooked hard-boiled eggs myself and had only cooked them for 5 minutes. When we opened our bag, one of the soft-boiled eggs had exploded over everything! So we ate our yolk-covered tea-time snack and washed our hands in the Mediterranean. We relaxed on the beach, watching a group of teenagers feed the black-headed seagulls and some young men do flips. Once we were chilled to the bone we went for a walk.
It seemed we were walking with some of the richest people in the world by rich hotels and expensive restaurants. Ladies were wearing real furs (some with the feet still on them!!) and there were a variety of classy, expensive outfits. The view along the Mediterranean was beautiful with the irregularly shaped mountains across the harbor. As we passed the Carlton Hotel (the hotel they shot “The Thief” in, I believe) we saw paparazzi waiting outside for a star to come out. There was even a red Ferrari parked right outside the front door.
We found a quiet park where the elderly and the people with young children visited. There were many perfectly manicured pure-bred small dogs being walked in the area. One woman brought her pet rooster. The rooster asserted his dominance over the small dogs and made a game of attacking the lady’s blue bag. She would also hold the rooster in her lap for long periods of time without fear of being pooped on. I wondered if it was toilet trained.
On the way back to the bus, we found a boulangerie where we bought a baguette and an éclair. Bernie is now officially addicted to éclairs.
On Sunday, we went to Mass and the congregation was very welcoming. They recognized us from last week and the people who knew a little English all chatted with us. They even announced that they were glad to have “English visitors” (in French, of course). That was us. Generally, people guess that we are from England because it’s probably less common for people to visit from the US than England.
Unfortunately, that morning I had decided to try out a free sample of perfume from the perfumery in Grasse and put some on my clothes before going to Mass. In the middle of Mass, I started sweating profusely and felt like I was going to passed out. I had to sit down. I felt much better after I took my sweater off. It was a little embarrassing because it was about the time of the “kiss of peace” when I was really sweating and not feeling well. If I was feeling well, we probably would have walked to Mouans-Sartoux to buy éclairs before the shops closed at noon on Sunday. Oh well. Bernie will have to survive by eating Nutella straight out of the jar.
Au Revoir!
Regina
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