Provence & Côte d’Azur, southern France 6 - Grasse, Le Bar-sur-Loup, Tourrettes-sur-Loup, Vence & Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Day 6 was the longest driving day with multi stops. We left Aix around 6am and first stopped in Grasse after about two hours drive. Set on a hillside, Grasse is recognized worldwide as the capital of flowers and perfumes. The hill town's specialty was tanning leather in the Middle Ages. In the 16th century, a local tanner created scented leather gloves used in the tanneries to hide the strong leather smell. The idea impressed Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France and quickly got popular among the French upper class as a new fashion. As the demand of scented leather gloves surged, more tanners became glove perfumers and eventually they turned into perfume makers. The natural resources, especially, high quality flowers, including lavender, myrtle, roses, orange blossom, wild mimosas and jasmine in the Grasse area contributed to the transformation. Many of legendary perfumes have been created in the town, including Chanel's iconic No. 5,  first created in 1921. Today Grasse produces over two-thirds of France’s flowers for perfumes and food flavorings and the professionals who design the perfumes are still based mainly in Grasse (and Paris, another capital of French perfume industry). 

The history and the status of Grasse made me expect that I was seeing an graceful town filled with colorful flowers and sweet sent. I was wrong. After about 5 minute walk in the Old Town, actually around the edge of the Old Town, it looked run down... It could be because of the weather. It was the first day without blue sky in the trip. Actually it was a nice change for us since we were a little overwhelmed by summer heat. 

Once we stepped into the Old Town' narrow streets, we found not pink flowers but pink umbrellas blooming! 

We looked for a place for breakfast. There were only few bakeries open at that time and we tried one at Place aux Aires, a long square with a fountain.  

We used one of the bar tables outside of the bakery. There was no chair. I had an apple filled pasty. It was so-so. I don't remember what J had. Probably something savory or just a simple plane croissant.

Later I learned that Grasse holds ExpoRose, the rose festival every May and 2,800 pink umbrellas have been used as decorations for the event in tribute to the rose at least since 2022, when the 50th anniversary was celebrated. I guess the rosy umbrellas are kept during summer after the Expo. 

We reached the Place du Cours Honoré-Cresp, a public terrace overlooking the southeast of Grasse. There was a statue of François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse. He was the French Admiral who played a pivotal role in the end of the American War for Independence. George Washington's words to Paul "Vous avez été l’Arbitre de la guerre." were engraved on the table of the statue. Google translated the phrase as "You have been the Arbiter of the war. I don't know if Washington said so in French or in English.

Below at the corner of the terrace was Parfumerie Fragonard's Historic Factory. Founded in 1926, Fragonard is one of the three major perfume factories in Grasse. The family-run perfumery transformed the 18th century tannery building into a perfume factory. We visited the Perfume Museum in the building for free!

The Perfume Museum tells you the world of perfume from antiquity to the present day along with the exhibition of precious perfumery objects.

We were also able to peek in part of the historical factory, including the maceration and filtering room, where the perfume concentrates are mixed with alcohol and left to macerate for several weeks in stainless steel vats and the macerate is filtered until a completely clear liquid is obtained. 

And there was the shop, of course. Free admission wasn't really free. We ended up with purchasing two kinds of perfume. One for me and one for J. Creating memories of the trip with special fragrance is romantic, isn't it?

We walked more in the Old Town and saw colorful giant blocks of nougat through the glass windows! We couldn't help but enter the shop. Le Chaudron d'Oscar is a craft factory of Nougat de Montélimar since 1949 and produces about 50 tons of nougat a year! Nougat de Montélimar is a Provencal confectionery, originated in Montélimar, located north of Avignon. Le Chaudron d'Oscar makes their Nougat de Montélimar with honey, almonds, egg white, very little sugar and a wide range of refined flavors. 

Those huge nougat loafs were very soft, almost like ice cream. Also they are so sticky. The lady at the shop told us that was because they had rain last day. The nougats are humid-sensitive. We tasted a couple of flavors. They were very sweet but the sweetness was somewhat mellow. J chose one flavored with lavender from Grasse and asked her to make a thin slice to take home.

The shop also had Pâtes de fruits, or French fruit jellies. They were pretty big, too!

We headed to the Grasse Cathedral by following the street signs... After passing by a WWI memorial, we arrived at the Cathedral. The building looked hidden tightly between two other buildings.

The Grasse Cathedral dates from the mid-13th century. The inside was quite dark like a rock cave. A set of three paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, a renowned Flemish Baroque painter, hung on the left side wall, were one of the highlights. 

Our next stop was Le Bar-sur-Loup, a hilltop Medieval village, located less than 10 km northeast of Grasse. The public parking of the village gave us a great view of the the valley of the Loup river.

At the end of the parking someone familiar was standing...

François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, again! Later I learned that Le Bar-sur-Loup was his birthplace, which should be the reason why the statue was there. On the other hand, I don't know what he was pointing at. Both the statues we saw were in the same pose. There must be a story.

