Below is the continuation of my Europe trip blog. If you don’t start at the beginning, they don’t make much sense! Thanks for reading!

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The next morning we left the Busby hotel and headed off to Fragonard Perfumery which was just up the lower Corniche road on the way to Monaco. Driving past the glittering morning Cote d’Azur we stopped high atop a hill where the perfumery was located. Once inside we began our tour where they told us how natural perfume is made. At Fragonard they believe in all natural perfumes, but many on the market today are synthetic, and after the tour I could understand why. I bet you had no idea it takes 3 tons of rose petals to get an ounce of pure rose ‘essence’ or the concentration needed to make 1 bottle of perfume.

I thought the tour would be somewhat boring since I’m not a huge perfume freak… but I had no idea how complicated it is to make a bottle of smelly liquid, and I gained a lot of respect for the industry. They also talked about the process of actually designing fragrances… something that I never even contemplated in the past is that my perfume was designed by someone who likely spent over a year in a lab perfecting the smell.

After the tour we shopped the factory store a bit and then headed off to Monaco. Driving into the principality—the term for a country governed by a prince—was the first indication we were in one of the wealthiest, albeit very small, nations in the world… you have to pay an entrance fee at the border. The drive in is a crazy one; down winding but beautiful roads combing through an extremely densely populated metropolitan mountainside where to live in someone’s closet your rent would be more than a house where I live. On our descent down toward the shoreline of the Cote d’Azur, where the Grimaldi Palace, our destination, was located, we passed the remains of the track for the Formula One race that had taken place a few weeks before, and the starting line of the 2009 Tour de France, which was happening the following week.

Upon arrival at the Grimaldi palace tour bus parking, you go down a ramp that parks you right at the base of the water (there is no beach)… it’s hard to explain, so a picture will have to do.

You follow the escalators and elevators up to street level, on top of the cliff you parked in, and you still have a short walk to the Palace, past the church where the Royal family always has their weddings, and where Price Rainier and Princess Grace got married.

While we were there I was unaware of this fact, but upon recent Google searching I discovered (cut me some slack for not knowing, I wasn’t alive then) that Princess Grace was the famous American actress Grace Kelly.

Then you arrive at the Palace, where the guards are probably the most interesting thing you’ll see… the view of the entire country from the palace walls is amazing.

On our way back to the bus we stopped in a bunch of Ferrari shops, and then thanks to our friends Rob and Chanel we found a beautiful little hidden path along the cliff, overlooking a marina and the sea…

After our stop in Monaco we headed back into France on our way toward Pisa & Tuscany. It was a very long drive through the foothills of the Alps. Jelle told us at the beginning of the drive “a great way to pass the time on this stretch of road is to count the tunnels we drive though, because there are over 150.” I honestly didn’t believe there could possibly be that many and thought he was being sarcastic, so I actually kept count until about the 60th tunnel when I started to fall asleep. (We weren’t even 1/2 way though the drive).

For lunch we stopped near the industrial town of Genoa, Italy and had the first true Italian meal of our lives… I had penne pasta with a meat sauce, a salad with vinegar and olive oil dressing and a cake like dessert that I forget the name of that was delicious. I was so tired of french food that I ate it extremely fast and enthusiastically which greatly surprised Jelle who had sat next to me. He said when we sat down “you’re not going to finish all that are you?” I ate every last drop. He said to the people we were sitting with “I’ve never seen these girls eat like this… this is amazing no?” Ally and I really love our Italian food.

After a million more tunnels we finally reached the town of Pisa, famous only for its leaning tower, which is odd since there are many other leaning towers in Italy… for whatever reason tourists just love the tower of Pisa. It’s a long walk from the bus stop so we took little trains which still drop you off quite a ways from the church and its famous leaning bell tower.

We had to walk through many merchants and shops set up on the side of the sidewalks and roads leading to the tower. We ended up buying a lovely shirt for our little brother Brian of Bart Simpson farting while holding up the leaning tower.

