thanksgiving in nice

well nice grew on me today (i am glad for ginny...i think she worries that i am not loving this...I AM SO LOVING THIS)...

we started out with a stop at the corner to buy morning breads/goodies...

this sign sums up much of our day...

we made our way to the Musee Matisse...we got a little lost on the way...our error took us into a little cemetary...strangely enough we found Matisse...

eventually we found the museum but decided to take a break ...we spent a little time in a wonderful park in front of the museum watching people...their dogs and feeding pigeons...

then on to the musee

i believe i fell in love with matisse today...loved the sketches...the work for St. Paul de Vence...his "erotic" sketches and even some of the later "cut and paste" stuff (i am so very cultured)...

when we left we realized that there was a roman ruin site behind the museum...we stopped to take a look...

i am so glad my arms are long enough for this...

we made our way down (the matisse museum is up on the hillside)...we were on our way to our second stop...the chagall museum...we took a wrong turn...no problem...we met a few friends along the way...those of you who know ginny well will see why this tickled her so...

we finally arrived at the chagall museum...i gained a greater appreciation for him today...i know i have seen chagall in other museums....but today i saw him...just him in room after room...it is the color that blows my mind and the story telling...i loved it...again a new world is opening up for me i think....

after the chagall museum we worked our way back to the old part of nice....we came across this amazing church in the midst of the old city...the streets too narrow for cars and the square so tiny you can not step back from the church steps enough to appreciate the building...I could not distance myself enough to even take a photo...this huge church on this tiny square...no room to appreciate the church...the beauty of the building...the square/place?

it seemed clear that the church was built and then the city closed in...the square lost in the rest of life....

we continued on our way and stopped for a little thanksgiving dinner...we grabbed a spot on this stair and ate...

After a quick bite we made our way to "castle hill"...the hill without a castle...it is the highest point in the city center...really lovely...waterfalls...great sites from the heights...

we took time to mark our steps again...Castle Hill, Nice, France

the sun leaves us...

we rush to the water...i have not put my feet in yet...

we spent a little time on the beach....collecting rocks...leaving our mark (ginny left messages on rocks and left them for others to find)...and saying goodbye to france...tomorrow we move on to italy....

nice...monoco and more nice

a few thoughts on nice...not that i thought paris was clean...but nice is not paris...i think i fell in love with paris...so that may be part of my uncertainty with nice...also our accomodations are a little "rough"...saving a few euros in exchange for comfort (ginny giggles...there is a story there)...that being said...the view is fabulous...location wonderful...the couple running the hotel--charming...

we started the day on the promenade...a beautiful morning...

i have decided that the crazy curly haired look is the best for this trip...i do miss my hair dryer...

the feet continue to make their appearance...i am surprised by the stoney/rocky beach...

we take a break and watch people doing their thing...the picture that you do not see is the one of the guy getting out of the water in his tiny speedo...it is maybe 60 degrees today...a little chilly for a dip in the mediterranean...

we hit the promoanade again and make our way through the streets of "old nice"

the shops and markets are wonderful

we stop for lunch...the birds are eager to feed on our crumbs...for lunch? ham and cheese on baguettes (ginny's had goat cheese on it...mine did not) and a meringue the size of my head...soooooooo good...

then off to monoco...we took the bus...1 euro...the ride was beautiful...wonderful to see the city this way...winding roads...and as the bus made its way through the streets the switchbacks in the road made for glorious sights...we arive in monoco and head to the port...

it is here that i am wishing i had a photo of my phone calling to the US...i stood in a funny phone booth with a red phone in front of the police station to check in with a few folks at home...all is well there and onward we go...returning to nice via bus (we took the express bus home...not as scenic...but fast and cheap)...when we return to nice we hit the streets of the old ville once again...

lots going on at every turn...

this is a picture of a nun that almost runs us over..i was self conscious...i wanted a pic but was scared she would catch me taking the pic...so you see her from the behind...she made me giggle...

we started for the hotel and came across this woman...i stopped imediately...a real woman...i took this picture and said to ginny that i should send this home announcing that i had been cast in bronze...

