Musee Matisse

Today, my friend Tammi and I went to the musée Matisse. While I am not a fan of Matisse's art I do like his sculptures. Musée Matisse does not allow pictures, so this the closest that I could get. 

While some of sculptures look almost like masks. Tête de faune for example almost looks like a devils mask. The one sculpture that I really liked was Le Tiaré.  It almost looks like a woman's face, but also has some characteristics of a flower that Matisse had seen in the south seas.

What I did like about this trip to the musée was the park around the musée. The park was both a monument to some of the greats of jazz. 

It also contained roman ruins.

The area had something for everyone. Even bocci ball!

 

Sick...

So, I got food poisoning. I was trying some food in the Old Town area, and suddenly got a migraine. Lets just say the rest of the night was not pleasant.  All I could think about was this Italian soda that I got from the musée Chagall's cafe. 

I got the fraise (strawberry) flavor. So far it is on of my all time favorite drinks that I have had in France. It was so good, that while I was sick, I wanted more. At lunch, I will see if I could have another one.

Bastille Day!

This past Sunday was Bastille day, or La Fête Nationale in France. Bastille day is the anniversary of the French revolutionaries tore down Bastille prison. This action was the start of the French Revolution. 

In Nice, they set up moving stages so that there were concerts all up and down the promenade. At 10 o'clock pm, the lights on the promenade shut off and the fireworks began. I feel little bias, thought. While the fireworks were good here I feel like the fireworks in the states are better.  Please don't hate me!!

All in all Bastille day was very enjoyable!

Back to the Chateau...

So today I went back up to the chateau de Nice.  Only to realize, that when Madame Norris took us we went up the easy back way. Lets just say that by the time we got to the top my feet was hurting me to the point that I had to do something. 

Yeah... It was bad.

Since I had gone up before I was able to see things that I might have missed out on earlier. Like the Israelite cemetery.  

It's always a shock to my system when I come across memorials for World War II. For the simple reason, that I don't have easy access to any around me.  Here in Nice, not only are there memorials, but they still have ceremonies to honor those who died protecting France during WWII.

Since I doing my research on the chateau, I was very excited when I came across an old gate.

I thought it was so pretty and it looked like it had been apart of something at one time.  

Going back to the Chateau was very fun and interesting.  I saw lot of random things, like a tai chi class for example. It was an interesting way to end the day!

Local food..

So recently, I was able to try socca. Socca is a specialty of Nice. It's a pancake that is made from chickpeas and olive oil.  It's roots can be trace back to the early days of Nice. It still is a common item in some of niçois restaurants in Nice.

Socca is best when eaten hot, and with olive oil.  I found it to be very delicious, but a lot for one person.  I felt like I had to be rolled out of there.  I definitely have plans to go back before I leave.

Well this sucks...

So... My computer just totally crashed. I am hoping that by the morning it will be ok. At this point I don't know what to do. I am currently blogging from my phone. :(

Musee Chagall

So I recently went to the Musee Chagall.  The musee Chagall contained many of the works that Chagall did during his lifetime. 

Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Belarus in 1887.  His hometown pops up over and over in his biblical paintings.  Chagall is known for his biblical paintings.

The above painting is called the burning bush.  On the right, it shows Moses coming into contact with the bush.  On the left, it shows Moses with the ten commandments.  According to the Musee, his paintings tell several stories in one painting, somewhat similar to the paintings seen in Russian churches.  Seeing how when Chagall was growing up Belarus was apart of Russia, it makes sense that he would have been influenced by the churches around him.  

I find that I like the biblical art better than some of his earlier work.  Even though some of his earlier work was in color, the biblical paintings seem to be alive in with color.  The paintings almost glowed.

All in all, the musee Chagall was an interesting perspective on the growth of Chagall as an artist.  It was a quite enjoyable way to spend the morning.