Antibes: Ville de Mer et de Picasso

We headed to Antibes for a day trip last Saturday (the 11th).  Claire, Caitlin, and Nico went early in the morning, but Ciera and I had gotten back late the night before from Monaco, so we slept in.  Due to a fluke of the train scheduling though, we only arrived in Antibes about an hour after the other girls.

It never ceases to amaze me the sights we see from the train as we travel along the coast here.  Part of that surprise stems from the fact that the entire coast isn't developed... the same surprise I had in Morocco, where a massive graveyard lines the hill in Rabat going down to the beach.  

When we got to Antibes, it was pretty cold and windy.  I'm glad the other girls warned us about the weather, because I wouldn't have worn a heavy coat otherwise.  I can't wait to see these places when it starts getting warmer (which will be very soon, if this week was any indication).  Until then, I'll be bundled up, with lots of pictures of my hair in my face, like this one.

We wandered around town for a bit, stumbling upon these adorable postcards... Marwan thinks it's just a corporate ploy to get you to buy all three, but I think it's worth the money to send someone all three postcards comprising one of the towers, maybe over an extended period of time?

We went into the most amazing haberdashery (do you know how long I've wanted to use the word haberdashery in context?) and I wanted to buy every single hat, but I knew I would never wear any of them.  I almost gave in and bought a beret, but I figured that was better left to Jen H. in Paris.

Maybe for Lawnparties??

Or can we make a new theme night... like British Royal Wedding theme?

There was also an amazing market that was a joint effort between the French and Italian Chambers of Commerce, but that's going to get its own post.

All this time, we were slowly making out way to the Picasso museum.  The collection is small, but it's fun to see because the location, the old Grimaldi Castle, served as Picasso's home for a period of time, and his work took inspiration from its position overlooking the sea.  He also drew on the Greek history of Antibes and the fishing culture of the town, with many paintings featuring sea urchins, mariner shirts, and boats.  This is the view from the castle:

And here are two of my favorite paintings in the museum.  I bought postcards of both of them, and I think they were rather representative of the work shown in the museum.

Pêcheur attablé

This one wasn't any particular theme, it was just surprisingly evocative given its abstraction...

Nu assis sur fond vert

The impact of the sea was very clear in other ways too.  Antibes is definitely one of those places on the Côte d'Azur that is known for its yachts and sailboats.  The harbor was pretty, if quiet in the winter, and is clearly the center of the town during the summer.

The town is remarkably anglophone--there is a strip of British and Irish pubs, a British grocery store, and an anglophone bookstore, stocked with sailing books.

There were also plenty of sailing paraphernalia shops.  I don't have pictures of the "yacht construction" store or the hardware store where you can get brass knobs all match your spyglass and your handrails on your boat...

But the most beautiful boats are the simplest.  Like this one, below.  It gets points off for not being a sailboat, but makes up for it because of the color and because it is obviously used, but used with love.

Like a well-worn book.  I hate when people keep their books pristine. 

Antibes' connection with the ocean was a lot like Torino with the mountains, but obviously a different aspect of nature.  I love how art, daily life, and commerce all center around the water.  These types of locations keep proving to me the interconnectedness of all different facets of life.

Pour les Filles: Mes Achats de Nice

As I mentioned, Nice was pretty much just a shopping trip.  I didn't go crazy, but I found two things I liked.

Wool socks:

I felt like Dumbledore, when he tells Harry that all he wants for Christmas is a pair of nice, thick, wool socks.  Of course he was lying, but there really is something wonderfully cozy and wintery about wool socks.  I was kind of wishing for winter weather, since I missed the snow back in the States, and Menton is much warmer than I'm used to during the winter.

These actually come up to just under my knees, and I really liked the pattern.  They turned out to be a good choice--you'll see them in my pictures from Torino.  That whole "in the mood for winter" idea came to fruition this weekend.

The funny thing is that I got the socks from H&M.  It's a little silly, that I'm all the way over here in Europe, and I went shopping at H&M.  I like to think they have better items in Europe... (cognitive dissonance?)

On a bit of a random note, did you know that H&M stands for Hennes & Mauritz?  I didn't actually find that out this trip, I saw it spelled out once on an H&M in Switzerland.

The second item is this blue and white striped shirt from Le Petit Bateau.  The picture is on our balcony, taken by my roommate Anaïs while we were enjoying the sun out there.

Anaïs found the shirt highly amusing, because she has one almost identical to it.  Hers is even from Le Petit Bateau too!  I'd been looking for a shirt of this style, and I really like the rather heavy weight of the fabric.  I must confess, it didn't hurt that Garance Doré recently did an ad campaign for the company. If any contemporary figure epitomizes carelessly chic French style, it's her.

It's great to be in France during the sale seasons, les soldes, although I've learned to not put too much stock in it.  Mostly because I always seem to be here during les soldes, so it seems like they happen all the time.  If only!

Nice

Popped over to Nice with Maryam for the afternoon/evening.

The train ride is incredible--next to the water almost the entire time.  It wasn't the best weather, a little cloudy, but the cliffs going down to the water were amazing!

Once we arrived in Nice, our first order of business was shopping.  There will be pictures of my achats later.  Nice has a thing for weird lighting: check out this cool pink chandelier off the main street...

