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| The view from Le Jardin Exotique in Eze |
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| Springtime in St. Paul de Vence |
I am back from a wonderful vacation to Provence and the Cote D'Azure. This wasn't strictly a knitting trip. I was vacationing with Mon Cheri, and we had a full itinerary of sightseeing, wine tasting and good eating to do. But I am first and foremost une vrais tricoteuse and it is impossible for me to vacation without doing a little knitting and seeking out yarn shops.
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| Our hotel in Nice- Hotel de la Tour |
The first part of our trip was spent in Nice. Our hotel was well located in the Old Town and was walking distance to many sights, including the park at the top of Castle Hill, the Flower Market, and the Promenade des Anglais.
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| The Flower Market in Nice |
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| Locally made yarns at La Droguerie - Nice |
Our hotel was also just a 5 minute walk from La Droguerie, a large yarn shop that is affiliated with La Droguerie in Paris. Like the Paris store of the same name, the shop sells only its own line of yarns, but they are all wonderful natural fibers in vibrant colors. They also have an extensive collection of unique buttons and patterns of their own design.
This store is well worth the visit. It's centre-ville location at 29 Rue de L'Hotel des Postes is easy to find (2 very short blocks south of the main post office). The store is obviously popular with the locals. We arrived just 5 minutes after they opened and there were already 2 other customers in the store.
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| La Droguerie - Nice |
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| Beads and buttons at La Droguerie |
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| Lovely mohair - "plumette" at La Droguerie |
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| La Boite a Tricot - Avignon |
For the second half of our trip, my husband and I stationed ourselves in Avignon, visiting the medieval sights in Avignon and the ancient Roman sights at nearby Nimes and the Pont du Gard.
With a new project already on my needles and a full itinerary of tourism, I wasn't planning on taking any time to seek out yarn shops or knitting groups while in Avignon, but this one just fell into my lap. We spotted La Boite a Tricot (44 rue de Fourbisseurs) as we were strolling the streets of the old town, just a few blocks from our hotel. This store carries well-known commercial yarns--
Anny Blatt, Bergere de France, Bouton d'Or, Phildar and Katia.
While all these yarns are available in the U.S. or on the Internet, they are all very, very French and a purchase here would make an appropriate and memorable souvenir for any knitter.
