Nice

Nice is gorgeous!!!!! We arrived on Monday February 21 to a perfect day with temperatures in the 50s (yes that is warm to us), azure blue skies and sea. The pictures do all the telling. We stayed in a lovely european hotel, Les Cigals, right in the center of Nice so we walked everywhere. On our first day we walked along the promenade on the Quai des etats unis (Quai of the united states) named after the first world war. The beach has no sand but large smooth pebbles. I read that to lay out at the beach people have/rent inflatable mattresses. The city of Nice is surrounded by hills and mountains with the french alps way in the background and you can see some snow on the top of the alps. At the top of the large hill is a ruin of a chateau. The bright sunshine really lifted our spirits after a dreary winter. Paris is beautiful but not so much in the winter.

Tuesday was a late morning for us. We walked around then went to the parade, les Corso Carnavalesques. The carnevale parades were fun. You have to pay to get into the parade area so it's not quite so chaotic as new orleans. Still it is fun. They have a group of gymnasts from B.A.T. who entertain before the parade starts. Also there are some vendors but not as many as I am used to seeing. The crowds throw confetti and silly string. During the parade a float throws more confetti and streamers. This is very different from new orleans where you leave with a stash of beads, cups, stuffed animals.

Wednesday we went to the Chagall museum. This is a gorgeous museum with 3-4 rooms of his work. The first room is a variety of his work. Room 2 houses his biblical paintings. The song of songs paintings are in another room. I read that Chagall bequeathed this work to the country of France. He lived most of his life in Nice/Provence so the govt built his museum there.

Wednesday afternoon we went to the flower parade. More subdued than tuesday's parade. Here the people on the floats threw flowers to you. So we had a lovely bouquet of mimosas in our room.

Thursday we went to a small medieval village an hour outside of Nice by bus. St. Paul de Vence was built around 1550 along a mountainside. Close to it is the village is the Foundation Maeght. The foundation Maeght is a museum housing works from Joan Miro, Chagall, Giacometti, Bonnard, and Braque. It is a CLIMB from the village along a lane. This lane had houses along it practically built into the mountain. Very interesting by itself. Once you get to the top of this lane you have to climb up into the woods to get to the gallery. The gallery is in the woods and makes use of natural lighting and scenery. Wonderful gallery!!!!

Then we explored the village. Along the village is primarily art galleries. This village is now home to alot of artists. The scenery was breathtaking. Abby and Joe climbed along the city wall while I enjoyed coffee in an outdoor cafe enjoying the scenery.

I have to mention some places we ate. Monday we ate at a cafe along the promenade and just enjoyed the sun and sea. Tuesday we ate dinner at a really nice restaurant we saw in our guidebook, La Marenda. Also a good friend recommended it. La Marenda is a typical french restaurant albeit small. It probably fit around 25 people total. The menu is written on a chalkboard which is really common in France. Wednesday evening we went to a sports bar to watch soccer: Manchester United vs Marseille. It was fun and the crowd enthusiastic but not what we are used to. I think the french may be more tame than crowds in the U.S., England and Spain. The burgers were great!!! It's hard to get a good burger in France. Now the real surprise was on Thursday. In St. Paul de Vence we ate at an average cafe. Abby ordered Lapine (Rabbit). Joe and I ate our usual, sandwich or salad nicoise. That evening in Nice we splurged on dinner at La Petite Maison. Also recommended by our friend and a guidebook. The dinner was amazing. Abby ordered boulliabase with garlic aioli, Joe and I ordered scrambled eggs with truffles for the table as an entree. Everything was delicious and a great way to spend our last night in Nice.

On friday our flight didn't leave till 9 pm so we had all day. First we went to the Matisse museum which is very close to the chagall museum. We were disappointed. There weren't as many of his paintings as we would have like to see. There were some sculptures but nothing to rave about. Then we returned to Nice and walked in the old city along the narrow streets where we shopped. We found a wonderful fabric store with beautiful linens. We bought a nice tablecloth and towels to remind us of Nice. Abby found yet another elephant (pink with a green saddle) to add to her collection. Then we found a cafe where we read and drank cokes for about an hour. We took the tram to the mall which is a beautiful enclosure of stores. Finally we had dinner and took the bus to the airport. I have to say their bus system is quite good. We used it to get to museums and the St. Paul. At last it was time to return to Paris. We had a great time in Nice.

There are too many pictures to upload onto one post. I am going to upload pictures according to day ie., Nice, Parade Corso and Flower Parade.

ENJOY