The other interesting part of the lights and the architecture of Nice was how it all changed from day to night.  Here is the church on the main street:

The main plaza also changed completely from day to night:

Ignore the rando, check out that super-modern tram going through the very old city!

Sans tram, sans rando

The same plaza.  Yes, those are neon men sitting on top of poles. Yes, they were there during the daytime.

We didn't notice either, until they started GLOWING

It seems that Nice doesn't go to bed quite as early as Menton, and shops still looked inviting even after the sun had fallen.  

 The buildings are just as vibrantly colored as in Menton, and much more so than in the north.  I love the contrast of the red against a gray sky, but I have a feeling the entire city feels like it should be colored in these fire tones when it's lit by a summer sun.  Fittingly, the central figure in this fountain is Apollo, and the whole thing is La Fontaine du Soleil (Fountain of the Sun).

  

 Not exactly sure what this is... some sort of ruin above the city.

 Map painted on a building highlighting lots of cool sites in Nice... we didn't make it to most of them, so we'll just have to go back.

I blame Maryam for making me take creepy pictures of this quintessentially French couple. So classy.  Them, obviously, not us.

 This was such an easy trip, just a few hours out of our day.  I'm sure we'll be going back regularly.  And as with most journeys, good company made everything more enjoyable.

Coming soon: Torino (my first trip to Italia)

Au Pays du Citron

When Oren first told me, I found it strange that Menton has a Lemon Festival.  Then I arrived, and I realized that citrus (lemons and oranges predominate, from what I've seen) is everywhere.  Here are just a few photographic examples of citrus in the life quotidienne de Menton.

 

Also, a note about the trees on the Menton streets.  While the fruits have orange rinds, they taste like lemons.  No one I've talked to really knows what they are.

There are even stores devoted to citrus!  This one (below) is a particularly cute example, but they're everywhere.

And of course, what good would it be to have citrus trees everywhere if we didn't pluck them?

Maryam stealing a lemon after getting back from Nice

I can't wait to see what it looks like when the Lemon Festival actually starts!!

Sous le Soleil

Enfin, je me suis promenée autour de la ville, avant 18h.  Le voilà ce que j'ai vu:

  

Les palmiers en France! Qui l'aurait pensé? Mais on est au sud...

 

Je me suis remarquée que les couleurs sont (1) bien forts, (2) si different de ce qu'on verrai à Paris ou au nord de la France.  Je viens pas encore à croire qu'on est sur la Mediterranée 

Voilà Italie: Ventimiglia

 Les rues piétons sont tellement incroyables.  On ne doit pas se concerner des voitures, il y a des petits cafés, les gens s'arrêtent pour se parler...

Ce sont des lieux comme ça qui me font souvenir comment petite soit la ville.  J'était au Carrefour, où quelqu'un avait laissé son chien à l'entrée du magasin... dès qu'il est parti (avec son chien) ils ont tous commencé à en parler... "Mon dieu, c'est la deuxième fois qu'il est venu avec ce chien..." ou "Et bien il disait qu'il ne serait qu'un instant, mais nooonnn, il s'est promené..."

C'est ça qui se passe dans une ville petite peuplée par des vieux... des vieux qui portent toujours leurs manteaux de fourrures.  Il fait pas même froid !

Alors, ça c'est tout pour l'instant... à venir: Rome!

Bienvenue à Menton

View from my window

I didn't get to do much this weekend because I was holed up studying procrastinating on exams.  That said, here are just a few thoughts and photos from the past couple days.

Planes. I had forgotten how dehydrating they are.  And turbulent.  I ended up rushing to the airport 3 hours early, barely packed, because my original flight was cancelled (I have a feeling it wasn't full enough to make it worth the trip for them).
 I also managed to fall asleep the second I sat down, anywhere.  I don't remember takeoff from Philly.  I don't remember takeoff the next morning on my LHR - NCE leg of the trip.  I don't remember most of the bus ride from Nice to Menton.  I remember being in Monaco, and the next thing I know it's the end of the road and Menton, when I thought we were still in the principality.

Before I even got to France, I had an interesting experience.  I set off the metal detector in Heathrow with just a necklace, even though the same one hadn't set off the Philly metal detector.  Anyway, I got patted down.  It was the most invasive pat-down I've ever experienced.  I definitely would have freaked out had it not be a woman doing it.  She felt under the top of my waistband... that must be even more awkward for her; she practically apologized as she did it.

View from the Sciences-Po St. Julien building

When I arrived in Menton I was glad I had taken the earlier flight, because it meant I made my trek to the Sciences Po building in the daytime.  Most of the streets we take are pedestrian, rues piétons, and having to do all that on foot, with bags, in the dark would have been no fun.

Just to go quickly through the next few days... met my référent, Alexis.  He took me for coffee and we chatted about Menton, and the courses, and basically what to expect.  Didn't get anything useful done like buying a telephone, or setting up a bank account, of course.
Met a ton of the students--échange et non--at Casa Italia, the nickname for the Italian kids' apartment.  Staying in my room studying over the weekend, and taking my finals and my Arabic placement test.

Finally finished all that today (yesterday by now), and finally got to breathe and see the town with relaxed eyes.  Tout d'un coup I saw things I hadn't noticed, little nooks and crannies.  It was dark by the time I started walking around, so these pictures don't quite capture everything. But they're a start.

We got coffee here

Just another square...