The cote d'azur

Despite the loveliness of the setting we couldn’t stay so close to the Cote d’Azur and not pay a visit to its famous towns and coast line. I was afraid we weren’t getting the best of Grasse as the first morning we spend a very hot and frustrating time trying to find the obligatory laundry, along with somewhere to park. We eventually found one, though they couldn’t get it back to us till Friday, which resulted in an emergency trip to Galeries Lafayette in Cannes for a couple more bras! We also managed to get the car washed as it was looking a little less shiny after such a long trip. Jobs done we then wandered round the lovely old town and found a nice cafe for large salads and a pichet of Provencal rose. We paid a quick visit to the Fragonard perfume factory though the shop was crammed with tourists so I didn’t bother to buy anything.
We drove down into Cannes, which despite the traffic and the haut saison crowds was still impressive. We managed some shopping – the aforementioned underwear, not quite as good value as M&S but close enough and contact lens solution and other necessary toiletries. We walked along the Croissette and up through the old town to the castle and enjoyed another huge salad and bottle of the local rose (a chateau Minuty, which we used to drink in Abu Dhabi and still cheaper despite Cannes’ prices). Then it was back to our eyrie and a good long swim in the fabulous pool. The next day we went to Nice, though failed to find the Route Napoleon down into the town and had to trail along the coast road from Antibes. We admired the yachts in the port and John was delighted to see that the restaurant (L’Ane Rouge), where he had had dinner with Sir Roger Sargent in the 70s when he was a PhD student and Roger his supervisor on his first overseas conference, was still there. We walked along the Promenade des Anglais and through the old town where we found an authentic local restaurant for lunch – Beignets and Farcis a la Provencal followed by Mouse au Chocolat and Crème Carmel. On the way back we managed to find the right road but still got lost trying to get through Grasse but at least we didn’t need any dinner.
Even though it was very crowded and the traffic incredibly busy we very much enjoyed this corner of France and had plenty of opportunity to pose with the top down and get the best out of the car, though it has acquired a mysterious scratch on the rear bumper. We packed up on Friday, as the hotel was full and couldn’t accommodate us for our usual five nights, but we were only heading for Saint Maxime, in the Gulf of St Tropez, so not too far this time. We even managed to pack in such a way as to allow us to make the drive to this part of the coast with the roof open, though when I picked up the laundry on the way that proved difficult to stow without resembling a mobile dry cleaners!