We had beautiful weather on Monday and to get a little exercise we decided to climb the Colline du Château (Castle Hill). This hill is situated above the old town and overlooks the town and Promenade des Anglais on one side and Port Lympia on the other.
As the name implies, there used to be a castle here in the 11th century. At that time the original town of Nizza was located within the fortifications on the hill. But after a siege by the French in 1706, the castle, fort, and town were totally destroyed (recall that back then Nice was not French but part of the Duchy of Savoy). Currently Castle Hill is a beautiful city park, and there are ongoing archaeological excavations to unearth the foundations of the former cathedral and other original buildings of the city. There is also an artificial waterfall and peaceful cemetery at the summit.
After taking in the views from the viewpoint at the top, we walked down towards the sea and found the Monument aux Morts, a war memorial to honor the 4000 Niçois who died during World War I. Built right into the cliff, the monument is an astonishing 32 meters (104 feet) high.
From the monument, we meandered back into the old town, passing by the pretty Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate in the Place Rossetti.
In the afternoon we headed by bus to the Marc Chagall museum. It's a unique museum because the artist was still living when it was developed, and the space was designed with his input about placement and presentation of the works. The paintings in the collection here have Old Testament themes (Genesis, Exodus, Song of Songs).
Chagall was born in Russia in 1887 (today Belarus) and many of his works reference his Russian and Jewish upbringing, although he lived much of his adult life in France and the US. He was not only a painter; he also created beautiful works of stained glass and mosaic tiles. All of his works showcase his mastery of color and surrealistic imagery. This painting is the fifth in the "Song of Songs" series.
The museum had a temporary installation called "Chagall and Me" where they displayed works by other artists inspired by Chagall. In the Song of Songs display, a parfumer (...perfume artist?) who has worked with Cartier and Hermès created several distinctive scents to accompany the paintings...a high-end version of smell-o-vision.
Kevin made a lunch reservation at the Hotel Negresco for Tuesday so that we could get inside to see this iconic hotel that has an impressive collection of art as well. We made sure to arrive a few minutes early so that we could explore a bit and we were not disappointed. We waited in the Royal Lounge which has a beautiful stained glass ceiling and a Baccarat 16,000-crystal chandelier that was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II but never delivered (due to the events in Russia in 1917).
The hotel was opened by Henri Negresco in 1913 and passed through several owners until it was bought by the Augier family in the 1950s. Jeanne Augier oversaw the hotel's transformation into a hotel-museum bringing a collection of 6000 works of art and historic furniture. She died a few years ago at the age of 95 but under her guidance the hotel became synonymous with luxury and glamour. In the "Le Versailles Bar" hangs one of three existing copies of the famous Louis XIV portrait signed by Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1701.
The Michelin-starred Le Chantecler fine dining restaurant is only open for dinner, so we instead enjoyed lunch at the La Rotunde Brasserie. We were, as usual, the first ones there and enjoyed some fancy cocktails with lunch. Kevin's drink was the Negresco's take on a Negroni (the "Negresconi") -- a well-crafted portmanteau to go with a well-crafted beverage. À votre santé!
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