In Eze-Village, (which we learned specifically of from 36 Hours: Twenty-Five Weekends in Europ e) we had the privilege of self-touring the old castle remains, located on a rocky peak with a stunning scene. The view was, oh, breathtaking, the garden itself was filled with the greenest, lushest grass, beautiful roses, and statues of animals that could seem almost real; and a large-as-life chess board sat on another level of the garden. Brisk breezes whisked past, but not so much so to threaten to knock us off the cliff. After a short hike through the castle, which had been converted into what could seem a village, with filled with little shops and places to eat, we came to the Jardin Exquisite: the Exquisite Gardens. I honestly don't even know how to describe it, except with a picture: 

This garden overlooked so much of Nice- from Cap Ferrar to l'Esterel- and reminded me of Laguna Beach in California; there were similar plants, and believe it or not, cactus- very similar to the desert, though the temperatures were not quite as extreme. After traveling the garden paths, and catching our breath by leaning against the cooling stone walls, we hiked down the hillside once more, stopping at the famous Fragonard Perfumery shop. Fragonard is a perfumery which creates their perfumes from natural scents, many of them from the French country-side itself. After breathing deeply and sampling several of the scents, we left. Oddly enough, I have never been interested in any time of perfume (I cannot bear the heavy scents of Bath and Body Works, in collision with the other female members of my family). However, I have been searching for a new "signature scent" (*laughs*), and found one I liked more than any other. 

Since we enjoyed the shop so much, we decided to stop at the tour of the Fragonard Perfumery, which is like any other "shop/factory" tour; they showed us how they create their products. I found it interesting to find that the container which the company packages their perfumes in is weather-proof, and will last between six to eight years (provided that I don't use it, of course (; ). We met the most adorable elderly couple, who come back every ten years to the same spot... and the husband "got himself into this perfume business for her" -as he grinned good-naturedly at his wife. 

My fully-charged camera was nearly dead by this time, between filming and taking pictures; and we were becoming tired, so on we drove up to Monaco, about six miles away. After finding a place to park in Monaco (in a garage perfumed with stale smoke), we spent about forty-five minutes eating ice-cream, and walking along the boardwalk, picking out our favorite names on the hundreds of yachts. We came across a father and his young son eating pizza on the rocks, and throwing a slice or two into the water to watch the fish devour it. The boy clapped his hands and laughed; and the simplicity of the time between the two of them was wonderful. Ah, I loved watching it. 

We drove home, and Marmee made some dinner later that evening. It was one of my favorite days of our trip. 

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