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grasse - villa rental |
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PERFUME CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
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If you're looking for a great
hotel, bed & breakfast, chambres d'hotes or villa rental
near Grasse, then consider Le Foulon - just half an hour
scenic
drive
away.
Grasse is an attractive medieval town set in the foothills
of
the
Alps,
250 m above
sea-level
with stunning views over the Bay of Cannes and the Cap
de l'Esterel.
Grasse is best known as the world capital of perfume and
you can still visit the three perfumeries, Galimard, Molinard
and Fragonard, on which its prosperity was based for centuries.
The "vieille ville", the picturesque old town of
Grasse, tumbles down the mountainside in a labyrinth of narrow
streets, tiny shops, shady squares and age-worn pastel façades.
The old town contains a 12th century cathedral with three
large paintings by Rubens. |
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Lavender is one of the
most important crops for the perfume industry
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The town centre and the main
square of Grasse, the "Place aux Aires" with its
18th century fountain are half an hours drive from Le Foulon
and its flower and vegetable market and open-air restaurants
are regularly visited by guests. Also, in Grasse is the Villa-Musée
Fragonard where the 18th-century painter stayed and where
his romantic paintings are still on display. On the corner
of the Boulevard du Jeu de Ballon is the Musée de
la Marine, the beautiful 18th-century former town house of
the Pontèves family. The museum commemorates the life
and career of Amiral de Grasse (1722-88) who was born locally
and played a decisive role in the American War of Independence
at the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia.
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Grasse owes its perfume history
to Catherine of Medici, Queen of France in the 16th century
- she was besotted with oriental perfumes and when she heard
that there were flowers growing on the shores of the Mediterranean
which smelled more intensely than the oils of the Orient,
she ordered one of her men of science to create a lady's
perfume from these flowers.
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| From some angles you can
still see the Grasse of old. |
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| At that time, Grasse earned its living from tanning and the
local glovemakers used the essential oils from the flowers
to mask the stench of the tanneries. Catherine of Medici's
commission was the beginning of perfume manufacture in Grasse
and it made the town world famous.
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| Click
for links and scroll down to more info on Grasse |
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