Piling up the hills above Cannes, Grasse is famous for its perfume industry – and I now know why. Its calming fragrances were clearly invented to soothe visitors trying to negotiate the city’s convoluted one-way system, which winds around its historic houses, millionaire holiday homes and garish hypermarkets like a devilish game of snakes-and-ladders.
Being August it was indeed hot, and the roads do get horribly clogged at times – but regular visitors know how to deal with all this.
First of all, it is crucial to book the right property. We were lucky to find a period house with commanding views over Grasse and the shimmering coast beyond.
