It's nice in Nice

Wednesday April 13, 2011 Day 287

On our way to breakfast, we spotted a moving truck moving someone’s belongings out of a second- or third-floor apartment. Here, as in much of Europe, stairs are too narrow to fit larger pieces of furniture up them, so a moving company brings a ladder with a lift on it, and the furniture is moved out of the window.

We decided to stay in Nice today and take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the city. On our way down to the harbor, we passed by a most excellent gallery called the Ferrero Gallerie with many amusing and provocative offerings. The outside alone was wonderful, and the inside even more so, although I did not get any photos inside. We saw more works by our new friend, Arman.

We passed a sign which seemed to fit two of us perfectly -
the bridge player and the advocate

After an impromptu visit to the gallery, we walked along the waterfront a bit, then located the tourist bus and took in the sights of the city. Then we walked the waterfront some more and located a restaurant for lunch. On the way we saw Louis Armstrong by Niki de Saint Phalle

This piece by Bollie is a variation on some we saw in Ferrero gallery

After lunch, we walked to the Beaux-Arts Museum, which had an excellent Dufy exhibit, plus others. On the ground floor of the museum was a most exquisite sculpture of a young woman in a veil. It was so well done that the viewer wants to reach out and part the veil, but she cannot because, of course, it is made of marble. I think it is the most splendid piece of sculpture I have ever seen - rivaling Michelangelo’s “David” and Rodin’s “Thinker.” The oddest part of it is that the sculptor is unknown.

This museum was not nearly as well done as the one in Marseilles, against which I now measure all other museums. The rooms were large and airy, but there was much too much outdoor light pouring through the windows, causing unfortunate glare or reflection on many of the works. Some of them were hung rather high, and much of the effect of the paintings was lost as a result. The Dufy exhibit was good - most of his paintings were hung at eye level, and most are relatively small, so glare was not as much of a problem.

Aaron and I explored the museum together and I introduced him to Dufy. We saw a Picasso vase similar to what we say yesterday in the Picasso museum. We saw works by Gustave Mossa, which we especially liked.

Afterward, strolling along the streets, I stopped and bought some cannoli with a creamy chocolate filling - we are, after all, just a short distance from Italy.