Hotel Les Rosées!

Last year my husband and I went on a short trip to France.  This time I promised myself I would see the Riviera and all that the Provence region has to offer. From a recommendation from a friend  I booked us a room at Les Rosées  because it sounded perfect and its name caught my attention. The flagstoned walls are pink!  I thought, how romantic!  This is my first pink post at Pink Saturday and I'm dedicating it to Beverly and all the pink lovers.  Thank you Beverly for letting me join. If you wish to join, please click here!

We are, it turns out, the only non-honeymooners at Les Rosées, and it isn't hard to see why. It doesn't get much more romantic than this. As pretty as its name, this lovingly restored, traditional Provençal country house sits in the same flower-filled garden in which it has snoozed peacefully for more than 400 years. It is located in Mougins, just 20 minutes from the glitz of Cannes, it is a gloriously tranquil base from which to explore the most glittering stretch of the French Riviera.

The town of Mougins, only three kilometres north, is like taking a cool, flower-filled bath. All winding bougainvillaea-bedecked streets of artisan shops, fountains and picture-postcard restaurants, Mougins is exactly how you'd imagine a picturesque village on the French Riviera to be - only prettier. It's no wonder that generations of glamorous writers and beautiful people - Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, Christian Dior, Catherine Deneuve, Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel, among them - have hung out here. Most famously, Picasso spent the last 15 years of his life in Mougins, high on a clifftop overlooking the Côte d'Azur, after he married Jacqueline Roque. The fascinating Musée de La Photographie at the centre of the village has a wonderful collection of photographs of him and other 20th-century icons.
  Here are a few pictures of the hotel and of Mougins:

Arriving late and weary, we don't fancy venturing out for dinner, but a snack of ham and cheese with a glass of wine in our room is no problem. I was told that the Isadora suite is the most beautiful and is a favourite of Liza Minnelli, but we are happy with our pink spacious bedroom .

 After our long car journey, the bed, with its clouds of crisp linen, is heavenly.

Decorated in warm, earthy tones, the pink flagstoned rooms have a rustic feel, yet are still stylish.  You can see the influence of the owner's Canadian wife in the homely touches. Breakfast - everything is organic - is a treat: white tablecloths, croissants, ham and cheese, and homemade jams in the idyllic garden. The pool is a good size and, if we hadn't been on the doorstep of some of Europe's starriest towns, we could easily have spent a blissful day reading in the shade of the trees.

I convince Glenn that we have to visit the famous Fragonard perfume factory in nearby Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. A guide explains the whole process from distillation to bottling. Did you know that to extract one kilo of rose essence you need to distill 3,000 kilos of roses? The tour is free, but ends, predictably, in the factory shop and a fairly heavy sell. Glenn grumbles, but agrees to treat me to a tiny bottle (only, I suspect, because our attractive and fragrant guide recommends it so warmly). The products at Les Rosées are Fragonard, naturally, so I've already had a chance to sample them in the luxury of our pretty Provençal-style bathroom.

The highlight of the trip for Glenn undoubtedly was driving along the heart-stopping coastal roads. This should definitely be on everyone's list of romantic things to do before you die (if you are afraid of heights, stay away) - fortunately we, and our mini, make it back to the serenity of Les Rosées in one piece.

Hope you enjoyed my post!  I'm tickled pink to have joined Beverly at Pink Saturday and cant wait to visit other pink participants.  See you soon!