NICE: Antique Market on Cours Saleya; Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour; Musee Massena; Art of Charlotte Salomon

Bonjour Everyone: This morning, we were greeted by an extensive antique market set up on Cours Saleya (the street outside our apartment). We walked along looking at the dozens of stalls selling all kinds of antiques. It's the same here at an antique market, as it is at home. Some of the stuff is actually very old, but some of it just passes for old. Here, however, you will have to pay approximately 80 euro for a nice, old, silver cake server.

We had a quick coffee after looking through the antiques, as we wanted to get on the first hop on, hop off bus. We got to the bus stop, and were able to get a seat on the top level. Great for picture taking. We started the tour in the bright sun, but when the bus got going, we were pretty chilly. We stayed on top anyway. I will give you some highlights of the bus tour. There was so much information and it's hard to recall. Look at the beautiful vegetation. The city of Nice la Belle actually means, 'Nice the Beautiful'.

The sea was magnificent in that it was a clear aquamarine colour all along the shoreline. No picture can do this justice! Our bus drove by the 18th century Opera House, which when built was dedicated to art and the pleasure of the people. As I mentioned in the blog yesterday, there were lots of aristocrats who came to Nice in the second half of the 18th century to enjoy the warmer climate and the beautiful water.

The architecture in this city is stunning as well as exquisite. Wealthy people who came to Nice to enjoy, wanted theatres, luxurious hotels, art, casinos, and elegant, fancy homes built.

Not everyone in Nice lives in luxury...but they still live in Nice!

We drove by a place called "Garibaldi Square" where there was a large statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was born in Nice, and is seen with his face turned towards Italy. He was an Italian general, politician and nationalist who played a large role in the history of Italy. He seems to be a celebrated figure as there are monuments of him all over the world!

We toured past the Nice Observatory of Astronomy, where Gustave Eiffel, who was a French civil engineer and architect, designed the main dome. (Gustave of Eiffel Tower fame). We then drove by a monumental sculpture called "The Square Head" by Sasha Sosno who was a French sculptor and painter. It is 26 meter high and is the first inhabited monumental sculpture in the world. It's the Central Library in Nice.

We drove by the Marc Chagall Museum and as the Henri Matisse Gallery - both which we plan to return to! The Marc Chagall museum is in his own words "dedicated to the largest source of poetry of all time - The Bible". Even Queen Victoria travelled to Nice. She was in her mid 70's when she started coming. Apparently she arrived in her own special train, accompanied by around 100 staff members. She needed about 80 hotel rooms in the hills of the Cimiez area at the Grand Hotel. After that, she started enjoying the Excelsior Hotel Regina, Cimiez. Here is a statue of the queen:

Actually the Boulevard Cimiez is a hill. In 1875, there was a tram that started carrying people up the boulevard. The tram had so much trouble and moved so slowly, it was called, "The Slug". The big problem was that it would break down frequently and then had to be towed by horses. We drove by a church called "The Church of the Vow". In 1832, the disease of Cholera was making its way toward Nice. The town council took a vote and placed the city of Nice under the protection of the Virgin Mary. This church is dedicated to her. We also drove by a Roman archeology sight.

The history of Nice goes back to about 300 years BC, when it is thought the Greeks first came to Nice. It was around 350 BC, that the Greeks of Marseille founded a permanent settlement and called it Nikala, after Nike, the goddess of victory. So, we ended our tour having learned a lot about the city of Nice. The tour gave us a really good feel for the city. We then went to the Historical Museum of Nice, called Musee Massena. The museum is located in one of the last luxury villas of the 19th centuy. It gives a picture of Nice through the years. There are many 18th and 19th century paintings, most related to the city's tumultuous history. There is the cape that Josephine Bonaparte wore, and also her tiara. The museum also had many old pictures of Nice. Here's a picture of the coastline many years ago:

The best part of this Museum, was an exhibition of art on loan from the Jewish History Museum of Amsterdam. It was the art of Charlotte Salomon (whom neither of us had ever heard of). Not only did we love her art, but her life story was fascinating. Sadly, her life ended when at five months pregnant, she died in an Auchwitz Nazi death camp. The exhibition is travelling the world. It is called "Life? OR Theatre?" We felt privileged to have seen this art and learn about her art and her story! So, we had a full day... Bonsoir, Karen