First, let me say, still no sun. I saw the sun for maybe an hour today, and it was while I was stuck in class. On top of that, there has to be some sort of storm out in the Mediterranean, because there has been a really strong wind coming off the coast that I can only compare to the wind gusts I feel at home in Cocoa Beach before a storm. Nevermind the fact that the air has a relentless bite to it that has left my cheeks and legs quite chapped. I did come to Nice, right?
Okay, I feel awful for sending out so much text about the weather into cyber space- especially since I’m sure I only have a handful of readers, and I can imagine you’re tired of hearing about it. But its all you have to post about when there’s nothing to do! C’est la vie.
I will say though, that last night, Fabiola, her boyfriend Niko, Jon and I went and had a magnificent dinner at Khalid’s house. Last night was also the first time we got to meet Niko, and we all got along quite nicely. Khalid prepared a wonderful meal, as usual, and we sat for over four hours talking, eating, and sharing a few bottles of wine. Well, Fabiola and I did most of the wine drinking- Jon prefers dessert wines, which we were saving for later in the evening, Khalid doesn’t drink, and Niko arrived an hour or so after we opened the first bottle, and then went out for a second. All and all, four bottles of wine later, we were a little pink in the face, full of laughter, and not exactly looking forward to our early alarms this morning.
As for today, the cold, harsh, relentless wind made it the perfect day for a museum visit. Fabiola met us at the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporian. Now, I love museums… of a certain type. Particularly history museums, natural history museums, science and industry museums, even interactive children’s museums. But the past several contemporary/modern art museums I’ve been to have proven to be… a little unimpressive.
I consider myself an art lover, but I find some things about abstract art to be a little… pretentious. I also consider myself an artist of certain types, but I am no good with a paint brush or clay. However, a lot of the things I saw today I could have easily done. The only reason it makes it into a museum is because of who created it, probably because they’ve done something crazy, or they’re the daughter of someone famous. One exhibit in particular just looked like someone didn’t clean up their garage work bench one day, thought it “looked cool” and expanded on it. Sure, that probably took a lot of time, but since when does the amount of time put into its creation automatic grant it the title “art?” What happened to the days when art was simply beautiful, and that was easily seen, before artists had to defend and argue why they believe its art, before television shows turned something that is supposed to come with time, patience, dedication, vision and hard work into something that can be forced through competition? I guess, in a nutshell, you should say I just don’t get abstract art. At least not in a sense that museum exhibits should devote their space too it.
However, despite my inability to “get it,” we still enjoyed ourselves, and the view of Nice from the roof of the museum (which is of course open to the public, we aren’t lawbreakers!) was worth the entire visit. The museum itself seemed to be pretty close to the center of Nice, so the view was 360°. Well, with the exception of the fact that the Theatre National de Nice was blocking what would have been a beautiful view of the Mediterranean. But alas, it was still nice.
After the museum, we went for a stroll through Vieux Nice (Old Nice) where Jon indulged himself in some rather delicious cookies, and we had some socca from a corner shop that, according to Niko, has the best in Nice. It was delicious, and super fresh.
I will leave you with this picture: wouldn’t this be a lovely terrace to have dinner on in the evening, or tan on? That is, whenever the sun finally decides to show itself?
Until next time, bonne journée!
Parlez Lentement. 