Barcelona - Cannes

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” 

 ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Today is apparently the last really long travel day that we will experience on the trip.  Google maps indicated that it’s a 6.5-hour drive.  I know I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating here again, the long travel in the coach is not the most enjoyable part of the process.  I realize we have to get there somehow – that’s a given.  However, when you are standing in the travel agency, looking at the brochure, all you see are the cool destinations.  I didn’t rationalize that I would be spending this much time on the coach.  That said – I don’t what it to sound like I’m not enjoying the trip.  I am.  Very much!  We’ve got to see some of the most beautiful places in the world thus far and there is still much more to come.

We were up before 6 AM this morning so that we could have our bags out at 6:45 AM.  Breakfast was a nice buffet of the usual suspects.  I went for the traditional eggs, bit of bacon (not the stuff I packed) (actually I didn’t pack it since I found out they HAVE bacon over here ;) and OJ.  Laureen made sure to have a cup of coffee, as she said it is quite good, but very dark!  The way they ask you here in Spain is: “Café con leche?” which means, coffee with milk.  Because it’s such a dark/strong brew here, I actually switch it around, “Leche con café?” (you know what I mean).

It didn’t take very long to hit the border with France.  The Pyrenees mountains form a natural barrier between the two countries.  The landscape change was quite noticeable, as in the south of France, there are many orchards.  Some of the places were amazingly picturesque, but traveling in the coach, it’s difficult to get a good picture of something as you are going by it at 100 KM’s an hour.

Vineyard in Southern France 

On The Coach - In Front of Steve & Margaret

We also learned a few interesting things along the way.  We traveled through the city of Nimes.  This is where Denim first came from, and it’s the Romans we have to thank for it.  The name "denim" derives from French serge de Nimes, meaning "serge from Nimes". Putting the words together you get De-Nimes.  Denim was traditionally colored blue with indigo dye to make blue jeans, although "jean" formerly denoted a different, lighter, cotton fabric. The contemporary use of the word "jeans" comes from the French word for Genoa, Italy (Genes), where the first denim pants were made.  The birthplace of Jeans!  Who would have known!

Starry Night - Vincent Van Gogh

We also traveled through the town of Arles, France which was the last home of Vincent Van Gogh.  He spent the last few years of his life here, and it’s the place where he painted his most famous painting, The Starry Night.

About a half hour before we arrived in Cannes, we stopped at a Perfumery (a place where they make perfume - kinda obvious, I know).  We had a short tour of the place, seeing the process from beginning to end.  Unfortunately, it was Sunday, so there were no people actually in the factory going through the process of creating fragrances.  There is one important person in the process, and they are referred to as “The Nose”.  It’s this person’s job to actually create the fragrances, by mixing the elements that they can use together to get the different scents.  Apparently the role of “The Nose” is paid extremely well, and an experienced individual will be able to recognize over 3000 scents.  All I can tell you is, it smelled in that place! ;-)

Entrance to the Purfume

The Laboratory in the Perfume Factory

We arrived at the hotel, just 3 blocks off of the water.  There was no scheduled dinner tonight, so after we received our luggage to our room, we decided to go and wander around to find something to eat.  Just as we were leaving we ran into Peter and Pat, so we started to walk with them.  Then we also ran into Alf and Diane and they joined us a well.  Peter and Pat decided they wanted to go to McDonalds for dinner (Pat really only eats Potatoes and Bread – so finding stuff for her can be a challenge).  Alf, Di, Laureen and I walked for a while until we found a nice little Italian place in view of the harbor.  We all had a form of spaghetti – and it was amazing!

Dinner in Cannes Near the Harbor

After dinner we walked down to the harbor/beach area.  Most of the beaches here are private, so they are fenced off.  You can rent a place on the beach at a number of them, or you can go to the public beach area.  The sand in Cannes is apparently brought-in, as all the other beaches in the area are pebbles, not sand.  I had to take off my flip-flops and walked across the sand down to the water and put my feet in the Mediterranean Sea.  It was a little cool, but one could see how it would be fantastic on a hot summer day.

Just Feet in the Water

Cannes, France.  The Mediterranean.   

We walked a little further and passed in front of the stairs that lead up to the place where they hold the internationally recognized Cannes Film Festival every year (I think it’s in May).  A perfect spot for a photo op!

Red Carpet Entrance to the Cannes Film Festival Location

From there we decided to head back to the hotel, with one short stop at an ice-cream place along the way.  Tomorrow, because we did not sign up for the excursion, we actually have the whole day to ourselves!  We could take the train into Nice, but we’re not sure exactly what is open there given what has just occurred a few days earlier.  I think we will play it by ear, getting up whenever we wake up and then figuring out what we will do in Cannes for the day.

Curt & Laureen in Cannes, France.