Theme Week French Riviera – Grasse and Menton

Saturday, 17 September 2011 - 02:52 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, French Riviera
Reading Time:  11 minutes

Grasse

Parfurmerie Fragonard - Parfum Museum © Christophe.Finot

Parfurmerie Fragonard – Parfum Museum © Christophe.Finot

Grasse is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department on the French Riviera. The town is considered as the world’s capital of perfume. It obtained two flowers in the Concours des villes et villages fleuris contest and was made “Ville d’Art et d’Histoire” (town of art and history).

Grasse is the center of the French perfume industry and is known as the world’s perfume capital (la capitale mondiale des parfums). Many “noses” are trained or have spent time in Grasse to distinguish over 2,000 kinds of scent. It produces over two-thirds of France’s natural aromas (for perfume and for food flavourings). This industry turns over more than 600 million euros a year. Jasmine, a key ingredient of many perfumes, was brought to southern France by the Moors in the 16th century. Twenty-seven tonnes of jasmine are now harvested in Grasse annually. There are numerous old ‘parfumeries’ in Grasse, such as Molinard, Fragonard and Galimard, each with tours and a museum.

There is an annual Fête du Jasmin or La Jasminade, at the beginning of August. The first festival was on the 3 August–4 August 1946. These days, it is a big event; decorated floats drive through the town, with young women in skimpy costumes on board, throwing flowers onto the crowds. This is known as the ‘flower battle’ and everyone gets soaked by the natural perfume of the flowers. There are also fireworks, free parties, folk music groups and street performers. There is also an annual international exhibition of roses (“Expo Rose”).

Grasse’s main attraction is the Cathedral, dedicated to Notre Dame du Puy and founded in the 11th century. In the interior, are three works by Rubens and one by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, a French painter native of the town.

To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facepage pages/Twitter accounts. Read more on City of Grasse, Grasse Tourism and Wikipedia Grasse. Learn more about the use of photos.





Menton - Old town © Reinhard Wolf Menton - Palais de L'Europe © Berthold Werner Menton Citadelle © Berthold Werner Menton Beach © Reinhard Wolf Menton - Astoria Residence © Tangopaso Menton Panorama © Vicrogo Menton at night © Peter Gugerell Grasse - Place aux Aires © Berthold Werner Grasse - Parfurmerie Fragonard © Christophe.Finot Grasse - Parfumeur bronze statue © Ballista Grasse - Parfumerie Museum © Christophe.Finot Grasse - Palais des Congrès © Cayambe Grasse - Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Puy de Grasse © Christophe.Finot Grasse © Christophe.Finot Grasse © Christophe.Finot Menton - Rue du Vieux © Tangopaso Grasse © Christophe Finot Menton - Harbour and Old Town © Jpgross
<
>
Grasse - Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Puy de Grasse © Christophe.Finot
Menton

Menton - Harbour and Old Town © Jpgross

Menton – Harbour and Old Town © Jpgross

Menton, nicknamed the Pearl of France, is located on the Mediterranean Sea at the Franco-Italian border, just across from the Liguran town of Ventimiglia. It boasts a warm micro-climate favorable to lemon, tangerine, and orange groves whence one of the town’s symbols, the lemon.

Menton is famous for its gardens, including the Jardin Serre de la Madone, the Jardin botanique exotique de Menton (“Le Val Rahmeh”), the Fontana Rosa, and the Maria Serena garden. Le Val Rahmeh was established in 1905 by Englishman Sir Percy Radcliffe, the first owner of the gardens, and named for his wife. Villa Fontana Rosa was built in 1922 by Blasco Ibáñez, a Spanish novelist, and the gardens of the villa are now open to the public.

Main sights are the baroque basilica of Saint-Michel-Archange, the Musée Jean Cocteau is located in the Bastion of the port of Menton and the wedding room at the Mairie (town hall) was painted in the 1950s by Jean Cocteau, transforming it into a giant work of art. Menton is home to at least half a dozen beaches.

The Lemon Festival takes place every February. The festival follows a given theme each year; past themes include Viva España, Disney, Neverland, and India. The festival lasts a few days, with different bands passing through Menton’s streets on foot or on truck trailers. The Casino Gardens in the centre of town are decorated in the theme of the festival, using lemons to cover the exhibits, and huge temporary statues are built and covered with citrus fruit. The Casino Gardens are also the location for Menton’s Christmas Festival. The Menton Classical Musical Festival is also held every year in the centre of the old town.

