My day in Nice, France - Saturday, July 31st

This beautiful path leads up the hill from where I live ... well, where Wolf and Isabelle live. I'm just a barnacle. So today I'm seeing my friend Gundi. She spent her holidays in Imperia, Italy and is flying home to Germany via the Nice, France airport. So, Wolf and I have the pleasure of spending a few moments with her before she departs.

This is the oh-so incredible Nice airport. Well, it's 'Terminal 2'. Gundi actually is flying out of Terminal 1 but this building is even more impressive. So I shuttled over for a few photos.

My friend Gundi. If you ever need someone to perfectly organize your painting exhibition and you really want it extraordinary ... Gundi's your girl. She can manage anything ... and she's fun and kind to boot.

Terminal 2 art: Glass fish sculpture by Jean-Claude Novaro

My favorite sculpture in Terminal 2: Fly Me to the Moon by sculptor Jean-Claude Farhi

So, after saying my good-byes to Gundi, I decided to walk (!!) the whole way to the old town of Nice ... stopping to sunbathe on the way. I had to walk anyway because the bus is one euro and I only had 80 cents. So, walking I did. The beach is very rocky in comparison to the sandy beaches of Juan-les-Pins and Antibes ... but the water is the clearest blue that you could ever imagine. The swim was refreshing and after an hour or so of sun worshiping, I continued my trek to Nice.


One of my favorite things to do in Nice is visit the incredible art museums. This beautiful building is the Musee des Beaux-Arts Jules Cheret museum. I've visited this museum two years ago and decided that another visit was due. Sadly, only the first floor was open ... so I wasn't able to see the incredible Carpeaux sculpture of Charles Garnier.


This is the very famous print 'Bal du Moulin Rouge' created by Jules Cheret (whose name is carved next to Musee des Beaux-Arts). The Moulin Rouge which virtually single-handedly created the cancan craze, opened it's doors on October 6, 1889, and this is the historic poster for this occasion.

When I was an art student at the The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris back in 1995, I found a wonderful little antique poster shop and purchased this Jules Cheret original poster from 1889. I had saved all of my money for a very special souvenir and this was it. At the time the cost of the print was 900 francs ... I think that was about 180 American dollars - a lot of money at the time ... and I still cherish my Jules Cheret print every day.

Incredible Nice window shopping ... LOVE the clever design !

So, after a HUGE Leffe Biere 1 liter (I was embarrassed by the size but worked my way through it) and a delicious sandwich, I strolled past the beautiful and fashionable storefront windows.

The accomplished saxophonist Jean-Jacques Illouz and his band played in front of the majestic - and newly restored - Negresco Hotel.

The grand ballroom

Negresco Hotel at night