Visiting Paris at Christmas....

And why not hop the train to Paris to take a quick look (Wednesday through Monday) at how the City of Light celebrates the Christmas season? It would certainly look different from any of my other previous visits! Timwww.timothyjaysmith.com had posted on Facebook and told me how wonderful the Frieda Kahlo/Diego Rivera "Art infusion" show at the Orangerie was. http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/events/exhibitions/extramural/exhibitions/article/frida-kahlo-diego-rivera-28821.html Mike http://www.michaelhoneggerphotos.com/had recommended the Sebastian Salgado show at the European Photography Museum. www.mep-fr.org

Frederique's Courtyard-some flowering chrysanthemums

Yes, I was leaving Nice on a bright sunny day to go to a city known among other things for rainy and cold weather! And then I was walking through the (HUGE) Gare de Lyon trying to find the bus to Les Gobelins where I would be staying. This station has three "halls", so if you get off in the main hall, it isn't so confusing to one who does not know her way around! But my train arrived in one of the other "halls" or voies. With the kindness of one bus driver, I got to bus 92, and soon was at Frederique's, a couch-surfing, semi-retired writer. I had first met her several years ago, and we had had lunch in August. She was actually heading to St.Rochelle for her holidays the next day, so we had but a short visit, as she was off to the theatre shortly after I arrived. Cafe d'Asie, a Vietnamese restaurant is in front of her building, so I had  a chicken dinner there. It tasted fine but the chicken did not look like any chicken I had had before, as the pieces were stringy chunks of white meat.  ???

Thursday December 19^th

After a short visit with Frederique before she left, I headed around the corner to see Galerie des Gobelins which I had never visited. It amazes me to think that this museum which has been making tapestries since the 1600’s is still operating!http://useless-paris.blogspot.fr/2008/02/afternoon-at-les-gobelins.html In addition to the traditional tapestries on display, Eva Jospin had made a display called Carte Blanche, which really looked like a forest.

Eve Jospin's work

http://www.museums-of-paris.com/musee_en.php?code=349

My ticket included a tour to see how they make the tapestries as well, so I returned at one for that.

There was a wonderful hanging which was made in 2005 or so. Regrettably no pictures were allowed, so I will try to describe this amazing work of art. Imagine you have thrown a mixture of throws and afghans and sweaters and what have you in a pile. Then imagine all the different fabrics and their unique designs-striped, cable, etc. Then imagine taking this image you have to a wonderfully true rendition of same onto a loom with a myriad of colors and shadows. Truly a delight! It took two weavers four years to make this one hanging.(NOW I am wishing I had sneaked a picture which certainly others had done!)

Then I went over to the L’Orangerie to see the Kahlo-Riviera show. Unfortunately the sign when I arrived said it would take one hour to enter, so I left with plans to arrive earlier another day! But this gave me a chance to look around to see the lights and decorations at Printemps and Galeries Lafayettes.

Small Christmas market near Notre Dame

Printemps (Department Store)

Galeries Lafayette

Marie had invited me for a Lebanese dinner and to meet her now three month old Agathe and her husband Laurents. (I had met Marie on the train to Metz in 2005. She was a student at that time. We’ve stayed in touch via Facebook and the internet! We had met for lunch and a tour of the Opera last August.) We started with a huge range of appetizers of hummus and cheeses and vegetables. She later told me, “We always say dinner is coming!” Of course, I had eaten lots of these treats. Her wonderful dinner was chicken and a green (which she said was a Chinese vegetable, although it reminded me of kale) and rice.  Dessert was Meghli, a special Lebanese treat which they serve as a good luck for special occasions. It is rice flour and cinnamon with grated coconut, pistachio, almonds, and raisins. DELICIOUS!! She walked me to the bus stop, and I was back at Frederique’s within the hour.

Managed to mess up the camera settings....

Friday December 20^th

I had spotted the ferris wheel, and so I rode it for great views!

I walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, which is a pleasure year-round!

Then I was on to Montmartre, to have dinner with Pascale, Anne, and Olivier. I was there first to arrive at Olivier’s so we had a few minutes to visit before Anne and then Pascale came. It was such fun to reconnect after my great week with them all in the Pyrenees! Everything again was DELICIOUS!! Salmon and veggies and rice with delicious chocolate pear cake for dessert.

Purple and green again....

Add caption

This was the start of a two week holiday for all of them, and soon they would be off to spend time with their families.

Saturday December 21^st

^{Well, I had learned the hard way, so I got to L’Orangerie with little waiting time. They check your bags through a machine like the airports do, so the entry is slowed somewhat. I had not seen so much of Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera's work in the same place, so it was most interesting. It was a bit crowded as it will close on January 13th.  I visited some of the other rooms in the museum, but not for too long....}

I went to the European Museum of Photography www.mep-fr.org, which Mike had recommended.