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on City of Menton, Menton Tourism and Wikipedia Menton. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organisations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Johns Hopkins University & Medicine - Coronavirus Resource Center - Global Passport Power Rank - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Bellevue Palace

Bellevue Palace

[caption id="attachment_160531" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Peter Kuley[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Schloss Bellevue is the official residence of the President of Germany since 1994. The palace in the central Tiergarten district of Berlin is situated on the northern edge of the Großer Tiergarten park, on the banks of the Spree river, near the Berlin Victory Column. Its name ("beautiful view" in French) derives from the scenic prospect over the river course. Schloss Bellevue was erected in 1786 as a summer residenc...

[ read more ]

Grand Hôtel in Stockholm

Grand Hôtel in Stockholm

[caption id="attachment_224935" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Blasieholmen with the Grand Hôtel in the center © Arild Vågen/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Grand Hôtel is a five-star hotel in Stockholm. It was founded by Frenchman, Jean-François Régis Cadier, in 1872. It opened on 14 June 1874 at the same time as the Grand Hotel in Oslo; all the Scandinavian capitals have a major hotel called 'Grand Hotel'. The Grand Hôtel is located next to the Nationalmuseum and opposite the Royal Palace and Gamla stan (the o...

[ read more ]

Frauen- and Herrenchiemsee islands

Frauen- and Herrenchiemsee islands

[caption id="attachment_24248" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Herrenchiemsee Palace © Zairon/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]HERRENCHIEMSEE The island Herreninsel, with an area of 238 hectares, is the biggest of the three main islands of the Chiemsee, a lake in Upper Bavaria. Together with the islands of Fraueninsel and Krautinsel it forms the municipality of Chiemsee. Herrenchiemsee is inhabited by only about 300 people. The island is famous for the palace of Herrenchiemsee built by Ludwig II of Bavaria. Apar...

[ read more ]

The Hotel Negresco in Nice

The Hotel Negresco in Nice

[caption id="attachment_161223" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Jolly Janner[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice was named for Henri Negresco (1868–1920) who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912. In keeping with the conventions of the times, when the Negresco first opened in 1913 its front opened facing the Mediterranean sea. Henri Negresco, born the son of an innkeeper in Bucharest, Romania, left home at the age of 15 going first to Paris th...

[ read more ]

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford

[caption id="attachment_230378" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © flickr.com - Anthony Quintano/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). At an approximate cost of $1.6 billion, it was the most expensive stadium built in the United States at the tim...

[ read more ]

Helsingborg in southern Sweden

Helsingborg in southern Sweden

[caption id="attachment_152826" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Dunkers Kulturhus © Jesper Olsson[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Helsingborg is a town and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality in Skåne County. It had 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city Helsingør clearly visible on the other side of the Øresund about 4 km to the west. Historic Helsingborg, wit...

[ read more ]

Portrait: The Reformer Martin Luther

Portrait: The Reformer Martin Luther

[caption id="attachment_169010" align="aligncenter" width="586"] Martin Luther (1529) by Lucas Cranach the Elder[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546), O.S.A., was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the Catholic view on indulgences as he understood it to be, that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purc...

[ read more ]

Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.

Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.

[caption id="attachment_205958" align="aligncenter" width="590"] 1900 Independence Avenue © flickr.com - Tim Evanson/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Independence Avenue is a major east-west street in the southwest and southeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., running just south of the United States Capitol. Originally named South B Street, Independence Avenue SW was constructed between 1791 and 1823. Independence Avenue SE was constructed in pieces as residential development occurred east of the United States ...

[ read more ]

Fish Auction Hall in Hamburg

Fish Auction Hall in Hamburg

[caption id="attachment_234549" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Frank Schwichtenberg/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Fish Auction Hall (German: Fischauktionshalle) was built in Altona, today part of Hamburg, Germany, in 1895/96 at the newly constructed fishing port. It is located at 9, Große Elbstraße. From 1982 to 1984 it was fully renovated. Since 1984 it has been a cultural heritage monument, demonstrating the importance of fish trade for the former rival cities of Hamburg and Altona. Today, it is used for ev...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Singapore - Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Theme Week Singapore - Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

[caption id="attachment_212423" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © flickr.com - William Cho/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (also known as the Esplanade Theatres or simply The Esplanade) is a performing arts centre located in Downtown Core near the mouth of the Singapore River. Named after the nearby Esplanade Park, it consists of a concert hall which seats about 1,600 and a theatre with a capacity of about 2,000 for the performing arts. Other than performing venues, the Esplanade also c...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
Saint-Tropez Church © MartinPutz
Theme Week French Riviera – Saint-Tropez

Saint-Tropez is a town, 104 km (65mi) to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

Elbe River at Dresden © NetgutuDD
The Elbe

The Elbe rises at an elevation of about 1,400 metres (4,593 ft) in the Krkonoše (also known as Giant Mountains...

Old Harbour - Fisher's Wharf © Guy Lebègue
Theme Week French Riviera – Cannes

Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual...

Schließen