Nice

Traveling to Nice is honestly probably one of the funniest things I've ever done.  We flew from Paris to Nice on a small airline that had some pretty strict luggage restrictions, and everyone had more luggage then the guidelines would allow, but because their international flights will allow heavier and larger luggage from here , the trick became how to beat the system.  We left last Saturday morning and so on Friday there was a frantic packing frenzy at the hotel we were staying at.  There were only two people who had luggage scales and those were flying around the rooms as people attempted to organize under these requirements:  one large suitcase that had to weigh less then 44 lbs., and one carry on with no set weight restriction. Since I am going back to Paris on Saturday, I just left a bunch of stuff there and was able to donate my carry-on to the cause.  So this was the general strategy: put all your heavy stuff in your carry on, the light stuff in your suitcase, and everything else, put on your body!  When Amanda sat down by me on the bus, she was heaving this carry on, full of books and papers. As I looked at her I could tell she was wearing layers of clothes. This is what she wore: 2 bra's, 4 tank tops, 1 swim suit top, 3 shirts, 1 dress, and her coat!!  I kid you not!!  And she was not alone, Kelli was similarly dressed with 2 sweaters and a coat, along with the multiple shirts, dress, and tank tops! Half the group was in the same boat.  I couldn't stop laughing, I thought I had dressed efficiently by wearing my jeans!  When we arrived in Nice they were stripping layers off right in the airport and stuffing them in their safely transported suitcases!  You've got to hand it to them!!

We have arrived!!

Everyone has run out of money and with one week to go they were more then willing to use the small kitchens and cook their own food.  These wonderful ladies fixed a fantastic meal of Cuban beans and rice.    We all pulled our money together, went to the grocery store down the street, followed Darians instructions,(she's the cute blonde in the blue blouse) and after rolling our table outside we enjoyed a delicious dinner!  I will definitely be fixing this when I get home.

Sunday was church, and it was about here that the memories and thoughts of my other trip here, and my daughters started to roll in.  It was like Jenni and Sarah were everywhere, and yet nowhere.  Oh how I missed them!

I met this darling little girl on the bus going to church (mormons are so easy to spot on Sunday morning!), and she chatted up a storm with me, and then got all coy when the camera came out.  It just made me love her more, she was the spitting image of Annie.

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It turns out that all the museums are free on Sunday's and two of the best museums were on our way home from church.

This is the Matisse Museum which is set at the back of a cute small park.  Don't you just love the colors?  Welcome to Nice!!

I'm going to be very honest here.  This museum seemed to be where all of the Matisse notebooks are on display.  Most of the exhibits were simply sketches on sketch paper with ideas that would be repeated over and over again, and there wasn't a ton that was interesting, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt because there is a huge exhibit right now at the Pompidou in Paris, and maybe all the good stuff is there. 

And as in the past, I just take pictures until some irritated docent tells me I can't!  And so I got a few here before getting in trouble.  I just thought this was a cool cover for a Jazz music book; Matisse loved music.

This is Matisse himself.

And a picture of him actually painting.  I think it's interesting to see the model he's working with and see how he interprets what he sees and creates his unique and famous style of painting.

After Matisse, we went to the Marc Chagall museum.  Sarah took us here right off the plane after our long flight to see her, and I remember standing in this room trying to look at this art and realizing that horses aren't the only creatures that can sleep standing up.  I think I saw Jim asleep on one of these benches!  So, I took some pictures (with permission!) of the room so Jim could really see it!

Chagall worked with several mediums, this is a mosaic fountain.

As a Jew at the time of WWII much of his art is religious with strong themes and stories out of the Old Testament.  

And stained glass windows.

I have no memory of the outside of the building, so I though Jim might like a view of this too.

I do remember this though, these are the first Roman Ruins I had ever seen, and it was, and still is, amazing to me that the Roman Empire was so large, and left so much behind. 

These next pictures are just for Jenni and Sarah, welcome to Nice!!

My first real, on the street, electric car!!

We walked the four miles home along the Beach Front Promenade. The Mediterranean is still blue and beautiful.

Monday it rained and so we stayed close to home.  Pretend that I'm laying on the foot of the bed reading those books, that's how the evening was spent.  Yes, I'm still pretending I'm 20!

This is the view out my window, and I took this picture because it was a howling rain storm.  Unfortunately, I have a still camera, and all the drama was lost.  You'll just have to take my word for it!!

This part of the trip feels a lot more like a vacation then school.  That would be a good thing except that we really do have a final this week, and a bunch of homework to do.  It's a struggle to concentrate!  But the view is wonderful!  No complaints!