Once you get past the first section of shops and turn past a huge wall, for the first time you finally see the tower in the distance. Something interesting I knew of but never took much notice of before was that there is a huge gorgeous church in front of the tower, as the tower is actually the church’s bell tower. I was way more impressed with the church than the tower itself to be honest. Ally and I were too tired from walking in the 100 degree mid-day Italian summer heat to make it all the way to the tower itself, but we were perfectly content getting close enough to take the famous holding up the tower picture…

It was actually much more difficult to get than I imagined since about 200 other people are trying to get the same shot all around you and keep getting in your way or asking you to take their picture for them.

After Pisa we drove to our hotel in Montecatini, which was our only stop of the tour that was 1 night instead of 2. We were blessed again with a very nice room with a huge balcony, but the bathroom in this hotel was probably the worst of the tour. Let’s just say I’m skinny and I barely fit in the “shower” without bumping my elbows on the walls 100 times just trying to wash my hair. It was dinner time when we arrived at the hotel so we all just freshened up and went right back downstairs for dinner in the hotel.

Upon arrival at dinner we could already see there might be a problem because Jelle wasn’t eating with us (we concluded up to this point that when he stayed at and ate at our hotel it was because it was pretty good, and when it wasn’t going to be good he stayed at and ate at the more expensive tour’s hotel) and everyone else at the hotel’s restaurant was about 90 years old.

The fixed menu was a penne pasta dish, veal & vegetables, and a sort-of cake for dessert. We had so much fun making fun of how awful it tasted that I didn’t even mind how bad it was in the end. It made for hilarious conversation with our friends from Singapore and Australia. We upset the poor waitresses terribly, because in Italy if you leave food on your plate it means you didn’t like it… and we left a lot. Afterwards Ally and a bunch of our friends went out on the town, but for the first and only time I decided to just chill in the hotel room and go to bed.

The next morning we headed off to the city of Florence. I found it quite interesting that when you approach Florence, much like Monaco, you have to stop at an office and pay a tax to enter the city. This time it was based on the emissions of your car… so the only way you get into the city free is if your car is electric, otherwise you pay on a scale of how bad your engine is.

On arrival into Florence we passed a very large modern building that Jelle apparently hated because he launched into an attack on how ugly the design was because they used both squares and circles in the design… which wasn’t particularly funny or interesting until Chanel chimed in from the back “I don’t think it’s ugly, it’s artistic… you have no taste!! Nobody cares what you think!” which, as usual, had Ally and I cracking up.

The drive wasn’t a very long one and in no time we had exited the bus and Jelle introduced us to our local guide for the walking tour of Florence. It was quite hot and she kept us in the shade almost the entire walk which was splendid. Our first stop was the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiori) a fabulous gothic cathedral designed by Brunelleschi and completed in 1463. I can’t tell you how amazing it is seeing buildings like the Duomo that I studied meticulously in Art History class in person. You just get this feeling like… oh my gosh, it’s actually real… how can something so amazing actually be here, still in pristine condition hundreds of years later?

Our next stop on the walking tour was Piazza della Signoria, the square where the original statue of David used to stand, before they moved it to the Accademia to keep it safe from the weather. In its place they put the first “original” copy. According to our guide the first 7 copies of a work of art are allowed to be called the “original”, but after 7 they are only to be called copies. I’m explaining this because sadly Ally and I ran out of time (actually we just got too lazy and chose to eat instead) to see the “original original” David in the Accademia, and instead just settled for original #2 that is an exact and perfect copy still in the Piazza della Signoria.

The square is full of wonderful sculptures and just behind David is a beautiful church that you can step into with an open air courtyard. While the square is quite busy and bustling with tourists, the church was almost empty and was a lovely relief at the moment. The most amazing thing about old European cities is that around every corner you can find a gorgeous church or sculpture or fountain. You don’t even have to look.

Next on our tour was the Basilica of Santa Croce, which surprised me more than any other stop on our tour because of how little I previously knew about it. When we stepped inside and our tour guide told us who was buried there my jaw dropped. The church is the final resting place of the master painter and sculptor Michelangelo, the scientist and astronomer Galileo, the father of modern science; and the philosopher, musician and poet Machiavelli… among many others.

