Some Nice Things to See and Do

Museum of Asian Arts

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Attraction | "Forget the Permanent Stuff"

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The Asian Art Museum in nice is a strange beast. I would argue that those who visit it with any sort of purpose would rarely go to see its permanent displays. I have been three or four times and on each occasion I have found the collections on show rather underwhelming. However, I could easily see why people would enjoy visiting in order to enjoy the museum's architecture or to sample some of the fantastic temporary installations to which it plays host. On my first visit to the museum in 2011, I was very excited. Having lived in China, Korea and Mongolia, I was hoping for some fantastic exhibits featuring art from those places. I was disappointed. The ground floor houses permanent collections fr...Read More

The Asian Art Museum in nice is a strange beast. I would argue that those who visit it with any sort of purpose would rarely go to see its permanent displays. I have been three or four times and on each occasion I have found the collections on show rather underwhelming. However, I could easily see why people would enjoy visiting in order to enjoy the museum's architecture or to sample some of the fantastic temporary installations to which it plays host.
On my first visit to the museum in 2011, I was very excited. Having lived in China, Korea and Mongolia, I was hoping for some fantastic exhibits featuring art from those places. I was disappointed. The ground floor houses permanent collections from China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia, but there is nothing that really captures the attention. However, on the three occasions I have visited since then, I have been tremendously impressed by the temporary exhibitions in display.
When I visited with my father in March 2013, I was delighted to discover not one but two fantastic temporary displays. The first in the large basement hall was a selection of photography taken in Japan. It was truly sumptuous stuff. I must begin my description by noting that there was a large degree of cliché involved, but even this could dampen my enthusiasm for some truly beautiful photography. There were three or four wonderful photos of delicately raked gardens in Kyoto, a fantastic series of shots of a single geisha during a tea ceremony and some wonderful images of Shinto shrines. The display seemed to focus on the purely traditional elements of Japanese culture eschewing modern flashes of neon. This worked wonderfully to create a beautifully relaxed and sedate atmosphere.
The second new exhibit related to the Angkor temple in Cambodia. It featured a video that detailed the excavation of the site and the work of archaeologists from a university in Australia. Sadly, the video and all the accompanying materials were solely in French – I found this rather strange as the museum seemed to be working in conjunction with an English speaking institution. The lack of English detracted from the exhibit a little, but this was off-set by a wonderful display of black and white photographs taken at various times in the past 150 years. These depicted the temple and the local people around it in wonderful detail and with great insight. They were both educational and truly stunning. The room is circular and I could not help from taking three or four spins to experience them all again and again.
The Asian Art Museum is a very interesting attraction and one that changes regularly. The permanent exhibitions can be almost ignored in favour of the fantastic temporary exhibits that it houses. Admission is free and the museum can be reached easily on the buses 9, 10, 23, 100 and 200, all of which cost just 1Euro.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 23, 2013

Museum of Asian Arts
405, Promenade Des Anglais, Arenas
Nice, France 06200

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Théâtre de la Photographie

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Attraction | "Double Exposure"

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I first visited this emphatically named gallery/museum in the summer of 2012 with my girlfriend. And, we were rather impressed by the whole place. As you might expect, there was a fantastic collection of photography on show. The majority of this had a fantastic local flavour with several shots of the Promenade des Anglais taken during stormy weather that were hugely impressive as well as a series by a local artist that placed people doing bizarre things in routine places across the city – a man playing a piano in the middle of the road for example. I then tried to visit again when my mother came to Nice in the autumn, but the gallery was closed for renovation. The gallery re-opened again in the ...Read More

I first visited this emphatically named gallery/museum in the summer of 2012 with my girlfriend. And, we were rather impressed by the whole place. As you might expect, there was a fantastic collection of photography on show. The majority of this had a fantastic local flavour with several shots of the Promenade des Anglais taken during stormy weather that were hugely impressive as well as a series by a local artist that placed people doing bizarre things in routine places across the city – a man playing a piano in the middle of the road for example. I then tried to visit again when my mother came to Nice in the autumn, but the gallery was closed for renovation.
The gallery re-opened again in the winter with a whole new set of work – there was literally nothing from the previous exhibitions – and was possibly even better than it had been before. This time around the focus was far boarder and did not include any local work. In fact, it seemed to eschew Europe altogether and took on a decidedly Asiatic feel. However, it was fantastic.
The first room of the display was taken up by works done by a Korean photographer (Whose name sadly escapes me). These were not hugely impressive as they were, in my opinion at least, far too impressionistic. The shapes of the objects photographed were so blurred that I found it difficult to draw too many conclusions from the works. Therefore, I found it aesthetically pleasing but nothing more.
The second room was far more arresting. Bizarrely, even though the artist (Bertrand Desprez) was French, the material he featured had much more of an Asian feel than the previous room. His work was made-up of pictures taken in Japan. Some of these were truly wonderful as they eschewed the stereotypical images of geishas and crowded streets bedecked in neon and, instead, focused on everyday scenes. He had shots of three girls at the beach that were just wonderful, the composition was fantastic.
The third room featured the work of Patrick Swirc. I have to admit that I enjoyed this less than Desprez as it seemed far original. Swirc took pictures of celebrities that were done in black and white to give a fantastic rough effect. At times, this bordered on the cliché. There was close up shot of Clint Eastwood that seemed to accentuate the haggard lines on the actors face in a way that was striking, but somehow a little stale. The majority of Swirc's works were beautifully put together and looked visually stunning, but they seemed just a tad boring.
I was very impressed at my second visit to the Theatre de la Photograhie et de L'Image. I thought the new displays were fantastic and I will be looking forward to its next new installations. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 23, 2013

