Nice (rhymes with grease)!

Welcome to paradise.

After our trip through Brittany, Normandy, and the Loire Valley, we flew down to Nice. It is really an ideal beach town. There's a beautiful old quarter, sunny beaches, and the crystal-clear Mediterranean. The weather has been quite perfect, too. My first impression of the city was the perfect weather. Not too humid, not too hot, not too cold. It has been a bit windy the last few days, but beyond that, it's quite wonderful.

On Sunday after church, we visited two museums, the Henri Matisse Museum and the Marc Chagall Museum.

Although the museum was a bit sparse, it was interesting to see the evolution of Matisse's works, from his earliest oil paintings that are quite run-of-the-mill, to his more innovative later painting and sculpture, to the stained glass windows he designed, models of which are in the museum. to his more abstract work, heavily influenced by the time he spent in the Pacific.

Plus, the museum is quite cool, like the Jacquemart-André in Paris, as an architectural work alone. It's quite typical of the buildings in the old quarter of Nice. I love those colors together!
After visiting the Matisse Museum, we went to the Chagall Museum. If the Jacquemart-André was my favorite museum experience in Paris, the Chagall was without question my favorite museum in Nice. There's a large central room with several of Chagall's biblical paintings. Most interesting? Although Chagall was a Russian Jew, he incorporates the cross into his works, like in Chagall's painting of the Creation. Plus, just look at those colors! I'm not going to try to convince you with words--you'll just have to explore Chagall's works for yourself. And if you could get to this museum sometime in your life, it is so infinitely worth the visit. It was perfect for a quiet Sunday afternoon in meditation.