We weren't sure where the center of the village was. We walked up to the village's information center, assuming it would be located at or near the main street or square. Yes, fortunately the small non-touristy village had an information center. A lady was there. She kindly gave us a village map that showed the location of the historic buildings and streets. It was written in French, but Google translator helped us. 

Those historic viewpoints were mainly on the southeast hillside of the village. That means we had to do some up and down exercise. 

The village looked like where local people are normally living in. Le Bar-sur-Loup was the least touristy place in the entire trip. I think I didn't see any souvenir store or any kind of store. There was a bistro behind the parking lot, which looked like the only place to eat in the village.

The village was very quiet. We didn't run into anybody but... a cat. Bonjour! 

No car or bicycle either. Well, the streets were narrow and many were slopes or staircases. Driving would be limited and bicycles wouldn't be practical, I assume.

Here's another cat! Bonjour!

After walking around the hilly village, we had a break at the bistro. I had freshly squeezed orange juice. J had ginger beer, I think. If we waited for 15 minutes or so, the bistro would be serving lunch. However, we decided to leave the village and have a lunch at the next stop, Vence. 

On our way to Vence I was able to briefly have a panoramic view of Le Bar-sur-Loup from the car window. It was surprisingly stunning. Soon we were getting close to another hilltop Medieval village, Tourrettes-sur-Loup. We stopped our car on the side of the road and and looked out the village. In 'To Catch a Thief,' a 1955 film by Alfred Hitchcock, Robie (actually Robie's cook who was pretending to be Robie), followed by the Police first drives through Le-Bar-sur-Loup and then Tourrettes-sur-Loup. It was fun to be able to drive the same path!

We arrived at Vence, a Medieval market town situated in hills, with a daily local produce open-air market and hundreds of shops. It was just before 1pm. The town looked busy and it was almost impossible to find a parking spot. However, J succeeded it!

The city center of Vence is completely surrounded by walls built in 13th and 14th centuries. The walls were incorporated into the backside of buildings, which must have helped the walls and the inside of them being well-preserved for centuries. When we stepped in the old town through an arched gate, I could tell that the walls clearly separated the old town from the newer town.

We picked a restaurant near Fontaine du Peyra for lunch and had an outside table. By the way the blue sky was back by then and it was getting hot again.

I had a Salade Niçoise-ish salad. We were going to Nice but I didn't know if I would have a chance to have an authentic Salade Niçoise in Nice. I thought I could tick the famous Nicoise salad off my To-East list with this salad. The dish looked nice, but it was too salty!!!! The huge grilled tuna steak was covered with tons of salt. The large anchovies must have made with salt. The salad dressing was ok but kinda sweet and salty. I think each ingredient was fine. Just too much salt.   

I think J's octopus with potatoes had the same problem.  

The walled old town was flat and easy to walk around. Surprisingly there were less tourists on the narrow streets.  

The Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Nativity in Vence stood at the center of the old town. Built during the Romanesque period on the site of a Roman temple, the Cathedral is the smallest cathedral in France. We just passed by and didn't see the inside.

There was another gate to the newer town... 

The newer town wasn't entirely modern. There were some old charms outside of the old town. 

The old town was pretty small and it didn't take much time to walk around. Before leaving Vence, we had a dessert time at Pâtisserie Palanque et Fils, a French pastry shop in the newer town. I got the last piece of Fraisier because the fresh strawberries on top attracted me. The cake tasted lovely. J had a Paris-Brest. A nice choice!

Our next stop was Saint-Paul-de-Vence, about 15 minute drive south of Vence. Saint-Paul is another Medieval village of southern France, perched on a hill top and enclosed with the walls built in the 16th century. 

We walked on parts of the ramparts and the bastion, and had splendid views around the village!  

The Mediterranean Sea over there! The village has attracted many artists, including Henri Émile, Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall. Chagall lived in the village for nearly 20 years and he rests in the cemetery at the south tip of the village, looking down the hill and the Mediterranean. 

We enjoyed the views of the village side from the ramparts and the bastions, too. The stony buildings with colorful window shutters looked charming.

It was time to explore in the village. The narrow and winding streets between the rows of buildings created a maze. We kept trying to find a path to reach the top of the village. 

Sometimes we ran into a group of tourists. Perhaps the village was the most crowded place that we have been to on the day. The historic square where people of the village used to get water and wash the linen. The old wash house remains behind the mid-19th century fountain. 

 

We found a church. There must be the top of the village. The village church is usually located on the top if there is no castle. 

The Collegial Church looked simple but its construction started in the 14th century and didn't finish until the 18th century. The church's architecture has been modified over the time while the central nave still features the initial Romanesque style.

We walked around the church to make sure there wasn't any path to go higher... 

There was the bell tower of the Collegial Church, which was supposed to be the tallest point of the village. Also, the boxy stone building across the bell tower was Mairie de Saint-Paul-de-Vence. It was the keep, the only remaining part of the old château built in the 12th-14th centuries. We were certainly at the top of the village.

Going down was easy as always. 

We reached the east side of the ramparts and enjoyed the last lovely panoramic view. 

To be continued...