La Source Parfumee

La Source Parfumee is a hidden gem.

Stretched out along the edge of a cliff high above the Gorges du Loup and just down the road from the village of Gourdon, it is a quiet, quirky place. A lush garden seemingly untended and running wild. Thyme, jasmine, lavender, orange trees, genista, and alpine flowers dot the hillside.

No one was there when I visited.

Take a chunk of cheese, a baguette, a bottle of wine, and stay a while…

La Source Parfumee provides the flowers, flavors , and scents for many of the soaps, lotions, and perfumes sold in Gourdon. From Gourdon take a right on the D3 heading east. The garden is a few minutes drive down the road on the right. There is a sign on the left hand side and a small gravel patch for parking. Entrance is free.

The Sunbeam Alpine Roadster, Sex, and Celluloid

To Catch A Thief is a sexy film, though not in the way we view sexuality today.

It is oblique, subtle, suggestive.

There is an allusion to sex that leaves the viewer wanting more.

Grace Kelly, icy cool and devastatingly beautiful, gliding across the room in a perfectly fitted evening gown. Cary Grant, confident, swaggering, and always ready with a clever line.

Even the car driven by Kelly exudes an elegant sexuality.

The powder blue Sunbeam Alpine Roadster is seductive, sophisticated, unattainable…until now.

I recently received an email from Tom Holland, a California man who is parting ways with the ultimate To Catch A Thief souvenir. His Sunbeam Alpine Roadster, an exact replica of the car driven in the movie, is for sale.

It is completely restored and in mint condition. The exterior and interior colors perfectly match the car featured in the film (as do the front and back license plates). The Roadster even has its own agent in Los Angeles and was recently showcased in an InStyle Magazine article featuring Drew Barrymore.