Théâtre de la Photographie
22, Boulevard Dubouchage
Nice 06000
+33 4 92 04 99 70

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Stuck in the Alps

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My girlfriend can, at times, be of of what you might describe as a nervous disposition. Therefore, when we decided to go skiing in the French Alps, she was a little worried about the drive. When we visited the gas station the night before our trip, she was astounded that I only put 20 Euros in the tank. I assured her that our Toyota Yaris provided excellent mileage and that we would easily be able to get back on the amount I had put in. Her response shocked me a little bit."But what happens if we get stuck in the mountains on the trip back. We will need lots of petrol so that we can use the heater in the car".I almost burst out laughing at her. We were heading to Valberg, which is one of t...Read More

My girlfriend can, at times, be of of what you might describe as a nervous disposition. Therefore, when we decided to go skiing in the French Alps, she was a little worried about the drive. When we visited the gas station the night before our trip, she was astounded that I only put 20 Euros in the tank. I assured her that our Toyota Yaris provided excellent mileage and that we would easily be able to get back on the amount I had put in. Her response shocked me a little bit.
"But what happens if we get stuck in the mountains on the trip back. We will need lots of petrol so that we can use the heater in the car".
I almost burst out laughing at her. We were heading to Valberg, which is one of the closest ski-resorts to our home in Nice. Every week-end hundreds of Alpine enthusiasts from Nice make their way up into the mountains to enjoy the pistes. Therefore, I was not expecting us to be in too much danger. It was not quite like we were driving in the great unknown. However, as it transpired, I was left with egg on my face as we found ourselves faced with the possibility of being in such a situation.
We had finished skiing at just before 17h00 and had left at around 17h15. The early part of the journey had been normal and completely lacking in drama. We had navigated a few hairpin bends and enjoyed some of the scenery on the Route des Grande Alpes. However, after about 20km whilst we were still on one of the perilously thin mountain roads we hit a traffic-jam. It appeared that the problem had sprung from lots of traffic on the road combined with two tour buses making their way back to the highway. The buses were clearly two large for the road and were having trouble passing when the road narrowed.
At first, things didn't seem too serious. The buses were about 20 cars in front of us, so we could see a little of what was going on. It appeared that for them to move on they simply needed to slow to a crawl and the traffic coming in the opposite direction had to stop. This worked on a couple of small bends, but then suddenly everything came to a grinding halt. Coming the other way was a large 4X4 and it seemed that there was simply no way the two sides could go through. So, we stopped. At first we thought it would be a few minutes and then we would be free. But, after about five minutes the other cars began to turn off their engines. Reluctantly, I cranked on my hand-brake and followed suit. Almost instantly, my girlfriends words came back to haunt me as within a minute of the engine and with it the car's heater going off the temperature in the car dropped noticeably – I was glad I still had on my ski-pants.
"I told you so." My girlfriend said.
We sat in the cold and began to worry. There was absolutely no sign of movement from the cars below. I got out to see what all the fuss was about and if there was a solution to be had. The scene was bleak. There were several other drivers out of their cars and some small groups had even begun to play soccer on the road. I was worried. Read Less

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Into the Mountains

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It was pure coincidence that my girlfriend and I decided to experience one of the most spectacular roads in Europe. We had decided to take a trip into the mountains to go skiing. We were not particularly sure where to go. We had three major choices that were accessible from our base in Nice: Isola 2000, Auron and Valberg. Our initial idea had been to go to Isola, but when we found a cheap ski-rental store in Valberg, we decided to change our plans. We did not know it at the time, but it also gave us the opportunity to experience a little bit of the Routre des Grandes Alpes.To give a little bit of background on the road, it was started way back in 1909 by the French Touring Club in order to creat...Read More

