top of page
NICE
A sensual quality of life, matched only by its quality of light. Hence, being home to the world’s most famous Impressionist painters, lovers and dreamers.
Promenade des Anglais
“La Prom”, as it’s affectionately known to locals aligns with the 7 km arc of beach where France meets the Mediterranean in Nice. Well-healed Brits in the late 18th century took to wintering here and funded a paved walkway where they might comfortably “promenade” along the sea shore, hence “Promenade des Anglais”. Nowadays anyone from everywhere can appreciate La Prom, where a long walk makes time stand still.
Palais de la Méditerranée is a treasured landmark along the seaside Promenade des Anglais. There’s a certain irony to constructing a grand casino in 1929, the year of the great US stock market crash. Indeed this casino on the French Côte d'Azur was built by a wealthy American. It later was designated a historic architectural landmark which saved its beloved facade from modernization.
___
A NICE Lunch on the Beach
Nice, with its soft, seductive light drew artists such as Matisse, Chagall and Arman to its pebbled shores. Writers too. Nietzsche invested six consecutive winters in Nice, scribing “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. Chekhov put the final touches on his play “Three Sisters” while living here. And then there are those who just come to hibernate under a white umbrella.
Could there be anything more sublime than a lunch of ceviche and salads on the beach in the south of France? With your best friend. A handsome waiter. And French wine, of course.
___
Horizon Lines
It is a line that always reads as level. Definitive and grounded, albeit a distant tumult of tides. The horizon is consistent no matter what shore we may see it from. Anywhere in the world, its reassuring balance looks the same. Not to be outdone, the sky here in Nice also brings on its game, sweeping across the steadfast sea in a dazzling glint of Côte d’Azur glamour. Spotlighting the unique and creative souls who are drawn to this line in the sand.
___
Nice. Moments.
Strolling the streets of old town Nice becomes a simultaneous study of ancient and nouveau France. Contemporary life moves easily amid the old stone façades long frozen in time. Each era accommodating the other like a well coordinated stage play with diverse characters, cultures, ages and interests.
___
Eden en Nice
An afternoon breeze slips through the sheer white curtains that catch shadows from the garden. The town of Nice itself is a garden. An Eden more about pears and champagne than apples. Temptation here is to stay in, when one’s momentary haven is a Belle Époque space such as this.
See Airbnb link for Nice, France: “Lavish Garden Apt in Belle Epoque Listed Palace”.
___
Tête de Moine at Lavomatique
Literally translated as “monk’s head”, this scrumptious fromage is spiral-grated off a small round of Alpine Swiss into a dreamy, brainy-looking flower, assembled one petal at a time into a most edible full bloom. Accompanied by the ubiquitous baguette and the essential wine du jour.
Address: 11 Rue du Pont Vieux, 06300 Nice, France
___
A Night in Nice
The moon is full and creepy beautiful as it slips over the rooftops like a thief, stealing its way into the clouds. The sky is silent and monochrome, but the town is aglow and crackling in all the colors of a holiday hearth. Pull up a chair here on a cobbled old town street and warm the night with some red wine and the spark of where tomorrow may lead.
___
SPOTLIGHT: La Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence
(16 miles north of Nice)
In the late 1950’s two visionary art dealers dreamed of forming an arts collective with some of the world’s most talented painters and sculptors. You know, like building a tree house with friends. In this case, the friends were Georges Braque, Joan Miró and Alberto Giacometti.
La Fondation Maeght opened in 1964, the dream child of Aimé and Marguerite Maeght crowning a wooded hillside just north of Nice with light filled galleries and colorful outdoor sculptures. Today, France’s very first private art institution stands like a creative acropolis high above the Côte d'Azur, welcoming art lovers and dreamers.
___
bottom of page