I think, after this entry, I'll finally be caught up. I've been explorin' a bit...!
Amy Evans and I went to Eze a few weeks ago and took these pictures. Cool place, Eze -- I thought Grasse was isolated up on a hill.
No. That's this place.
But at least it has the views to (more than) make up for it. On a warmer day, I will go back and take the hour-plus hike from the seaside up to the center of town. It's another one of those tightly interwoven cobblestone passage deals, like St-Paul-de-Vence, and it boasts two very, VERY nice hotels/villa neighborhoods. Like, we're talking my entire month's salary for a weekend stay. Amy and I had hot chocolates at the terrace cafe of one of them. You'll see the pictures.
Nice has also been pretty good to me lately... I did a little shopping, 'cause the French government decides when things go on sale, rather than stores themselves. One-euro bus from Grasse to Nice is The Best Thing.
I also had the pleasure of seeing a dance show in Menton a few weeks back. I went with Nice teaching assistant Jenifer Queen (and we ate at Pizzeria Vesuvio, which I mentioned a few entries back) to see this Amnesty International benefit show put together by local dance classes... who were surprisingly good. A third assistant (Jennifer Lindblom) works with Amnesty's Menton chapter, so she told us it was happening. I stage managed dance shows back in high school and always went to Vassar's, so this was a nice throwback as well.
On a separate occasion, Jenifer Queen and I also saw The Descendants and found dinner at le 22 septembre, located here in Nice. Outstanding food on a very affordable 4-course menu (we could barely finish it all). I had a warm mushroom quiche, a steak with (basically) fries, a cheese and salad course, and profiteroles for dessert. 17 euros. And it was all delicious. Plus, they had tables available with no reservation required at 10 PM. We had a great time. A big thank-you to Molly Smego for the recommendation.
Another thank-you goes to Amy, who introduced me to (the oddly named) Choopy's on the corner of Rue Vial and Rue du Marc in Antibes. You can get a full breakfast (eggs, toast, tasty preserves, hot chocolate, genu-ine bagel sandwiches, and even cupcakes) here in a cozy little cafe with a pal. Nice way to spend a Sunday morning.
My promise to you: the very next entry will bring narrative focus back.
-Andy
Showing posts with label Nice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nice. Show all posts
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Classic
Backtracking: GO!
About three weeks ago, Amy, a fellow primary school English assistant, had a great idea. We went to Nice for "C'est pas Classique," a classical music festival taking place all over the city. Free concerts all over the city, from squares to churches to the big events inside the 'Acropolis' (DC folks: pretend the Kennedy Center was built in Nice in 1970s concrete). We saw all sorts of groups: little string quartets, choirs who were rehearsing, a 20+piece band, the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied by soprano Barbara Hendricks, a French gospel choir...
Yeah. American gospel music sung by French people. Complete with clapping. And robes. And thrown in pump-up ad-libs (in French), with "hallelujahs" (in... whatever the language is). Yeah. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised-- the festival had not advertised a comedy hour, and yet here we were.
I don't know much about classical music, but I liked what I heard. Seeing the Nice Philharmonic (and for free!) was a real treat. Amy and I had a great time touring around Nice stumbling onto the various bands. I should also note that that included a band on wheels (which included a piano on wheels) in Place Masséna and a chamber orchestra performance of Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' back at the Acropolis on the Sunday.
That's really about it. I only have two other details to add:
1.) Double-click on this sentence to see my photos from the weekend.
2.) The event name "C'est pas Classique" is, technically speaking, grammatically incorrect. To negate a verb in French, you put "ne" before (or "n'" in the event of a vowel) and "pas" after. The correct version would have been "Ce n'est pas Classique," but casual spoken French tends to do away with the "ne." I'm still not sure why they called the weekend that, since almost all the music we heard was classical, and I typically think of France as being very proud of its language, rules and all.
About three weeks ago, Amy, a fellow primary school English assistant, had a great idea. We went to Nice for "C'est pas Classique," a classical music festival taking place all over the city. Free concerts all over the city, from squares to churches to the big events inside the 'Acropolis' (DC folks: pretend the Kennedy Center was built in Nice in 1970s concrete). We saw all sorts of groups: little string quartets, choirs who were rehearsing, a 20+piece band, the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied by soprano Barbara Hendricks, a French gospel choir...
Yeah. American gospel music sung by French people. Complete with clapping. And robes. And thrown in pump-up ad-libs (in French), with "hallelujahs" (in... whatever the language is). Yeah. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised-- the festival had not advertised a comedy hour, and yet here we were.
I don't know much about classical music, but I liked what I heard. Seeing the Nice Philharmonic (and for free!) was a real treat. Amy and I had a great time touring around Nice stumbling onto the various bands. I should also note that that included a band on wheels (which included a piano on wheels) in Place Masséna and a chamber orchestra performance of Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' back at the Acropolis on the Sunday.
That's really about it. I only have two other details to add:
1.) Double-click on this sentence to see my photos from the weekend.
2.) The event name "C'est pas Classique" is, technically speaking, grammatically incorrect. To negate a verb in French, you put "ne" before (or "n'" in the event of a vowel) and "pas" after. The correct version would have been "Ce n'est pas Classique," but casual spoken French tends to do away with the "ne." I'm still not sure why they called the weekend that, since almost all the music we heard was classical, and I typically think of France as being very proud of its language, rules and all.
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