France: Sun & Sea is Nice
November 2007, by Tom
My third visit to Nice - and without a doubt the most thorough. The first - a fly through with the family in '94 only to knock the skylight off the camper van we were driving while navigating under one of the low lying bridges (sorry Dad, had to say it). The second - a two hour stop off while racing my way through Europe on a Contiki trip back in 2003.
After a four hour journey from Arles via a 45 minute stop off in Marseille, we arrived at Nice at night. We stumbled down the main drag - which was still bustling with people and found our kookey hotel - Hotel Wilson. Originally an apartment block, where up three flights of stairs, the Hotel now dominated one floor of the building. Lived in and run by it's owner, it had a very family feel to it. A quick unpack and we were off in search of the Monoprix supermaché to stock up on supplies - wine and bread for dinner, cereal and milk for breakfast. We have become expert budget travellers!
After a squeeky nights sleep, we decided it was laundry day. After every pair of socks has been worn inside and out several times and the homeless begin to avoid us on the street, we thought it was high time for laundry day. A quick stop off at the local launderette gave us 30 minutes to wander down to the beach. Beautiful. Despite it being the middle of Autumn, the sun was shining and the beach was warming up and the sunbathers were out. It felt like summer had again returned - and we weren't complaining!
A beautiful day meant a beautiful sunset and where better to view it than from Parc Chateau - a castle and park on top of a hill overlooking Nice and the magnificent Mediterranean coastline. A meander through the old town and up several flights of stairs gave way to the spectacular panoramic.
The following day we decided to make the most of the weather and chuck on our running shoes for a run along Des Anglais. Building up a sweat gave us the crazy idea to jump in the ocean. So we did. We joined the aging locals in a quick pre-breakfast paddle and it was thoroughly worth it. So refreshing. It was still warmer than NZ waters!
Our final days in France gave us enough time to eat a magical lunch on the pebbly beach over a bottle of Rose, and visit two of the areas museums - the Marc Chagall Museé and the Museé d'Art Moderne et Contemporain.
Marc Chagall is a Russian immigrant who brought with him a very surreal and magical look on life and displayed these in his wonderful and varied paintings and mosaics. Very cool.
The Museé d'Art Moderne et Contemporain "offers a synthesis of the avant-garde movements in artistic creation since the 1960s". Obscure description aside, it was a cool looking building built specifically to house an assortment of sculptures made with scrap metal (including an entire squashed car), plastic bottles and other unusual materials. These artworks in their time were to spark the idea that art doesn't have to be just paint and canvas. There were also various paintings - including one titled "Bleu" - which was literally just a canvas painted in one dark blue colour. Of the more interesting artworks included scores of paintings from French born Yves Klein, a pioneer expressionist artist who would coat naked women in paint and smear them across large canvases.... All in all, not really my thing, but it was worth the visit nonetheless.
Overall, a fantastic trip to Nice and a place we would love to return to, come Summer time. We couldn't help but feel a little sad, however, knowing that our two and a half month journey into the South of France was coming to an end. With Italy beckoning and only a night train away, we packed up our ever increasing belongings and took off to where all roads lead - Rome.
T
After a four hour journey from Arles via a 45 minute stop off in Marseille, we arrived at Nice at night. We stumbled down the main drag - which was still bustling with people and found our kookey hotel - Hotel Wilson. Originally an apartment block, where up three flights of stairs, the Hotel now dominated one floor of the building. Lived in and run by it's owner, it had a very family feel to it. A quick unpack and we were off in search of the Monoprix supermaché to stock up on supplies - wine and bread for dinner, cereal and milk for breakfast. We have become expert budget travellers!
After a squeeky nights sleep, we decided it was laundry day. After every pair of socks has been worn inside and out several times and the homeless begin to avoid us on the street, we thought it was high time for laundry day. A quick stop off at the local launderette gave us 30 minutes to wander down to the beach. Beautiful. Despite it being the middle of Autumn, the sun was shining and the beach was warming up and the sunbathers were out. It felt like summer had again returned - and we weren't complaining!
A beautiful day meant a beautiful sunset and where better to view it than from Parc Chateau - a castle and park on top of a hill overlooking Nice and the magnificent Mediterranean coastline. A meander through the old town and up several flights of stairs gave way to the spectacular panoramic.
The following day we decided to make the most of the weather and chuck on our running shoes for a run along Des Anglais. Building up a sweat gave us the crazy idea to jump in the ocean. So we did. We joined the aging locals in a quick pre-breakfast paddle and it was thoroughly worth it. So refreshing. It was still warmer than NZ waters!
Our final days in France gave us enough time to eat a magical lunch on the pebbly beach over a bottle of Rose, and visit two of the areas museums - the Marc Chagall Museé and the Museé d'Art Moderne et Contemporain.
Marc Chagall is a Russian immigrant who brought with him a very surreal and magical look on life and displayed these in his wonderful and varied paintings and mosaics. Very cool.
The Museé d'Art Moderne et Contemporain "offers a synthesis of the avant-garde movements in artistic creation since the 1960s". Obscure description aside, it was a cool looking building built specifically to house an assortment of sculptures made with scrap metal (including an entire squashed car), plastic bottles and other unusual materials. These artworks in their time were to spark the idea that art doesn't have to be just paint and canvas. There were also various paintings - including one titled "Bleu" - which was literally just a canvas painted in one dark blue colour. Of the more interesting artworks included scores of paintings from French born Yves Klein, a pioneer expressionist artist who would coat naked women in paint and smear them across large canvases.... All in all, not really my thing, but it was worth the visit nonetheless.
Overall, a fantastic trip to Nice and a place we would love to return to, come Summer time. We couldn't help but feel a little sad, however, knowing that our two and a half month journey into the South of France was coming to an end. With Italy beckoning and only a night train away, we packed up our ever increasing belongings and took off to where all roads lead - Rome.
T
The sunset was worth the walk up
Admiring one of his many masterpieces
Mini Tom attempts to switch off the light
