Nice in December: for our annual pre-Xmas trip in 2018 we made it to Nice at the gorgeous Mediterranean coast with a blue sky, a glinting sun … a deep blue sea with whitecaps – no German December feeling (grey sky, rainy, snowy, icy …) at all.
Only far, far away we located snow covered mountains …
We pitched our virtual tent near the famous seaside promenade just at the entrance to the old city of Nice. So we started just after arriving walking along the promenade …
The Promenade d’Anglais takes you along the seaside … spanning about 8-9 km – almost from the airport to the old castle. We didn’t do the whole promenade – of course not.
Every now & then you’ll find the characteristic blue chairs lined up … waiting for people to sit down & watch the sea & the sky & the sun.
The sea is blue & inviting – and we even located lonely bathers & swimmers here & there.
We made our way up to the harbour …
From here you have access to the remains of the old castle, a fortress once on top of a rock. It’s a grand overview of Nice & the beachfront (have a look at the photos at the beginning of the post). You may walk the steep paths – or take a ride in a lift up to the top of the rock.
It was fine weather – most of the time – so that we finished our afternoons with a glass of white wine in one of the very few beach bars still open in December. (Alas – it started getting dark & cold when approaching 5 pm.)
Only minutes from our hotel there is Nice’s old town quarter guarded by an impressive fountain.
The old town has lots of narrow streets, high old buildings, many small shops, much more cafés, even more bars & restaurants. The alleyways are definitely not made for modern traffic.
We roamed the quarter for quite a while, got lost in the dark alleys, admired the fine ornaments on many a house, stopped for coffee & wine to regenerate & just relaxed.
We met more than one church …
It was warm enough for sitting outside for lunch or dinner – at least with the help of heat radiators.
In short: we had a relaxing while in the old quarter.
… & there is food in the old quarter!
Lots of small food stores specialized in meat or fish & seafood, in cakes & macarons … olives, dried fruit – all the Mediterranean delicacies you may imagine!
I was especially impressed by the outstanding chocolate tarts – as well as the overwhelming display of seafood (& fish). (I know – it doesn’t fit so nice …, but both are characteristic for the good life in Southern France.)
Pre-Xmas wasn’t so overwhelming on the other hand. There was a rather small Xmas market – compared to German style Xmas markets; the highlight was a giant Ferris wheel. I had the impression that Xmas decoration in streets & quarters & shops were rather modest, but nevertheless nice.
… & here comes a classic soap shop of Mediterranean France!
Lavender is all over the quarter – we bought more than a dozen little sachets filled w/ lavender as mothproofing agents for our wardrobes.
We had 3 fine days with sun & blue sky, but there was also a single day with rain – all day long rain, sometimes just a drizzle, sometimes pouring down like a waterfall. What to do? We went into the museum amongst others like roaming shopping malls or clearing wine bottles out of despair or …
It was the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMAC) where we had a lot fun & a lot of enlightenment.
In the MAMAC I found… well – let me give you some explanation.
Years ago (to be honest: decades ago!) I was in Paris & went into the Centre Pompidou where I was full of admiration for a specific Object d’Art: It was a rectangular canvas (about DIN A1 or DIN A0 …) painted yellow – evenly yellow. Afterwards the artist had sliced the canvas with a knife. That was it – my yellow experience.
Later in life I was in New York’s Guggenheim museum where I found my red experience: there was a square canvas painted red – evenly bright red. Full stop.
Now in the MAMAC there was a rectangular canvas in blue – evenly blue … attached to the wall & there was a 2nd canvas – also evenly blue – lying in front of it on the floor. So I have now my blue experience of 2 canvasses.
I didn’t get any photo of acceptable quality, but I think you got it.
This is another outstanding work of art (no – be sure the cleaning lady didn’t forget her broom!).
To say it like the work of art below:
Comment savoir si c’est l’art ou pas?
(How to know if it’s art or not?)
For now … bye, bye Nice!
