Nice is Charming
I just got back from Nice!! I will not say the obvious thing about Nice, because it is not true, it is better than that - Nice is charming. Charming! Even in the pouring rain, like on Friday, my friend Velina and I still appreciated the little streets and the pastel-colored buildings with pretty red roofs and the green vegetation everywhere. In the Saturday on-and-off drizzle, we enjoyed the market (and the cheese!) in Vieux Nice, the giant park on top of a hill overlooking the sea, the Chagall Museum (a note: I hadn't really liked Chagall all that much, until I saw a bunch of his works all together and got a better sense of his aesthetic and symbolism, and now I am a huge fan) and finally, since we saved so much food money by buying fruit and bread and cheese and yogurt, we splurged on a delicious "fancy" meal of wild mushroom gnocchi, wine, and we split a tarte tatin flambé with Grand Marnier, which was all absolutely to die for.
Today was sunny and hot enough to not wear jackets (not to mention scarves!), so we went back to Vieux Nice and saw an old Genoese-style palace and a very Baroque cathedral with cool twisty marble pillars. It was named after Sainte Réparate - according to our guidebook, she was a 15-year-old virgin, martyred in the 4th century in Caesarea, who appeared (intact!) in Nice in a boat pulled by two (presumably either very tired or very burly) angels. We also took a long walk to the Matisse museum (still not in love with Matisse, although he does some very voluptuous charcoal drawings) Finally, to end the trip - and this was the best part - I took off my shoes and waded in the Mediterranean! Which was warm. And sunny.
It is cold and raining in Paris.
I know this may be a case of the grass being greener on the other side... but really, there was grass in Nice! and it was green! and there were palm trees and cacti and orange trees and olive trees and sunshine.
Sigh. It was a really nice weekend. There. I said it.
Today was sunny and hot enough to not wear jackets (not to mention scarves!), so we went back to Vieux Nice and saw an old Genoese-style palace and a very Baroque cathedral with cool twisty marble pillars. It was named after Sainte Réparate - according to our guidebook, she was a 15-year-old virgin, martyred in the 4th century in Caesarea, who appeared (intact!) in Nice in a boat pulled by two (presumably either very tired or very burly) angels. We also took a long walk to the Matisse museum (still not in love with Matisse, although he does some very voluptuous charcoal drawings) Finally, to end the trip - and this was the best part - I took off my shoes and waded in the Mediterranean! Which was warm. And sunny.
It is cold and raining in Paris.
I know this may be a case of the grass being greener on the other side... but really, there was grass in Nice! and it was green! and there were palm trees and cacti and orange trees and olive trees and sunshine.
Sigh. It was a really nice weekend. There. I said it.