15/7/13 (4)

The village of Eze perched or clinging to the sides if a steel outcrop 429 metres above sea level. Famous as one of the centres for the production of perfume & so all the surrounding areas produce the flowers required. Other exotics are imported to be used in the distilling & blending of the essential oils.

You can see & smell the flowers & fragrances everywhere. We did a tour of Fragonard Perfumery to find out the processing procedure. Very interesting & worthwhile.

Next we climbed the rock & all got a little bit puffed, but it was worth it...it is spectacular! Tere are small shops in all the little nooks & crannies.

This is Silvia our wonderful tour guide...we met her at 9am & didn't get home until 10.30pm. Our tour included private transport, all admissions & a great lunch including wines...she was fabulous & we loved her!

This shop was once the keep for the livestock & the people lived above them. The door was so low that I didn't even bother to try & enter the shop.

Seriously...how cute are these shops...admittedly made for little people...but so cute.

Ok, so the climb was challenging but no matter where you turned there was another little surprise that kept you going.

The fortress was destroyed many years ago & , I don't know, but someone must have said 'Cactus, let's plant cactus'...& so they did. I think it was worth it...don't you?

 Can you see how steep this area is...unbelievable.

I love the story of this via duct. One of the villagers made a deal with the devil...he builds the via duct (bridge) & the first living being to cross it would lose his soul to Satan. So when the villager sees the devil has built the bridge he gets the guilts about sacrificing one of his buddies. So he picks up a stick & tosses it onto the bridge & his dog races after it thereby losing his soul. The devil gets miffed about the whole deal & storms off....hmmmm, I just feel for the dog...he had a bit of a dodgy owner. I would have picked a way less important living being (I hear Julia is free at the moment)...yeah nasty I know.

It's is the vies down to the Church & the Perfumery is just below it.

Inside the church...

Outside the Church & the beautiful gardens that cling to the side of the cliff.