Scenes of Nice

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architecture, France, Nice, pictures, postaday2012, tourists, travel

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As I sit here in my room listening to the rain falling down, soaking my garden below, which needs it very much I might add, it is almost hard to believe that I was walking through the streets of Nice less than a month ago. It has been feeling a little like autumn these past few days, the nights are definitely cool and so it is hard to inhabit the Laurie who was perspiring all day and all night in the South of France, to correctly describe the feeling I had while I was taking those pictures.

It was glorious, the views from up on the Colline were breathtaking, the Chateau was of the time before France was consolidated into one country as it is known today. Nice had been a bone of contention between the French and the Italians, Nice is so very close to the Italian border, the restaurants are either French or Italian or both. Either way, the bounty from the sea and the produce from the hills makes for a cornucopia of delicious food regardless of the culinary influence.

The baby girl and I preferred walking around old Nice rather than new Nice. Old Nice has the historical feel due to the twists and turns of small narrow streets built long ago. New Nice has wider streets, perfect for pedestrians to flit from side to side browsing the many boutiques.

I didn’t think of taking any pictures of the Tram which flowed its sleek body through the Place Massena, I can’t remember why, but the Tram fit in beautifully despite being a sleek 21st century design, amidst old monuments and buildings. It is reminiscent of how the good civic planners designed the Tram in Bordeaux, making use of modern design to accentuate the beauty of  the past.

All in all I am happy that I made the decision to visit Nice with the baby girl, it served well as the stepping stone to Monaco and to my old friend’s house in Mandelieu. It is also a beautiful city right there on the beach of the Mediterranean, how can a summer visit get better than that? It can be done, but how? A challenge perhaps for the next trip.

Promenade in Paris

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architecture, Driving, Paris, postaday2012, walking

Yesterday after returning from Angelina’s, we went back to the hotel for two reasons, one was for the baby girl to relax a little before we set off walking again and two I wanted to change. I have to admit that I feel frumpy. I never feel frumpy at home, even in New York or in Boston. I walk around without a care in the world, confident and happy with myself. Here you can’t help but be extremely aware of how well put together the women and men are in this city. The key is accessorizing, the scarf around the neck just so, the statement necklace, the cardigan casually draped on the shoulders, the high heels and on and on. In short, I changed my jeans for khaki’s and my long sleeve shirt for short sleeves, because now it is warm, actually 81 degrees. I still felt frumpy, these sophisticated ladies almost make it a patriotic duty to be at their best all the time. I think that if I lived here, my outlook on fashion would take an extreme form of evolution and I don’t mean that to be negative, I think that there is something in the air.

Besides the people watching, the architecture here in Paris is just breath taking. Everywhere you look there are tall imposing residences and public state buildings such as the Palais Royale, The Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, the Palais de L’Elysees, le Musee D’Orsay it is incredible. I get a laugh when I think of the Pont Neuf, which means new bridge, when in actuality it was constructed in the mid 1600’s. The constant reminder of the agelessness of Paris reminds me of how insignificant the individual can be but at the same time an individual can be very significant. You just don’t know while you are passing through that moment of time. All the statues built in memory of the greats were most certainly not built during their own lifetimes.

One exception is the builder, engineer Gustave Eiffel, he knew that he was impacting the world on a huge scale and he was present to see both monuments to his genius completed and presented to the world. The Statue of Liberty and the Tour Eiffel, both are incredible. Yesterday when the baby girl and I were standing directly beneath the tower, I mentioned that the Tour Eiffel was built before trucks were on the road and before power tools. She thought about it, I think that the Tour Eiffel impressed her even more after thinking about it in a historical perspective. With the sheer size and metal framework, I think that it is very easy to forget that it was built for the Paris World Fair of 1899.
After we admired the tower, we went and had a drink at Cafe Gustave, walked some more and then took the metro. The baby girl was quite impressed with the Paris metro, clean and fast, we hopped on and it took us directly back to the Opera.

Navigating Paris once you get the hang of it, is fairly easy. We are definitely enjoying the city.

Architecture and beauty

Tags

architecture, Barcelona, Paris, postaday2012, Rome, Venice

What city has the most beautiful architecture?

May 19, 2012 by

Beautiful Architecture

Notre-Dame de Paris (France)

That is such a hard question; every city has its own beauty, even modern ones such as Singapore and Dubai. I think of Barcelona for its Art Deco, Rome for its classical architecture, Paris for being Paris, Venice for its romantic nature. I love Munich for its architecture and its cleanliness. Montreal for its embrace of old and new. This question is quite unfair in nature, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this eye finds beauty everywhere.