Thursday, July 11, 2013

Nice, day 1

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We have made an art pilgrimage. The amount of 20th century modern art in the south of France is astounding, and of course, that is that. Originally I had planned for 3 days in Nice, but it was immediately obvious that that wasn't nearly enough time, so we're staying for 5.

The highlight of our first day here was the Matisse Museum and nearby monastery grounds. There is so much beauty here — between the art, the architecture, and the gardens — that it's truly overwhelming. I do wish it wasn't quite so hot out, as it really makes it hard to stay and appreciate all that there is to see outside. We Portlanders are finding it a bit intense.

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Around 5pm we headed down to the beach to try and cool off a bit. The beach is pretty uncomfortable here, as it's all rock, but the stones are beautiful and bring out the OCD in me just as much as a good shell beach! Anna and I also discovered that the beach is full of tiny pieces of beach glass, which we started collecting. I'm pretty sure the locals thought we were totally insane!

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Apparently Nice is also famous for it's annual Jazz festival, which happens to be going on right now. Walking back to our apartment* after dinner we ran smack into crowds of folks standing outside the barricades listening to the performance. Turns out it was John Legend, so we stuck around for a few songs (I enjoyed it, though neither David nor Anna were impressed).


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*To call where we're staying an apartment is a gross overstatement. Gross. Overstatement. But ok. Art. And the Med. :-)

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