It was pure coincidence that my girlfriend and I decided to experience one of the most spectacular roads in Europe. We had decided to take a trip into the mountains to go skiing. We were not particularly sure where to go. We had three major choices that were accessible from our base in Nice: Isola 2000, Auron and Valberg. Our initial idea had been to go to Isola, but when we found a cheap ski-rental store in Valberg, we decided to change our plans. We did not know it at the time, but it also gave us the opportunity to experience a little bit of the Routre des Grandes Alpes.
To give a little bit of background on the road, it was started way back in 1909 by the French Touring Club in order to create access to remote and largely inaccessible region. It was finally completed in 1937. It runs from the shores of Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean. Originally it was designed to reach Nice, but has since been extended so that it now runs to the small town of Menton close to the Italian border. Our journey to Valberg would take in about 29km of the 684km.
Our Journey from Nice took us out of the city along the Route de Grenoble. We travelled for about 45 minutes before reaching the turning for the Route des Alpes. Until that point we had been on dual-carriageway and generally flat roads. However, within 5km, things changed. The gradient of the road became significantly steeper and the carriageway significantly thinner. Even though we were driving on a clear morning, it was still difficult to drive upon. The rock was carved out of the side of the mountain and wound precariously around each hill and valley. This meant that at regular intervals we could not see more than two or three meters in front of us.
The higher we went, the steeper things got. I soon had to shift the car into second gear and was crouched forward in the driving seat to ensure I could see everything that might come into our path. If I am honest, the driving was probably as energy-sapping as the skiing we would enjoy later! This was all exacerbated by several French drivers wanting to overtake me at 90km an hour on a blind bend and showing general disdain for their safety and the safety of those around them. Thankfully, the flip-side to the difficult conditions was the unbelievable scenery.
Naturally, there are plenty of breathtaking mountains and valleys. At one point we could simultaneously see a valley plunging away below us that was filled by a thundering mountains stream that became a small waterfall that crashed through a series of boulders on the valley floor and a towering cliff-face that rose up 200 or 300m above the road. It was like this for almost the entire journey. There were times when the sun moved completely out of view as it was blocked by over-hanging rocks and others when we would burst out into the open and be drowned by bright sunlight. The drive culminated in spectacular style as we found ourselves winding up the side of an almost vertical cliff face on the way into Valberg. The only way to the top was through a fantastic series of hairpin bends.
The road to Valberg was fantastic, We had experienced only the briefest taste of the Rout des Grande Alpes, but it was wonderful and almost over-shadowed the skiing we would do upon our arrival.
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Chinatown

Restaurant | "Supremely Good"

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As anyone who has read a significant amount of my blogs will realise, I lived in China for just over four years and absolutely loved the experience. I still look back on it with great fondness and miss several aspects of the country itself and the culture. Obviously, one major part of that is the food. Naturally, whenever I get the opportunity to eat Chinese food now that I am back in the western world, I take it. Most of the time, though, it does not meet my expectations. It is very difficult to find authenticity and 'real' Chinese food that has not been tailored to fit the tastes of European palates.In many ways, Chinatown fitted in with the pattern of getting food that is not 100% Chinese. It...Read More

As anyone who has read a significant amount of my blogs will realise, I lived in China for just over four years and absolutely loved the experience. I still look back on it with great fondness and miss several aspects of the country itself and the culture. Obviously, one major part of that is the food. Naturally, whenever I get the opportunity to eat Chinese food now that I am back in the western world, I take it. Most of the time, though, it does not meet my expectations. It is very difficult to find authenticity and 'real' Chinese food that has not been tailored to fit the tastes of European palates.
In many ways, Chinatown fitted in with the pattern of getting food that is not 100% Chinese. It provided a buffet that was quite comically lacking in authenticity and doctored to French tastes. If you visit a typical French supermarket their Chinese food section will feature Sweet and Sour Sauce and spring rolls. They make no distinction between the the lighter crisper spring rolls you might find in Vietnam and the harder softer variety you may find in China. They also almost always include Samosas. You may think that these are a staple of Indian cuisine, but in France they apparently a 'Chinese' favourite.
The Chinatown buffet was full of everything I expected and not too much more. There was sweet and sour chicken, their were six varieties of spring rolls – more than I ever saw in any restaurant in China – and some noodles. Thankfully, on top of this there was 'Beef with Onions'. This was quite similar to both Black Pepper Beef or Beef in Oyster Sauce, which are both popular in China. It was not bad, but was a little bland compared to the Chinese equivalents.
Had the buffet experience at Chinatown been limited to the Chinese food, I would have been disappointed and may well have complained. However, there was also an additional area that certainly made up for it. There was a Teppenyaki style frying plate at which you could have steak, king prawns and all manner of meat cooked. It was fantastic. I had four small steaks and four king-prawns, which were all exquisite. Had I ordered such fare at a restaurant in Nice it would easily have set me back 50 Euros. There was also a seafood buffets with fresh crab, shrimp and oysters, which again would have been extravagantly expensive in the centre of Nice.
Chinatown buffet was very mixed bag. The Chinese food was amongst some of the very worst I have ever tried. It was not particularly well cooked and was some of the least imaginative and blandest I have ever had. However, the Teppenyaki was out of this world and was worth the 30 minute drive in itself. Dinner cost 18Euros each for all you can eat.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 23, 2013

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