Question and Mediteranean at Cagnes sur Mer

I was asked if people in Europe use deodorant now and if women shaved their underarms.  Ten years ago Paris was very different than now.  I did not notice any women at the beaches or in town with underarm hair.  I only noticed body odor strongly once and that was on the bus from Orly to Paris. The man did not look Parisian.  He looked like an immigrant from an Arabic country.  There are many more immigrants in Paris now than there were 10 years ago and they are from many countries.  Many African countries, Morocco, Slavic countries, Arabic countries.  A much wider diversity than the last time I was there.  But that's true here too, we now have everything in Spanish as well as English and in Mexico they are having to use English in parts because of the large influx of US retirees.  This is true in Panama and Costa Rica as well.  The world is more international these days.  Watching the US Open Wozniacki from Denmark is in the finals!

What you might find surprising is the comfort level with women lying on the beaches face up with no tops on (sorry no pictures). Tops are optional on most of the beaches we saw and we've heard of the nude beaches, but we didn't see one.  Women face down on the beach with no top on is fairly frequent.   I suppose to get a line free tan  They sit up quite unselfconsciously, put on their tops and go into the water.  We also saw women  face up with no tops on.  No big deal was made of it.  People in Europe and California are more comfortable with the naked body.

You'll have to guess if I have my top on here or not :)  Actually for me, I don't object to having the option, but I personally don't want sunburn anywhere, especially in sensitive places.   The water has much more salt content than the Atlantic and it's much easier to float in except Mark, he has no body fat and just doesn't seem to float anywhere so far.  We had a glorious day at the beach at Cagnes-sur-Mer.