Ally and I had planned to walk back to the Accademia at this point to see David but like I said we got lazy and sat at a restaurant and ate lunch with some of our Kiwi and Aussie friends instead… then we said arrivederci to Florence and headed on to Venice!

Below is the continuation of my Europe trip blog. If you don’t start at the beginning, they don’t make much sense! Thanks for reading

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The day started quite early with another crazy bus call… Ally and I only got one bite of a croissant this time and it was on the bus again! The drive was much like the others… mostly people sleeping with one funny thing happening here and there… and then “Fritz” started waking us up for our bathroom breaks. Fritz was a little plushy thing that when squeezed sang an annoying wake-up tune, and to make him even more annoying Jelle would put him up to the bus microphone. Many people plotted to steal and burn Fritz, but he survived until the end of our journey miraculously.

For lunch we stopped in the medieval fortified village of Sisteron. Beautiful town, but the food and bathrooms were the worst of anywhere else we stopped. The bathrooms were quite an experience… they were “self-cleaning” and looked like giant sub-zero refrigerators. When you walked in the toilet seat lowered for you and the room was dripping wet having obviously just been sprayed down like it was the inside of a car wash… it was a dimly lit cramped space and the door automatically locked behind you. To exit this terrifying place you had to simultaneously push a red button and open the heavy door at the same time, which there was no instructions for… so you felt like a caged lab rat trying to figure out how to escape.

After the terrifying experience with the restrooms we went across the street to grab a bite to eat. I had a “steak” sandwich which was actually two hamburger buns on a sub roll with some lettuce and cheese thrown on. It tasted like cardboard. We got to enjoy this meal with our wonderful Brazillian/American friends, Mel and Becky.

After lunch we climbed to the top of the chateaux on the hill, and got a lovely view of the rest of the town. Ally was quite perturbed with me insisting we climb to the top… but I know secretly she’s glad we did everything I forced her to do against her will

It was back on the bus for 3 hours until we rolled into the famous seaside town of Cannes, home of the Cannes film festival. We got out at a beautiful marina, chock full of million euro yachts and sailboats.

We walked a little ways down the street to the building the festival is held in and then had some delicious Haagen-Dazs while returning to the bus. One of the nicest French people we met was the cute Haagen-Dazs employee that made our ice cream.

After our stop we drove along part of the Cote d’Azur in Cannes which is the only shoreline with sand and not pebbles… but it’s not natural. They import the sand in each year. To my relief we only spotted a couple scantly clad sunbathers our entire drive.

Upon arrival in Nice we drove along the Cote d’Azur yet again and I couldn’t help but notice the similarities to California and Florida. If you ignored the soaring mountains to the north and focused solely on the road and the beach, it felt like being back in the states. We even passed a McDonalds or two. In Nice we had a nice little family owned hotel with big old fashioned keys. The bathroom had a bidet, which the hotel maid so kindly set my toiletries in…ha… The one thing I can say about the room that I loved was we had a balcony. I have a thing for balconies.

After our arrival we went out and ate dinner right across the street from the beach at a restaurant that looked really nice; but again, the meat wasn’t very tasty. We had some kind of mashed corn puree however that was quite yummy, and then a good Crème brûlée!

After dinner Ally and I went out with our new Aussie friends Rob, Chanel and Craig. First we stopped at a casino for the fun of it… but we were really just trying to find a bar and they didn’t have a good one, so we checked the second floor and there was a professional billiards tournament going on. We walked in the room and watched it for a bit but had to leave because we were afraid we’d be kicked out from laughing and being too loud because the room was completely silent. We proceeded to another casino where Ally, Craig and I all violated dress code in some way so they wouldn’t let us in. It was funny hearing the french person trying to explain in english to Ally why her “basketball shoes” were against dress code…

After that we gave up on casinos and just sat down at an outdoor bar. I ordered a Pina Colada that totally sucked and Craig and Rob ordered a scottish beer that tasted amazing. Ally ordered a drink that was bright blue and tasted like pure citron vodka and nothing else. Chanel took a sip of it and choked. The evening was full of fun and talk of the differences between Australia and the States… always a fun topic between people of different nationalities.

