Our first stop on the way to Nice was Aix (pronounced Ex). Aix means water in Latin and it there are many fountains and natural springs. This is no longer a 'spa' town as the water now contains a bacteria that is not healthy. Aix was the capital of Provence in the 17th century and the city dates back to Roman times, 122 BC. Almost all the Roman ruins have been destroyed by the Saracens and others.

Aix is a has a very prominent university here, with 65,000 students, one of the largest in France and it dates back to the 18th C . The Second Court of Appeal is here also.

We visited Sainte Sauveur Cathedral and the baptistry. The knave is 14th century. The 17th C green organ was quite impressive with 3000 pipes and 42 stops. The organ on the left is real and the one on the right is trompe l'oeil (painted).

Cezanne was born here and he became friends with Zola where they met at school. Cezanne's father made him study law hoping to have a lawyer as a son however, with the help of his mother, he moved to Paris to study art at the Acadamie Suisse.

The street signs in Provence are in 2 languages, French and Provencal, which is a language, not a dialect. It was used in the 12th C.

The market was great, the flowers are on steriods! I would buy flowers every week if I lived here. Maija bought oreillettes to share, which are like a thin fried puff pastry coated with powdered sugar . Very delicious.

The moss fountain on the Main Street of the old town is from the 17th century and is a natural warm spring, 37C.

Had a rather scary moment. As I boarded the bus, a woman tried to grab something out of my purse. Tina, one of the trainees grabbed her and she threw it back into the bus. It wasn't anything of value but it could have been. Happened in a flash...I didn't even notice it until Tina started yelling my name and said to check my purse. First time this has happened to me.

We had a 90 minute drive to Grasse which is the centre of the world's perfume industry. 70% of the world's perfume is made here, with the top 3 perfumeries located in Grasse...Frangonard, Molinard and Galimard. You may not recognize these names but they produce perfumes for many of the perfumes you know.

We went to the Galimard perfumery here we saw how they once produced the perfumes here. They told us about 'the nose' who is the one who creates the scents. He is able to identify 1000 individual scents. They are not able to drink coffee or alcohol as it will negatively affect them.

Next we worked in pairs to create our own perfume. I got to pick the scents that I like and Paul helped me select and mix. There is a formula for percentages but it is all based on the scents that you like . Then we each got 50 ml of the eau de perfume (so I got double). I really like mine, but can't wear it yet as it has to blend for a couple of weeks. We had to record the formula and name our perfume (Paul named mine Fascination) and the perfumerie keeps the record so you can reorder it later. It was a lot of fun and a unique experience.

Checked into the Beau Rivage hotel in Nice. What a great location! One block off the the Promenades des Anglais (waterfront) and the street runs right in to the outdoor market, and restaurants. Rooms were small but very nicely done and the staff were great.

For dinner we were on our own so we went to the market area and went to Le Festival de la Moule which was a mussels place. I had garlic and wine mussels and Paul had the lobster and shrimp sauce.

We walked around the vielle ville and walked to the Place Massena where they have just completed a 'water' garden...don't know how to describe it but water shoots out of the ground and you can walk through it. Sometimes it changes to fog. Very cool. Also they have the "7 Continents", sculptures of men on these tall poles, that change colour. Different, but nice.

While we were there, I heard someone call my name and it was our client who is spending a month in Europe with her other half. Couldn't believe it!!

Another beauiful warm and sunny day!