Perfumarie Fragonard was very cool! Once we got there, my group received a tour of the factory first, so we got to see how they manufacture all their products… from soaps to fragrances and body oils. I never knew so much went into the perfume making process and just how hard and rare it is to become “a nose” in the perfume industry. Currently, there are only an estimated 50 “noses” in the world! A “nose” goes to school for nearly 10 years just learning about essential oils, how to blend them, and making perfumes. During their first year of schooling alone, they have to memorize upwards of 1,000 different smells, and train their nose to identify that smell. Crazy! We got to smell many of the fragrances, and even went into the gift shop where I have to admit, I did some damage! Haha! Perfumarie Fragonard is based on the French Riviera and doesn’t do a lot of exporting of products. They don’t market their products to any other stores either, so the Perfumarie Fragonard factories are the only place to buy the perfume (besides their website, www.fragonard.com). I figured since I may never come back to this place again, I might as well buy some of the best and most uniquely made things in the world. So I got a few things for myself, and a few things for other people. I hope they like them!
Once we left the perfumeries, we drove through a bunch of twisty, windy roads up on the sides of mountains that overlook the Mediterranean until we got to Monaco. Monaco wasn’t what I expected however. I think I was expecting something a little more glamorous since it is the richest country in the world per capita. It’s also the second smallest, behind Vatican City. Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely nice.
When we got there, we first at lunch at a little café that a small group of us found. I had a margarita pizza, and it was AWESOME. I was SO hungry, because the breakfasts at this hotel are not good. I swear they give our group the leftovers of what the hotel staff would be too embarrassed to serve regular guests. Our croissants this morning were burnt to a crisp! I have come to expect a little more from French croissants than blackened bread.
Anyways, after lunch and an AMAZING dessert, our whole study abroad group toured the Palace of the Grimaldi family. It’s still currently Prince Albert’s residence so not a ton of the palace was open for viewing. In fact, I bet I was in and out of there in 20 minutes with an audio guide in hand. Then we went straight to the Jacque Cousteau Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium (biggest aquarium in Europe). The aquarium part was cool, but the museum was really short and quite uninteresting. We weren’t there too long either, which gave us way too much time to kill in the afternoon until we were scheduled to depart for the casino. A group of us sat in the gardens overlooking the Mediterranean and tried to fall asleep because we were all so exhausted.
Finally we departed for the casino as a large group. I was expecting the Monte Carlo Grand Casino to look a little more grand than it did when we walked up to it. It wasn’t nearly as big as I was made to believe. I couldn’t go inside really because it cost 10 Euros just to enter, so after my morning purchases… I figured it best to save my money a little.
I did however go into the casino next door to the Grand Casino. There was no entrance fee for that one, and the buy-ins were much lower. Just for fun I decided to try to play my first slot machine game ever, and it didn’t go so well, haha! I didn’t really understand the concept of the game, and I’m sure that was a main part of the problem. Unfortunately, within just 5 minutes, my 5 Euro buy-in was gone. That was all I was going to risk though. At least now I can say with certainty that I have gambled in Monaco! One guy from our trip played craps though, and won 855 Euros!!! That’s somewhere around $1,200 American dollars!! Lucky!
We drove back to Nice at around 8pm. I was feeling a little down today, just missing home and really missing Brad. Going to dinner with Laura, CJ, & Callen was really good for me though. It helped me realize that I’m not the only one who is feeling this way. Nice is sort of the hump to get over on the trip, because it’s all downhill from here! I was able to skype with my mom & sister and with Brad this evening before I turned in, so that made me day! I can go to bed a happy girl! Goodnight!
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