The next morning we were allowed to sleep in but we only slept until about 9:30 because we wanted to go for a quick dip in the Mediterranean sea… we found Craig and all walked there together from the hotel. I honestly don’t have much praise for the beach other than that the water is extremely clear and clean looking. The beach is covered in little pebbles that hurt your feet a lot, so I didn’t even take off my sandals when I walked into the water it hurt so bad. I was originally just going to go in up to my waist but got brave and swam out a few meters to where I couldn’t stand and longer… which wasn’t very far out at all. The water was FREEZING and quite salty. It was an incredible experience to swim in the Mediterranean Sea, but the beach where I grew up is “heaps” better, as the Australians would say.

After we got out we had to rush back to the hotel to prepare to go on one of our included excursions to the hilltop village of St. Paul de Vence. The drive there was spectacular and we stopped a few places to take pictures of the village from afar. If your an art freak like me you know that the village is what inspired many famous painters and poets through the years, and Marc Chagall actually lived there along with a handful of poets and actors. It’s easy to see why before you’re even inside the village… the entire area is breathtaking and you’ve got this picture perfect village just perched right atop this little hill.

You enter St. Paul de Vence through and archway in a wall… very castle like… and once you’re inside the streets aren’t even wide enough for small cars. All are footpaths except one outer perimeter road. You climb up at a slight incline through sprawling little cobblestone streets, where even the cobblestone is ornate and patterned. Little pet dogs roam the streets, and every once and a while you catch a glimpse down a side street of the view off the side of the hill, usually with laundry on clotheslines and vines with beautiful pink flowers slightly obstructing the view.

At the other end of the village, at the very top of the hill, sits an observation area where you can overlook the valley below, overflowing with mansions and beautiful villas.

Jelle encouraged us to take a different path down then we took up, so we did and stumbled across an American diner, and being typical American tourists in a foreign country we ate there. Jelle told us we were in trouble if we ate McDonalds… he never said anything about ALL American food. So we ordered hot dogs and “chips” and admired the decor of the place… it was covered head-to-toe in portraits and memorabilia of Superman, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe.

After lunch we returned to the hotel, and having not much else to do we went out with our Aussie friends in search of free internet, which we knew we could find at Mackers (McDonalds in Aussie speak) which of course we were forbidden by Jelle to be in. But we HAD to have internet… so we took the chance. The McDonalds we found was right across the street from the beach, so while not a completely shocking and improbable, it was still quite a surprise that Jelle actually found us not even 15 minutes after we sat down. Typing away on facebook I hear Chanel say “oh my God!” and we look up to see Jelle knocking on the window looking in at us from the sidewalk shaking his head.

Jelle came in and asked what we were doing in McDonalds and we explained how innocent we were because we hadn’t even ordered any food, which we hadn’t. He said he was on the way to the beach to swim and left. Ally and I being our internet addicted selves stayed after our Aussie clan left, and we were there until Jelle was done at the beach and he came back and scared us in the window, shaking his head at us still being there.

We walked back to the hotel and headed out on our nighttime excursion to the Three Corniches road and dinner atop a mountain. The days are extremely long in Europe and the sun doesn’t even set until around 10, so we packed so much into each day it was INSANE. Every day actually felt like two or three days. The three Corniches road was one of my favorite things that we did. We stopped on the side of the road at a place that easily ranks in the top 5 most beautiful places I’ve ever beheld in my life… a perfect vista perched high up on the mountainside, the view of the French Riviera below with sailboats and cruise ships in the harbor and mansions dotting the coast and mountainside… the place is saturated with wealth and beauty and we were seeing it in perfect weather right at sunset.

We ate at a place perched high atop the mountain off the Grand Corniche, the highest of the three roads. The view while eating dinner was magnificent, and dinner was pretty good… the potatoes and vegetables were amazing. We had authentic grappa included at the end which was quite the cultural experience, haha… slept well that night!