Day 54 - Matisse Museum - Dinner with Friends

Friday, August 24th, 2018.

We got up late and by the time we were ready to go to the beach, Gregory told us that it was going to be unbearable at the beach. At first, we were all disappointed because it was the first thing we wanted to do but I'm glad we didn't go after all. Just walking to the bus stop, we were melting! It was definitely hotter and more humid than in Marseille. We didn't want to be sitting on the rocky beach with no shade in this heat. We went to the Matisse Museum which was free for the kids and had air conditioning. Gregory got a little upset because it said free for teachers and I had my ID but the ticket lady said that it was only for French teachers. He argued with her but it wasn't going to help. We ended up paying 10 euros each.

It was really worth it! I just love the colors that Matisse uses in his paintings and the easy, relaxed poses of the models. There were also lots of photographs of Matisse painting in his studio and the models he used. The exhibit was fantastic. It wasn't huge or overwhelming but kept us occupied for 2 hours. We had a great time, or at least I think we all did, except Daniel who still doesn't appreciate art ... yet. Even Gregory, who says that he is allergic to museums, enjoyed himself although he preferred the Picasso works.
We scored because the current exhibit also had dozens of paintings and drawings by Picasso. It compared the two artists. By the time we finished and rode two buses back home, we were done for the day but we had plans for dinner.

Around 5:30 we left the house again to go meet Gregory's friends, René and Vanessa Descraques. He had met them and stayed with them when he first came to Nice as a student. They became close friends and had seen each other on various occasions. Vanessa lived in Los Angeles when Gregory lived there.

René lives in a 16th-century apartment in the old town of Nice. We found the building and Gregory warned us about the stairs that we had to climb to get to Rene's apartment on the 6th floor. When we go there, we were breathless. We couldn't imagine how they lived there for long and how they brought the groceries. I think I would eat out a lot!

The Descraques family welcomed us back. They also met Sunshine and Daniel for the first time. We sat there chatting for an hour (drinking wine we brought and eating pissaladière they brought) and then we went down to a local restaurant, l'Horloge, where the food was simple and delicious. I had a cup of gazpacho, and some of Gregory's duck. We had a great time and by 10:00 we said our goodbyes. We might see them again, we'll see!

We walked through the winding streets of the old town and through the Cours Saleya where a night market was going on. We made it home around 11:00 but I still managed to go to bed late trying to catch up with the blog.

Roman Ruins in Cimiez

Roman Arena in Cimiez

Archeological ruins next to Matisse Museum



Musee Matisse




Where do we even start?

Self-portrait Matisse. Sunshine admiring it.


Daniel, enjoying himself at the museum. 

Admiring Picasso's art

Carmelina by Matisse, one of my favorite paintings (Lili)

The one who doesn't like museums...

The three women by Daniel Harris

Matisse in the background





Rene, Sunshine, Mathis, Vanessa, Gregory, Lili after dinner




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