Subtle but Distinct

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The title of this post is not at all meant to describe Cannes. I found Cannes to be quite the opposite. It is in your face with lots beautiful people who have lots of money, gorgeous beaches, and a intense nightlife. I found it to be probably like Miami or Cancun as a great vacation destination, but not much beyond that. For our group, it was the first time we experienced immense crowds, as most of Europe takes August off for vacation and goes to places such as Cannes. But it provided a great place to take a break from a rigorous travel schedule and enjoy the sun and beaches.

Rather my title is meant to describe my new perfume - "Todd-A-Licious". France has a huge perfume industry and in order to learn best about it, we went to make our own. It started in the morning with a trip out to a Jasmine and Rose orchard that supplies flowers for Channel where we met with a third generation flower grower (I don't know what her official name would be) as she told us the process of extracting the scent from flowers and how she grows her Jasmine and Roses. She explained how in this region of France, there used to be 5,000 orchards like hers, and now there is only 30, of which the most exclusive perfumes purchase from. The rest of the scents are artificial. We picked our own Jasmine and also sampled some rose jam which I ended up purchasing just for the novelty. Then we went to make our own perfume. My partner and I started out with choosing a name. We thought Todd-A-Licious had a nice ring and good marketing potential. Next, we decided we wanted it to have a 'subtle but distinct' smell. At least that is what we were going for when we starting making it. It turned out to be anything but subtle and way too distinct. It reminded me of a cheap cologne you get in those sets at Walmart. Oh well... at least I can say I have my own perfume. And they kept my formula in case I ever want a refill (I told them they didn't need to bother with keeping mine).

The rest of our time in Cannes was spend on the beach and exploring the city. As you look out over the city scape you see lots of huge yachts, a cruise ship or two, really nice cars, cabanas dotting the beaches, and thousands of beautiful people. And of course the beaches are all topless which was quite different for most of us. The Mediterranean water was a perfect temperature though rather salty. Some people ventured the hour or so by train to Monte Carlo, but I chose to stick around and just stroll the city and relax on the beach. While I liked Cannes very much, I was happy to move on knowing we were only two cities away from Madrid.

INTERESTING FACT: Cologne actually comes from a town in Germany. So of course, the French, with there dislike for anything not French, call their men scents simply perfume.

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Comments

[Robert Lane]

Your grandmother and I have enjoyed your blogs. Please note the change to our new email address of [e-mail]. Please keep us up to date with your future blogs; Love, Grandpa and Grandma Lane

[Jim Conway]

So glad to see you blogging
What a great idea! I will read each post thinking of all the fun and try to live through you great adventures and thought provoking education while you are in Europe. If you don't mind I think I will also let Char in on your action as she is always interested in what you guys are doing. I hope Spain is all up to your expectations and we will be looking for your Todd-A Licious in all the Wal-Mart's I stumble into