Wow! Wix sure has some neat tools now with the A.I capability built into this blog program. I asked Wix A.I. to show me an “old village, perched on a cliff, overlooking the sea” and this was the image that came back for me to review! Amazing! The power of technology!
Speaking of technology, today was a very rainy day so we called an UBER to bring us to our destination for the day. EZE Village is not an easy place to get to by bus and the SNCF train goes to EZE Sur Mer, not EZE Village. We would have spent over 1.5 hours trying to get to EZE by bus and since I had a work call I needed to be back for this afternoon, public transit was not going to work for us today.
Our shiny black UBER X brought us through the busy traffic streets in Nice and up the coastal road overlooking where we had been yesterday in Villefranche-sur-mer (VSM) and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. We could see that a MSC Cruise ship was anchored at VSM and that invariably there would be buses departing for excursions probably to EZE where we were heading. Given the size of these small towns in the French Riviera a ship of 4,000 people would definitely overrun many small towns and we didn’t want to be anywhere near a cruise ship tour today with limited time we had in EZE!
As we drove further and further up the mountains the clouds seeming to be coming down to where we were; bringing with them very heavy rain! I had wanted to bring my rain jacket but also didn’t want to carry it if it turned out to be a nice day. Anyway, we had our 2 umbrellas and as soon as the UBER dropped us off we had to figure out what to do in the pouring rain!
We saw a sign which said “Free tours” and we knew that there was a perfume factory in EZE, so we decided we would walk down the hill to the “Parfumerie Fragonard” to get out of the rain!
We saw that Lexus was doing a ride and drive perhaps for their dealers with the Fragonard Perfume factory being a destination for the drivers to change cars? It made sense to be using the Perfume factory as a check point for a ‘Ride and Drive” as I’ve been on many of these Ride and Drives over the years in my previous life in Automotive, and they always involved a spot where we could use a washroom at the driver exchange location. Richard felt like he needed to break out his clipboard and start working the Lexus event, but instead we went inside the Perfume Factory for a break from the rain and a brief tour.
I had not heard of this brand of perfume before but if they had free tours we were happy to get out of the rain!
Fragonard Perfume factory, EZE Village
The Fragonard brand was founded in 1926 by a former Parisian notary, Eugene Fuchs, in one of the oldest factories in the city of Paris. The company is named after the local painter Jean-Honor Fragonard, the son of the parfumer at the court. The company is still family run by the great granddaughters of Eugene Fuchs. The company has 3 perfume factories located in: Paris, EZE and Grasse, France. During WW2 the shortage of glass forced the company to turn to a golden aluminum canister for its perfumes which has become their trademark and which also protects the fragrance from light and lengthens its lifespan.
Making soap and packaging it by hand
Perfume factory
We had a fairly quick tour of the Fragonard Parfumerie with an English speaking tour guide along with another couple from Australia.
Nope. I don’t like that one either!
Our samples of perfume
Our guide then turned into an expert salesperson giving us little samples of Royal Jelly and Argan Oil to try on our hands. Next our salesperson gave us paper sticks on which she sprayed with samples of the various Fragonard perfumes. The perfumes started with Fresh, Floral, Fruity, to Oriental in the Feminine scents. The masculine scents were only Eaux de Toilette and were Fresh, Aromatic and Woody.
My purchases at Fragonard Perfume factory which did not include perfume!
I do not wear perfume and Richard does not wear cologne, yet here we were smelling these perfumes and wondering how come neither one of us could stand any of the scents we were being given to try? Frankly we hated all of them! Anyway, our Salesperson was a good salesperson and we ended up buying some Royal Jelly face cream as well as some under eye cream. I think I’ve kept the French pharmacies in business on this trip buying up all of the La Roche Posay products we either don’t get or find really pricy back home, so what was one more face cream or eye cream today for a free tour of the Perfume factory and to get out of the rain?!
The church in EZE Village that I wanted to see. Now we had to figure out how to get up there walking on a slippery path!
Lucky for us, the detour to the perfume factory gave us enough time have the weather change because we now had a pleasant day to climb all the way up to the top of the perched, quaint village of EZE. Looking at the climb we had in front of us was pretty daunting and as Richard would often say “It isn’t for the faint of heart”!
The cobblestone pathways up to the village of EZE were extremely slippery because of the rain. I think if I heard “BE CAREFUL” from Richard once, I must have heard it 50 times!
Why not have a mural half way up the walk to EZE Village! And another Fragonard perfume store in case you missed the factory tour!
Almost there!
Views as we walked higher up to the perched EZE Village
The views as we were climbing up to EZE Village were amazing and the fog hanging around the mountain vistas was adding to the beauty of the scene.