Sebastio Selgado’s spectacular show was called “Genesis”, described as a quest for the origins of the world” and a “tribute to the fragility of a planet we all have a duty to protect.” There were some truly awesome photos....

Sunday December 22nd

This was my last day to wander about and see what I could see! I definitely had to be along the Champs Elysses when it was dark to see the lights there. But I stopped at the Musee Cluny, which I had seen before, but the Unicorn tapestries would be worth revisiting after my Goblens visit.

One of the Unicorn tapestries

 And then I got to see the busy-ness and the Christmas-ness which is Paris, especially along the Champs Elysses.

Add caption

Slide on the Champs Elyssee

Selfie along the way....

Walking along the Champs Elysee to Arc de Triumph

Monday December 23rd

Time to go back to Nice after getting the fun and experience of enjoying Paris at Christmas! It was a great day with some fun pictures from the train...especially of the dogs traveling....

Pigeon snacking under the seat....

"I spy; who do you spy!"

Thank you again for traveling with me....I hope you will return!!

A Day in Italy, Renoir's Home/Museum, and On to Paris!

Wednesday December 18^th

Well, I am now on the TGV, the “fast” train bound for Gare de Lyon to see Paris at Christmas. It will be fast once we have stopped at Aix en Provence. But I don’t care! I love trains and will be fine arriving in Paris at 17:11! I’ve a list of places to visit and will have dinner with friends Thursday and Friday nights. I will return to Nice on Monday.

Saturday December  14th

Joanna, Lana, Graziella after our Italian coffee to start the day!

Ventimiglia, Italy is a 45 minute train trip from

Nice. Luckily for us, Graziella has a car and was up for the field trip to Italy! Our first stop was the train station as we had found some tickets, but the one for two to go to Milan was for December 3rd, so it was no longer good. There are two tickets to go Nice-Ventimiglia round trip, to be used in the future well, specifically December 28th!). Graziella, whose mother is Italian, grew up in Monaco, was married to a Brit, and now lives in Nice. (She did the talking at the train station!) We walked through the busy market and the flea market, held the second and fourth Saturdays.
Graziella suggested we go visit the delightful town of Dolceacqua, several towns away. after lunch, we went up to the chateau.

The old chateau dominates the landscape.

We had to walk through the old town to get to the chateau.

We had a wonderful tour in English after a short video also in English (subtitles). The guide was very informative and helpful, as we asked a variety of questions. We stopped for a glass of wine overlooking the sea, even though it was dark. The lights back into Nice were fun to see, as we could see the variety of efforts which each town put into the season!

 On Monday, Joanna (Cornwall) and Mary (London) and I took a field trip to Cagnes sur Mer and Biot. Our first stop was Cagnes sur Mer, where Renoir lived the end of his life up on the hill overlooking the sea.  

This was on the property and is being renovated.

The Chateau from Renoir's home

Luckily the Renoir museum had just reopened at the end of July, so we got to see the whole house, including his ateliers (two studios at opposite sides of the house to catch the light). He was very crippled with arthritis, so when he started sculpting, Richard Guino actually did most of the actual work. Someone had had the wisdom to do a short, silent movie of him,

You can see how crippled his hands were.

Primary studio

so we got to see him paint a few strokes, stop to talk with the men with him, puff on his cigarette, and continue this cycle. We walked back down the hill, to catch Bus 44, a free shuttle up to the Chateau Grimaldi. We had purchased a combo ticket and had been warned that the two visits had to be made on the same day. Regrettably we were not reminded-perhaps we should have assumed-that the Chateau would be closed from 12-2. We arrived at 11:55, and it was closed! So we had to return after 2!

Two busses later, we arrived in Biot, which used to be famous for glass blowing: many of the artists have moved away. Luckily there are a few vestiges left, and we saw one of them. We got off at a studio which has been open since 1956, where a father and son now make the glass.

They did lovely work, but fortunately I was NOT tempted!

Back on the train...I paused writing as we went through Antibes; it is still great fun to see the different aspects of life here! Now the train is parallel to the beaches! We stop at the Antibes train stop, where lots of people get on. Farther along, we pass an area where they are farm fishing. Scenery is wonderful with lovely cliffs somewhat like the calanques I saw in Marseille. I even saw someone in a bathing suit, who looked to have been swimming! Eventually we pass Saint Rapheal and Frejus. I am glad I have an upper window seat to see so much as it will be dark when I return on Monday!

