nice weekend in nice
1 february 2001

living in europe, gary and i have come to the conclusion that you can't really travel too much. that's why when our friends tim and margie mentioned that they found some really cheap fares, we jumped at the chance to check out a new city or two. nice and belfast is where they were bound; we bought tickets to nice but the belfast flight was sold out. we came home from africa on monday, re grouped for a few days, and then jetted out again on friday evening. the canals had frozen while we were away and this is a rare happening but i have to admit i didn't mind leaving the land of the deep freeze for the weekend. i can't speak for tuxedo, the cat, but i'm sure he wasn't all that thrilled about it. seems like he's picked up a few new bad habits in our absence. i'll spare you the details.

so there we were on the french riviera, cote d azur. at first glance, it almost felt like florida with its long streets lined with tall palm trees. i always love seeing palm trees because i know the beach and/or ocean are probably somewhere nearby. literally we dropped our luggage at the hotel and went foraging for food since it was getting late. any number of restaurants on the pedestrian mall could have accomodated us so we chose one with an attractive facade. there's something about eating a nicoise salad in nice and i had to do it. i was not disappointed and neither was gary with his stuffed mussels drowning in the appropriate amount of garlic and butter. it was our lucky night! a french waiter with a genuine sense of humor who didn't seem put out by having to serve us. sterotype, be gone.

waking up to blue sky and sunshine is nice in nice. after a quick breakfast, the four of us made a bee line for the market. well, maybe we got sidetracked walking on the pedestrian promenade, ingesting the beauty of the mediterranean, with a view of the hills rising from the sea. it's very obvious why the impressionist painters chose to set up shop here. the light is fantastic! many buildings are in pastel shades and the bright blue sky and sunlight contrasted against them would inspire anyone to paint. i've never seen a more colorful market, either. fruit, flowers, spices, vegetables, candies, cheeses, soaps, and pastries were all decked out in the most spectacularly brilliant hues. oh and they tasted pretty good, too. in my ongoing battle not to eat sugar, this scene was a real challenge. i would give in big time before the end of the weekend.

nice is really very upscale sans the attitude that can sometimes go along with that design. we were also pleasantly surprised to find it lacking in the "tacky tourist" quality we sort of expected. it is definitely the cleanest city i've ever been in; no trash, no dog poop, no nothin' out of place, the exact antithesis of amsterdam. it's good to experience a place that doesn't seem completely real every once in awhile. oops, i almost forgot, back to reality. as we boarded the train for monaco, i felt someone open my backpack but when i checked, nothing had been taken. monaco, which is a country, not a city, is a mere 20 minutes by train so we decided to have lunch there. there isn't any border control but being the cheesy tourists that we were, we marched right down to the tourist center to have our passports stamped. it's an interesting place, this country that is still a monarchy and where residents don't pay any taxes. all of the revenue comes from the casino! no taxes, hmm? we considered moving there.

it's more of the same exquisite cliffs overlooking the sea in monaco only a bit more hilly than nice. we nosed our way to a popular restaurant next to the casino and had lunch outside, something that won't happen for quite awhile where we live. in colorado, you see subarus everywhere, in monaco, it's ferraris. i'm rarely impressed by fancy cars but we saw one that we couldn't even identify in a gorgeous shade of blue that we're sure was custom made and it was really pretty. and back to the cleaniness aspect. margie insisted that i check out the bathroom even if i didn't need to. this was interesting. you press a button on the toilet and the seat drops down already covered with sanitary paper. when you flush, a brush comes out and cleans under the seat as it rotates. is this necessary? i really have no right to complain after being in africa, do i? what novelty.

we're not gamblers but we were curious to see monte carlo, just in case james bond happened to be there that day. it doesn't resemble any casino in vegas or atlantic city {i used to live there} in any way. physically, it looks like a museum with beautiful murals on the walls and ceilings, done in the most complementary palette of gold and aqua. truly, a work of art, built in the 1890's. the atmosphere here was also very different, somewhat relaxed, which is not what i've sensed in other casinos where thousands of people are desperately trying to win money. the constant clamour of the slot machines is absent because they are in a room by themselves and somehow muted, even in that room. we weren't allowed in to mingle with the really high rollers in tuxedos, so we walked around the main floor observing, trying to figure out what they were actually playing. blackjack and roulette were recognizable but there was one game that was totally foreign to our untrained eye. having gotten separated from tim and margie, we then taxied over to the musee oceanographique, set on its own cliff overlooking the med. it has over 90 tanks sporting exotic sea creatures and beautiful coral and we spent the rest of the afternoon there before heading back on the train. the train station in monaco is probably cleaner than some hospitals, by the way. and that was our day in monaco.

on sunday we were blessed with another warm, sunfilled day. we were in a museum mindset so first we toured the matisse and then the chagall museum. these are more manageable than some others we know and love in france {the louvre, maybe} and gary and i particularly fell in love with a recurring theme of dancers in several works by matisse. we tried to buy a print of one but they were sold out. i was fascinated by the progression of matisse's career; his early works are of a completely differnt style and you can see the development. he was able to simplify and find the essence of an image and was also very inspired by his personal collection of objects, which can be seen in many pieces. he was a sculptor as well, i didn't know that. the chagall paintings were all biblical themes on very large canvases, displayed in a well suited room. i can't say i understand a lot of his images but are certainly taken by them and really loved seeing his work, including some stained glass windows. he was a great fan of the color blue, inspired by the sky, i'm sure.

it was too nice not to walk so we wandered around taking in the ornate architecture all the while being able to glance over at the sea and then found our way to another outdoor cafe for lunch. we had a few hours to kill and we just had to ride the giant ferris wheel looming nearby. it was a grand view from the top; hopefully we got some great snaps with our dinky little camera. it was then that i crumbled and had to have a homemade crepe with nutella. could have been worse; cotton candy and red and chocolate covered apples were the other options. if i ever get back on sugar, this could be my new favorite. hard to say though. we still had time to kill so we browsed and blended in with the crowd on the pedestrian walkway. there was a wonderful street performer, with 2 cats "dancing" on his arms and at the end of the "schtick", the cats kissed each other. i wondered if tux and i could make any money doing this but i think he's beyond this type of discipline. this guy looked like he was raking it in; good for him. still we had time to kill, our flight wasn't until 9:45pm. we couldn't leave france without sitting at an outdoor cafe at night {with heatlamps}, people watching and sipping cappucino. that's pretty much the perfect way to end a fabulous weekend on the french riviera.

this past weekend we actually stayed home and that was great too! we won't be travelling this month at all because some friends and relatives are coming here. so i will happily be playing tour guide for the next few weeks! after that, however, we have a few more trips planned, one to barcelona, one to morocco {we love africa}, and one to the states {east coast} with a 2 day stopover in reyjkavik, iceland. as i said before, you can't travel too much.

tot ziens,

love, deb