Grasse is beautifully set with views over the foothills to the Mediterranean. We stepped off the bus on to a parking lot that had a great overlook. It seems we had just missed the big event because groups of children were kicking and tossing about large wads of colored streamers. As we walked away from the overlook a tumbleweed of streamers passed us by and an older man chatted with us jovially about it. We smiled, laughed and nodded appreciating his friendliness but comprehended none of his words.
There were a couple of perfume museums and we opted for the one with free admission. We browsed an extensive personal collection of ancient to more modern perfume containers. The building led us to a store of perfumes and other related items that was crowded with people. We found a saleswoman who spoke English and she informed us that there was a tour of the perfumery’s facilities in English.
We took the tour which had a demonstration of older techniques of fragrance extraction, including effleurage where the flowers are put on sheets of beef or pork fat. They were removed and replaced each day for three months or until the fat was completely saturated with the essence of the flower. Then alcohol is used to extract the essential oils. Other more modern techniques still use enormous amounts of flowers to create just a small amount of essential oil (on which perfume and eau de toilette is based). It takes 3.5 tons of roses to make one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of essential oil. The difference between eau de toilette and perfume has to do with the percentage of essential oil in the fragrant liquid. Perfume is about 30% essential oils and eau de toilette is about 10%. Also, the aluminum bottles help keep the perfume longer than the transparent glass bottles. There is also an enormous price difference between the perfumes in the glass bottles and those in the aluminum (with aluminum being much more pricy).
By the time we were done with the museum, it was about 4:30 (half four as they might say), and we thought we would stroll the town. There were steep narrow streets with intricate walkways and mysterious tunnels. We thought we would like to buy some fruit and bread and walked up a narrow way to a number of shops. We were not comfortable buying in the area because large groups of men (who appeared to be North African) were loitering around and staring at us. In fact, I felt like I was the only woman in the fairly crowded area. We pressed onward and found a group of police officers loitering next to the loiterers and staring at us in just the same way. It took me a minute to realize they had official uniforms on and were, perhaps, keeping the peace.
We came to another narrow street with another row of nicer looking shops. We were getting much hungrier now from walking uphill so much and to our dismay, every creperie and pizzeria was closing their doors. It was maybe 5:00 PM. We walked into a pizzeria who had left their doors open and he explained that pizza is only for dejuner (lunch) and not diner (dinner). We descended the hill and found we were getting away from food and the shops with only a “McDonald’s Ahead” sign to bring us any hope. We were hungry but were not interested in a large slice of brie with a burger so we ascended the hill again. We found even more loiterers in an area that had two bakeries across the street from each other. We opted for the one with the least amount of loiterers in front of it. The bakery had North African cuisine with a number of unrecognizable savory pastries and sandwiches. We had been trying to speak to people all day and most knew no or very little English. We were delighted to find that the North African man running the shop knew English quite well and made a great explanatory presentation of what he was selling. He wasn’t completely comprehensible, though, and I think we accidentally bargained him up (rather than down) and he happily sold some large “kebab filled” pastries for 5 Euro to us. Then he asked us where we were from and we said America. He then guessed LA, probably because no one had ever bought his large pastries for so much before.
It was getting dark so we made our way back to the bus stop. We ate the pastries and thought we were still hungry after finishing them. About 30 minutes later, we felt overwhelmingly full. I think they were at least 700 calories each, if not 900. They were greasy and delicious but the after-feeling was one of intense heaviness.
As we were waiting for the bus, a police car with lights floored it past two cars going up the hill. There was a third in front of the two that the police car was unable to pass because two or three cars were coming down the hill. The police car almost hit the oncoming car head on as it zoomed up the narrow street. Meanwhile, the other cars all slammed on their breaks in both lanes. The police car dodged back into its appropriate lane behind the third car to avoid the head on collision. The third car slowed down and tried pulling over to let the officer pass which almost cause the officer to rear end that car. Minutes later, the same police car (we think) drove crazily down around the next street. We were wondering if he even knew where he was going or if he just liked to drive like that for fun.
Bernie is telling me to stop writing. Bonsoir!
Regina
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