PROVENCE

Casses is a charming town with Parc National des Calanques.  

We left Rabelo and took a train to the South of France joining our friends Louise and Neil.  They took it upon themselves to give us a fabulous introduction to an area we had never visited before.  We took a boat ride while in Casses where we saw tall sheer cliffs with the occasional small beach.  Some of these little beaches are only accessible by kayak, small dinghy, or climbing down a cliff.  We joined the hoards of tourists for lunch at Casses and did some people watching.

We went to St-Tropez and admired the mega yachts.

Continuing our tour we went to Antibes where we saw the 13th Century Chateau Grimaldi which served as Picasso's studio from July-december 1946.  We toured the chateau which is now a museum housing a collection of Picasso's paintings, lithographs, drawings and ceramics as well as an interesting photographic record of the artist at work.  He liked being photographed shirtless.

Small beaches against cliffs.  They aren't anything like the beautiful sandy beaches we have in Southern California.

We took a boat ride to see the beautiful cliffs and inlets

Original front entrance to the Monastery of La Verne

Monastery of La Verne

 Neil took us on a long, extremely windy, narrow road up to the Monastery of La Verne.  It is a former Carthusian monastery of the 12th century.  The Monastery is composed of three areas.  The cloister which is the heart of the monastery is for the monastic sisters who live in solitude.

Bakery

Small cloister with 17th Century serpentine stone arcades

Restored monks cell where a monk prayed, lived, worked, slept and ate all the days of his life.  He left his cell only for the two daily liturgical celebrations in the church. 

Louise and Neil wanted us to see all the famous spots - so next was Cannes with its well known film festival and reputation as the playground for the rich and famous.

This famous couple agreed to pose for us overlooking the beautiful coastline of Cannes.

Antibes with the Chateau Grimaldi behind us.

 Having never seen how perfume and soap are made we went to Parfumerie Fragonard and learned how it's all done.

Pieces of scented soap entering the machine where it is turned into tubes

Tubes of soap coming out of the machine are stacked in boxes.

The tubes are placed into another machine where they are stamped into bars of soap.

Next on the list was Grasse, the world capital of fragrance.

We viewed the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Puy.  They had an impressive collection of art inside.  One wall was lined with paintings by Rubens including the Crown of Thorns and Christ Crucified.  Notre Dame du Puy Cathedral is listed as a historic building (12th, 13th, and 18th centuries).  It is a perfect example of the Romanesque style of Provence with its high, narrow nave, vaulted with heavy arcs.

The alter was impressive.

Not all of the cathedral is in perfect condition.

Our whirlwind tour continues…stay tuned.