"Early to bed...early to rise"

Tara and I wasted no time sleeping in on this day as we awoke early and crept through the quiet house like a mouse. Tip-toeing past the many bedrooms, making our way to the kitchen for a quick bite! We snuck out of the house and started to walk the narrow stone streets in search of Grasse. It turned out to be a great morning walk as we quickly window shopped the downtown shops, as many were just beginning to open their doors. We purchased a few fresh loaves of bread, olive’s and some freshly made olive tapenade and walked back to the house.



By the time we got back, the house was alive as usual with all the doors and windows open with people gathering for breakfast on the terrace. Few were still sleeping, but it wasn’t long before we all got together for a “family meeting”. Together we made plans for the day as well as discussed all of our different departure times and needs for the following day.

After breakfast, my day got a whole lot better as Anders handed me the key to the Bentley, asking me if I wanted to drive Goran’s car to his house in Antibe. We filed into all four vehicles and our caravan was off. Anders and Jake sat in the back while Tara sat shotgun. From the moment we started out of the drive way, Tara was a nervous wreck! There was one particular moment where everyone puckered a bit as we squeezed past another vehicle and a very close stone wall. Finally we hit the freeway and I was ready to open this baby up! Anders was very cool in the back and I felt like he wanted me to push it a bit. I took full advantage of the situation and graciously changed lanes and in the blink of an eye all 600 horses of this fine automobile came to life as I stomped it to the floor! We passed up our lead car and by this time Tara was screaming!!! I could only stay in it for a few seconds as even I knew that I was pushing my own limits.

We arrived at Goran’s beautiful 1908 Art-Deco French Riviera home and took the tour. Let’s just say this place was quite the bachelor pad! He was very excited to walk us throughout the property. We left his car and made our way to the beach! The streets of Juan les Pins were packed! We entered into Moorea Beach Club where we settled in for the rest of the day. The club was a totally laid back hot spot that reminded me of an island bar done up by Jimmy Buffet himself. From the entrance to the water was less than 40 yards so every inch of real estate was taken up by some sort of beach bar, hammock, random seating and tons of full length pads to lay out on. It was without a doubt the best beach spot I have ever been to!









After hitting the boardwalk shops we made the drive back to Le Refuge for the night. We stopped along the way and ordered pizzas for everyone and went home to shower. We had another fabulous night on the terrace eating pizza and drinking wine. The conversations were filled with constant laughter as we all shared are newly learned foreign words and phrases. It was truly another perfect day!