A Cultural afternoon in Nice

During our stay here at the Cote d’Azur, we’ve been enjoyed more the natural pleasures the region has to offer, rather than the cultural games the Cote d’Azur also has to offer. There’s quite a cultural heritage here – seeing as a lot of artists came down this way to take advantage of the considerable beauty this region has to offer (and enjoy a few pastis and bottles of rose, while at it, of course!).

But since the weather’s been a bit rubbish during recent times even here, we figured a bit of culture wouldn’t go amiss. So, this Sunday we decided to head out to Nice and pay a visit to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary art in Nice, which is supposed to be pretty good. Since my parents are always up for a good museum or three, we decided to make a family gathering of it! It’s quite impressively located on the Promenade des Arts, between the town centre and the old town.




I have to say that I’m not normally a big fan of modern art, but this particular museum was a positive surprise. The temporary exhibition by a Chinese chap by the name Cai Guo-Qiang, didn’t really impress me all that much. But the permanent exhibition was pretty cool, with the works being just mad enough to be interesting, without going too far. I particularly liked the mad, out-there, abstract sculptures by Niki de Sainte Phalle. There were also, naturally, quite a few works of the Yves Klein, famous for having invented a colour known as IKB (International Klein Blue), who was born in Nice and worked here for many years. I also liked the little booth dedicated to Ben, another famous chap from Nice, famous for his catchphrases.

But the best thing about the museum, if you ask me, is the balcony on top of the museum. This rooftop balcony, reminiscent of something designed by Gaudi, offers great views over Nice. What was especially nice was that the sun had made its return, so we could enjoy the views to the fullest.

We finished a very nice and cultural afternoon with some coffees and cakes in a nice little tea shop on Place Garibaldi, before catching the tramway back to the train station to catch the train back to Cagnes-sur-Mer….