We caught the train into Nice today and were almost immediately introduced to the weird and quirky behaviour of individuals that doesn’t even seem to raise an eyebrow amongst the locals. It does make for an interesting day though.
Our first stop today was the Matisse Museum up the hill. They were showing the works of both Matisse and Rodin, both of whom admired and got their inspiration from the same classical masters. It was interesting to see their interpretations via the mediums and the works that they did. An excellent gallery and well worth the visit.
Whilst there we were entertained by a very large guard admonishing a group of English speaking women in their 30s. They had bowled up to him and asked him directions to the toilets, and he gave them a very loud and lengthy ‘telling off’ for not greeting him first with a “Bonjour”. We think they got the message, and so did everyone else within 50m. Politeness doesn’t hurt in any language.
From here we walked back into the center of town and visited the church. After the chaos of the streets the peace and quiet of the inside of the church was rather pleasant. Although even there the tooting of horns and the regular ringing of the tram bells couldn’t be escaped completely. We can relate to the whole idea of the ‘church being a refuge in a time of storm’ in a place like this. But we had to brave the outside again eventually and so we headed up the road to the square and the park beyond.
The Square looks very cool with its black and white checker board paving, the old stately looking buildings around it, the continuous human bedlam evolving across it, and the trams moving through it at regular intervals. On one side of the square there was a group putting on a ballroom dance show, which evolved into dance lessons for anyone and everyone who wanted to become involved. And then just a few meters away there was a group of black guys with a drum kit doing improv hip-hop dancing. But their biggest draw card was a little blonde girl of about two years old who was dancing and clapping along with them, getting down and trying to mimic their moves. She stole the show, we hope she got a cut of their takings.
After this piece of entertainment we headed down to the promenade and went for a walk along the waterfront and around the marina. After strolling along for some time, we suddenly became aware that we were back in the land of the ‘speedos’. And we thought that we had left them behind in Italy and Croatia, but ‘No!’ they are alive and well here too. They look even more amusing as you watch their wearers tripping and stumbling back up the stones, rocks and pebbles that they call a beach, trying hard not to get knocked over again by the next wave.
After the entertainment of the day, we thought that we would end the day with an ice cream. We found a wonderful little ice cream shop that was pretty close to heaven … it had 96 flavours. Although the prices aren’t that saintly, they ranged from 2 boules for 3.50 euro, up to 15 boules for 17.50 euro. We wondered how many people order the 15 scoops, and how big the cone is.
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