Provence Day Three

I had a very long day today. After an early breakfast, it was off to the Provencal village of Fayence to see the market. Fayence is another picturesque French village perched on a hilltop. Three days a week there is an open market. It was wonderful. Fresh fruits, vegetables, every kind of cheese imaginable, fresh fish, bread, sausages, fresh pasta, wine, olives and olive oil, just to name a few.

After we walked the market, we went to the oldest perfume factory in the world, the Fragonard in Grasse. There I learned about the flowers and plants that are used in the production of perfume. We also got to see the manufacture of the fine soaps and bath salts made in Grasse.

From Grasse we drove to La Vignette Haute to see a French cooking school and observe a cooking class.

We then drove to another beautiful, ancient hilltop village called Mougins and visited with a couple of chefs. While in Mougins, we dined at L’Amandier on a high balcony overlooking the valley and mountains. In the 17th century, L’Amandier was a place where olive oil was made.

From Mougins, we drove to Cannes, home of the famous “Film Festival”. The festival is next week, so there were giant movie posters everywhere.

While in Cannes, we visited the Chateau la Napoule, former home of the eccentric billionaire artist Henry Clews. The Chateau is centuries old, and stands right on the coast at Cannes.
http://www.chateau-lanapoule.com/index_f.html

We left Cannes and drove to Esterel to see L’Auberge des Adrets.

http://www.auberge-adrets.com/auberge_english.html

Then it was on to Fayence for a mountain top gourmet dinner at Le Castellaras.

Click on “Provence_3” at the link to see today’s photos.

http://photos.yahoo.com/solitary_reaper2006