as the sun took its place behind the cliffs we stopped for cafe creme and a rest...

a content ginny...

and i find myself relaxed and glad to just be...

we will find something fabulous for dinner this evening...tomorrow we will visit the chagall and matisse museums and take a trip to cannes or st. paul de vence...will see where the spirit leads...

a slow day

a slow day today...made our way to nice...have shopped a little and done laundry...dinner tonight (moules et frites-mucsles and fries)...monoco tomorrow...here for three days and then we move into italy....this is the view from our balcony in nice...

old hands...in that we are becoming old hands

before i share about today...i want to say goodbye to Paris...i hope to spend time there again...felt like we merely scratched the surface...look forward to digging deeper...hope that life will present that opportunity...loved the people...the crowds...the sea of black (everyone wears black...okay not everyone but most)...the history...even the language...the cafe creme (yes i have been drinking coffee)...baguettes and crepes...and dogs....people walking in huge crowds with tiny dogs...can not imagine nadou and radar in paris...their leashes would be taut and their noses over loaded...

one last stop at our favorite coffee shop before leaving paris...     

we left paris and boarded the high speed train for avignon

on the train ginny studies up on her italian...i am no help

we arrive in avignon...check in to the hotel and hit the streets...first stop Place de l'Horloge

then off to see the Pont d'Avignon...half of the bridge was washed away in floods a billion years ago...

then back into the city (it is surrounded by a wall) and up to The Palace of the Popes...amazing...

we take a break...many steps on this journey

before leaving the States...ginny carefully sliced one of the rick steves books up...the Avignon pages included a walking tour...we took steve's advice...it was great advice at that...thanks steve...we start out at the the palace of the popes and marking our spot...we have walked on many stones these past few days...we have been watching women walking the streets in crazy heels...how they do it i know not...

steve's tour takes us into the back streets and alleys of the city

along the way we encounter the Church of Saint Pierre...we go in for a look...the time invested..the money invested...i really don't know what  to think about these churches...the Sacre Coeur (a Paris stop) took 40 years to build...40 frickin' years...

St. Pete was serious about silence....as ginny noted the sign and the "shhhhhhh" in 12 languages

our self propelled steve tour ended with the sun saying goodnight...

we ended the evening with dinner, a laptop and maps...we are leaving a day early...off to Nice in the morning...will take a day trip to monoco and another to cannes...

we are having a wonderful time....still feeling that my eyes are not my own...i will say that the cost is shocking...we are being as thrifty as we can....buying from markets (thank you God for french bread)...i have had to stop thinking about euros in terms of dollars...too depressing...a cup of coffee has been as cheap as $3.50 and as much a $7...for a small cup...not a grande super-charged mocha chocca latte...

i have been collecting sugar packets....this humors ginny because i give her a lot of crap about collecting stuff....they are just so cute...i have made few purchases...a striped scarf for for me and one for alejandra (a student who asked about scarves and stripes)...we have also purchased a few post cards...

i told ginny tonight that i feel like we...the collective american/canadian we...have no idea what we are missing...this makes me want to see more more more...

kir and gin too....

Fantastique

Day two....wow...
on our way to mass...i love the metro signs...

we pass the flower markets...ginny is in heaven

we come across a bird market...birds birds and more birds...i found this very strange

mass at Notre Dame

Sunday Morning Mass @ Notre Dame...parts of mass in French, Latin, German, English, Italian and Spanish...the music was "incroyable"

after mass a walk by the seine

afternoon...we are off to the Musee d'Orsay

ginny's favorite piece...a Monet...this was mine....what does this mean?

marking our spot...the Opera exhibit at d'Orsay

 

up to Montmartre...the highest elevation in Paris

and Sacre Coeur

artists in the square at Montmartre...characters galore...

and then off to place pigalle--the red light district...

and the moulin rouge...

it rained much of this windy windy day...we ended the day back in the Latin Quarter...a croissant for ginny and a nutella and banana crepe for kirsten....we have become pros at the metro...tomorrow we move on to avignon...the highlights for the day were mass at Norte Dame...the singing nuns at mass at the Sarce Coeur...the BIG clock at d'Orsay...