First, you have to see what I was leaving behind:
This is a view from my front door and you can see that there is snow - you can't see how cold it was, but it was cold!
I left home, traveled to Charlotte, NC and boarded a USAir flight to Frankfurt. The plane was big, but not big enough for my long legs. Sitting up straight in my seat, my knees pressed against the back of the seat in front of me. Not a great sign for the next 6-8 hours of flying time getting to Europe. In Frankfurt, I changed to a much more comfortable plane with plenty of leg room (for the 1.5 hour flight to Nice). The biggest surprise on the way was seeing the snow covered Alps from the plane on the route from Frankfurt to Nice.
Arrival was in Nice at the small, convenient international airport. That first day arriving in Europe from the US is always fun with the associated jet-lag. The trip from Nice to Menton France (my final destination) was a short jaunt along the major freeway. My destination was a small tourist hotel in Menton called Hotel Richelieu.
This small city is fantastically scenic with its seaside location.
Scenic overlook of Menton
Menton rooftops and mountainous backdrop
After settling in to Menton, I took a train trip to another small city called Grasse. The stated purpose of this trip was to visit a perfumery. The result of the trip was a fantastic day of walking around the town and seeing the sites.
Here are a few pictures of various parts of the city.
A beautiful fountain in the old city portion of Grasse.