By now I was seriously starving! We took the bus into the little town of Biot and had a pleasant lunch at Le Piccolo. Two busses later we were back in Cagnes sur Mer to revisit the Chateau Grimaldi. Joanna left to get back for her pilates class; Mary and I found the chateau

Looking out from the chateau

Loved this singing frog!

A better look....

very interesting and worth visiting! There were several exhibits, one was pictures of a famous singer of the '20's, Suzy Solidor, and the other were photos by Andree Derdet. They also had a collection of wheels and equipment used to produce olive oil. (I forgot to describe the little olive oil production we happened upon in Dolceacqua last Saturday, as we watched them press the olives!) We were all very happy with our day visiting Cagnes sur Mer and Biot!

Yesterday was my day to EAT OUT!! (Getting ready for PARIS, perhaps?) I met Mike for lunch, and we walked to Nicoletti, a delightful little Italian restaurant which was nearly full when we arrived at 12:30. Mike had the osso bucco plat du jour; I had a VERY good pesto and tomato sauce pizza. Mike commented that it looked like the Italian flag, as half of the pizza had each of the toppings-they were not mixed.

Last night Joanna, Lana, and I went to the Lebanese restaurant called Beuyreth. We shared six dishes including tabbouleh, salad, falafel, eggplant, fried cauliflower, and rice vermicelli. It was good, but I think it was better for lunch, when I had been there before.

On our way home we stopped at the nightclub JAM which was having an open mike night. In addition, one of the musicians was celebrating his 29^th birthday. He arrived wheeling his double bass and carrying his small dog, who was fun to watch as he ran around the club and chased some balloons! Once again it felt like I was dropped onto a movie set and had to figure out what the plot was and who were the characters. (For example,when the birthday guy called on his father, who was alone, to say something, the father said something about the mother who must have died not being there.)

Next post I will fill you in on what I found to do in Paris! Thanks for traveling!!!!

...And So "This Is Christmas" in Nice

Friday night November 29th

After much hullabaloo, at 6:30 the Nice Christmas Market opened. The mayor and others spoke. Then the little shops opened,

Before the shops opened along the tram line; note blue lights

the skaters took to the ice rink, the spectacular lights (but then I am a real sucker for French lighting!) went on, the huge ferris wheel started up, and the canned music started. One of the first songs was "And So This is Christmas", followed by "Jingle Bells", both in English.

 A large crowd of families and people of all ages were enjoying the arrival of Noël à Nice





Saturday November 30th


Mary told me about the library concert in the afternoon. The concert as described on-line translates (by freetranslation.com) as follows:

"Letto et Spirituale by Claudius: songs and madrigals of religious inspiration in Europe from the sixteenth to the XVIII century by the whole Voxabulaire with soprano, contralto, tenor, bass, harpsichord and lute. This concert of renaissance music and baroque offers a program also original that demanding, international and ecumenical since it brings together works of Italian composers and French Catholics, Germans and Lutherans, Russians and orthodox."

It was interesting, and certainly not music I usually hear.
Later that night Mike of Meetups had another photo showing at Fred's, one of the many small bars in the Port section of Nice. 

Sunday December 1st 

Meetup Coffee in the morning, and at 3:30 there was a concert in the Eglise in the Port. Every Sunday afternoon until the spring the same orchestra which performed in the Park after it opened will have a Sunday afternoon concert. This was the Nutcracker, so it was somewhat familar!

Tuesday December 3rd

A woman(Lana) I met from Canada who lives here permanently told me about the tai chi classes which are held all over the city. The first Tuesday of each month they are held up at the Chateau, so we get to do this graceful exercise with wonderful views! There were probably 200 people there, mostly women, but some men ventured out. So I have been traveling to different parts of Nice to do this class from 10-11:30 most mornings. So that, of course, has cut into my touristy traveling around Nice to explore places I've not yet seen. But I like it, and I've met a few English speaking women; since I am not swimming, it is a form of exercise!

Friday December 6th

My friend Caroline belongs to a film group called Cinema without Borders http://www.cinemawithoutborders.com/
They show films twice monthly at the Mercury in Place Garibaldi-yes,another 5 minute walk around the corner! I went to see the trilogy "My Way Home", an interesting movie about Scottish actor and producer Bill Douglas. It was in English with French sub-titles, although they could not get the sub-titles to work for the first segment. He grew up in a very impoverished family with his maternal grandmother and his older brother. It was an interesting look at an unknown culture; those of you who know me will be surprised to hear that I stayed awake! (I was  surprised as well!)

And so my life continues "living in Nice"! I will leave on Wednesday to spend five nights in Paris to explore the City of Light to see how it celebrates Christmas.

Thanks again for joining me! Hope you will check backt!!