Church in EZE Village
When we reached the top of our climb I knew I wanted to see the church at the top of the hill. The church really stood out because of the bell tower and the ochre colour of the stucco on the church. There were signs at the top of EZE Village pointing us to go right to Elise Notre-Dame-de l’Assomption so we followed the rather slippery path to the entrance to the church.
Elgise Notre-Dame-de l’Assomption was built on the foundations of a 12th century church between 1764 and 1778 by an Italian architect Antoine Spinelli in the neoclassical style. The tower was built in the 19th century and has repeatedly been struck by lightening so the original dome on the tower has been removed.
Lighting a candle for his dad
Church ceiling
Unfortunately for us the church is undergoing a complete restoration of the interior walls and everything inside except for the alter was covered in scaffolding and tarpaulins. Oh well, I’m sure it will look beautiful once it is fully restored.
It would be very difficult to try and give someone directions to your residence in this town!
Don’t trespass!
The red pot looks beautiful perched precariously on these steps!
So many little alley ways in EZE Village!
I loved the overhanging bushes in this shot!
Slippery steps EZE Village
I must have caught Richard off guard with the look on his face!
EZE Village was like a maze of narrow cobblestone streets which had no rhyme or reason to them. Some meandered left and some right and some sideways. There were small shops, small restaurants, a Michelin star hotel and many art galleries all scattered throughout the quaint hilly village. Every time we turned the corner though there was another beautiful sight to photograph! I had so much fun trying to get the best shots today in EZE Village because the ancient city was gorgeous!
Unfortunately it was also very slippery and we came upon a tourist who had fallen and had an ice pack on her ankle and was unable to make her way down from one of the streets in EZE village. As we were walking down the hill back to the newer part of EZE, passing by the all too familiary popsicle stick, “stay with the tour”, MSC tour guide and group, we could see an ambulance was on its way up the hill to help bring this lady that had fallen down from the perched EZE Village. Richard complimented me on my cautious approach to the slippery cobblestones today because I’m sure he was nerve wracked the entire time we were up in EZE Village!
I had wanted to go to EZE Sur Mer today as well but the bus to get to EZE Sur Mer was 20 minutes away and the bus ride was going to be 22 minutes. I had to be back for a work call at 3:30pm so I didn’t want to risk being stuck somewhere without a good internet connection for my call, so instead of touring some more we called an UBER to take us back to our spot in Nice.
After my work call we headed out to see some monuments that I had read about in a book that our VRBO owner had left in our apartment called “Curious HIstories of Nice, France” by Margo Lestz.
We also brought our recycling with us on our walk so that we could dump the blue bag into the 3 containers for : paper, glass and plastic. The area around the recycling depot is always quite messy so I’m glad we do not have this depot near our apartment.!
Excelsior Hotel where the Jews in WW2 were rounded up and then sent to the death camps at the Nice train station which is just out of shot to the right in this photo
Jewish war memorial Nice
The first plaque we visited was in front of the Excelsior Hotel at 19 Avenue Durante which is dedicated to the WW2 Jewish deportation from September 1943-August 1944 when more than 3,000 Jews including 264 children were arrested in the Cote D’Azure and Monaco area. The horrifying nightmare of the Nazi regime in the area continues to be remembered today by anyone willing to stop and read the plaque.
Resitance fighters memorialized for their sacrifice during WW2
Remember and think back to this time….
The second 2 plaques we visited were near Galeries Lafayette. I’m sure we had walked past these plaques and not given them a second look until I read about them today. In June 1944 the American troops had landed in Provence. Resistance activities in NIce escalated and two German soldiers and a colonel were killed. The Nazis decided to teach the people a lesson so they went to the village of Gattieres, near Grasse and rounded up all of the men. They selected two men who were suspected of being members of the Resistance and brought them to Nice to make an example of them. They were imprisoned and tortured before being condemned to death by a military tribunal. The two men were Ange Grasse, a 40 year old Italian mason and Seraphin Torrin, a 32 year old farmer from Provence. On July 7, the two men were hanged from the streetlights just in front of where the two plaques are located. These two men became symbols of the Resistance and today the arcades bear their names: Arcade Grasse and Arcade Torrin. The executions didn’t have the effect the Germans had hoped for and instead of weakening the Resistance, it grew stronger such that in August the Nicois decided they couldn’t wait for help to come and by August 28th there was a violent uprising and the Germans left the city of Nice and the Americans arrived 2 days later to find the Nicois had already liberated their city.
We truly enjoyed part of our day in the perched village of EZE as well as continuing to explore and learn about the history of Nice while staying here. The history and architecture continue to amaze us as well as the stunning vistas that we have been able to see and explore.
Another A.I. Image of “French coast line, people. Umbrellas and puddles and the sea and rain”. Nailed it!
Tomorrow’s weather forecast does not look great but we will venture out with rain gear in hand to make the most of the days we have left in this stunning place called the Cote D’azure!
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