Nice in spring

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First things first. You've got to love Nice. Maps are great and to get anywhere you have to go along Promenade des Anglais and then just follow the sign in the direction of each sightseeing point and you will get there.

This museum is really in a gorgeous building. The building was originally a residence of princess Kojchoubey and was built in 1878. On the first floor there is a rather large bookstore and there is a collection of Asian and medieval art. Then you walk up to the second floor along the really amazing staircase with a statue in front of you. As you are walking you see the walls decorated with paintings of the medieval scenes. And then there is the second floor where all the collection really is. Look at that piano with paintings on each sides. It's really gorgeous. But there is much more...

The museum bears the name of Jules Cheret, and even though his name is not as well known as the names of his contemporaries Monet, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cezanne, his paintings are really a treat to an art-lover. His paintings seem to combine the styles of Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet in them and are full of bright colors and light and life.

There are also a lot of Carpeaux sculptures which are really a tribute to woman's beauty.

In other halls you can also see paintings by Boudin, Monet, Vuillard, Van Dongen, as well as several of Rodin's sculptures.

If you love Matisse, you have to visit this museum. To get to the museum you have to get to the Cimiez, the area of Nice that is famous as the place of the ancient ruins that date back to the Roman times. The museum itself is located in a building that was built in 17th century and used to be a Genoese villa. We parked near the church with Gothic features and walked through the park to the museum. The entrance is through the new wing that is a recent addition, if you are facing the museum the entrance is to the right down the stairs. The museum has a large collection of Matisse's paintings. This is probably the only place where you can see the whole "Jazz" series. Unfortunately the paintings are behind the glass and taking pictures is not allowed. But if you want to have a memory, go to the lower level book store. They have a huge number of books on art including the "Jazz" published in New York (weird!). The villa has 2 floors that exhibit permanent collection from the period when Matisse lived in Nice (1917-1954). Here you can find some of the most well known paintings of his. Part of the collection if from heirs. One of the halls has several of the famous carpets with blue birds, sea life. I saw another one in Centre Pompidou in Paris, and yet another one is in National Gallery in Washington, DC. You can also see Matisse's sculptures which are pretty rare.

Looking at the photo of this cathedral (see below) I always have this feeling of surreality. Imagine a Russian Orthodox church built in the best traditions in the middle of Mediterranean with tropical trees and flowers surrounding it! That is what I call "out of space". Yet it is part of Nice as everything else.

The church was built from 1903 to 1912, and it harmoniously blends red brick with light-grey marble and bright-colored mosaics. The church has 6 onion-shaped cuppolas, and as any Russian church has amazing works of art inside: many precious icons, woodwork and frescoes. But the outside is as amazing. The church was built by architect M.T. Preobrajensky in the memory of the tsarevitch (Grand Duke) Nicolas Alexandrovitch who died in Nice in 1865. There is a plack on the side of the church saying both in Russian and French that it was built by order of tsar Nicolas II. The cuppolas and the mosaics are mainly in yellow and blue colors. The windows are surrounded by green mosaics. Inside the iconostasis is really gorgeous. Entrance is 12FF and you just have to see the church. The church has services as well and you might want to come in in the evening around 6 pm to listen to the mass.

You can always see buses of tourists near the church. To the side of it there is an older church that is now closed, yet is still a very pretty building and is worth having a look.

If you love Chagall's paintings as I do, this museum is a real treat.

At the time I was in Nice, Chagall Museum had an exhibit of Chagall’s book illustrations. This was very interesting since I really didn’t know that he illustrated so many. There were illustrations to the "Story of Exodus" and the Bible, Homer’s "Odyssey", Shakespeare’s "Storm". Also there were lithographs published in "Derriere le mirroir", a copy of which I actually bought. This magazine publishes works of different famous painters.

The main exposition is the reason the museum was built. It contains paintings each taking up a wall, a glass stained window, tapestries, mosaic, gouashes that are all devoted to different events from the Bible. Each of the paintings is really monumental and is full of life. The colors are very bright and saturated. Some have purple dominating, some blue, some green. The main topics of the paintings are themes from Genesis, Exodus and the Song of Solomon with Chagall’s very different interpretation of some themes. These paintings were created by Chagall in 1960-1966 when he lived in Vence.

You will not be allowed to take pictures inside, they strictly enforce that. There is a gift shop in the lobby, but unfortunately the reproductions are very poor, with colors not even coming close to the original, so I would not recommend buying anything.