Matisse, Monte Carlo, and a Malfunctioning GPS

July 18. Matisse, Monte Carlo, and a GPS Malfunction

Coffee on the street as the city of Nice was waking up. Nice way to start our day.

The Matisse Museum in Nice was next. My knowledge of this artist was limited to a cursory review of his works in an undergrad art class at UVic. I wasn't aware of the scope of the media with which he experimented--from realistic oils, pointillism, line drawings, cubism, to cut-outs in his later years. I'm motivated to have next year's Grade Ones create a mural in his cut-out style.

On to the ancient Roman city of Eze. We didn't give this the attention it probably deserved as it was crawling with tourists and bus tours and it was stinkin' hot out. Stunning views of the Mediterranean and surrounding area from here.

Monaco next! Missed the turnoff to the palace so we went to the casino in Monte Carlo first. Lost our self-imposed gambling limit of 5 euros in less than 2 minutes. We joined the hordes of lookie-loos gawking at the ridiculously expensive cars parked in front. This is just not our "scene" but since we were here, we felt we should see it all. Back-tracked to see Prince Ranier's palace and the cathedral where he and Princess Grace were married (and where she is now buried). Toured the beautiful gardens from where we had spectacular views of yacht basins chock full of multi-million dollar yachts and surrounding apartments complete with roof-top swimming pools and gardens. Monaco has a population of about 30 000, but only 10 000 of these are permanent residents (who pay no income tax). Drove part of the race track through town where the annual Grand Prix is held. Walked up and down way too many stairs today. Got a blister.

Crossed into Italy, driving through tunnel after tunnel, which may, or may not have been the reason our beloved GPS failed us! It decided to stop just as we neared Sanremo, our destination for the night. Did we have a map of the city? Of course not. Rick Steeves doesn't mention this spot, so we didn't even have the address of the Tourist Information office. Driving around this town of 50 000 people looking for our hotel proved futile. We finally found a sign pointing to the tourist info office, parked in a loading zone and started walking. . . and walking . . . and walking. On my blister. We gave up, returned to our loading zone spot, began driving once again, and Hey look! The GPS is working just fine. Karen, or whatever her name is, was talking to us once again, and we arrived at our hotel in a few minutes.

Sanremo is a tourist resort town. The buildings are painted in soft pink, peach, apricot and butter yellow, many with olive green shutters and wrought iron railings on little balconies. It bursts with colour from the flower gardens--bougainvillaea, hibiscus, and impatiens grow under tall palm trees. A promenade stretches along the beach right through town. We walked about 3km along it, (on my blister) looking for a good place to eat, and of course, another 3 km back . . . on my . . . . .