- published: 28 Feb 2015
- views: 13319
Coordinates: 43°40′00″N 6°55′00″E / 43.6667°N 6.9167°E / 43.6667; 6.9167
Grasse (French pronunciation: [ɡʁas]; Provençal Occitan: Grassa in classical norm (and Italian) or Grasso in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department (of which it is a sub-prefecture), on the French Riviera.
The town is considered the world's capital of perfume. It obtained two flowers in the Concours des villes et villages fleuris contest and was made "Ville d'Art et d'Histoire" (town of art and history).
Grasse's main attraction is the Cathedral, dedicated to Notre Dame du Puy and founded in the 11th century.
In the interior, are three works by Rubens and one by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, a French painter native of the town.
Other sights include:
There is an annual Fête du Jasmin or La Jasminade, at the beginning of August.
The first festival was on the 3 August–4 August 1946.
These days, it is a big event; decorated floats drive through the town, with young women in skimpy costumes on board, throwing flowers onto the crowds.
The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. ( /ˈjuːseɪn/; born 21 August 1986), is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and (along with his teammates) the 4×100 metres relay. He is the reigning Olympic champion in these three events, and is one of only seven athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jacques Freitag, Yelena Isinbayeva, Jana Pittman, Dani Samuels) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.
Bolt won a 200 m gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, making him the competition's youngest-ever gold medalist at the time (since surpassed by Jacko Gill). In 2004, at the CARIFTA Games, he became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in less than 20 seconds with a time of 19.93 s, breaking the previous world junior record held by Roy Martin by two-tenths of a second. He turned professional in 2004, and although he competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he missed most of the next two seasons due to injuries. In 2007, he broke Don Quarrie's 200 m Jamaican record with a run of 19.75 s.