DAY 9, SEPTEMBER 24, 2022

STAY

Antibes apt continued

SIGHTS

Nice [Monuments aux Morts,Fontaine du Soleil /Sun Fountain, # I LOVE NICE sign, A Sunday in Nice,Un dimanche a Nice, fiat car sculpture, old port Lympia, “Thinking Inside the Box," ], Cimiez monastery, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Cote d'Azur,

WET DAY IN THE RIVIERA

It was drizzling, we knew we had to take things as they come. We drove to Nice and took some pics of the I love Nice sign, the car statue, fountain etc

Fontaine du Soleil in Place Massena

Monument aux Morts

Monuments aux Morts, also known as Rauba-Capeù War Memorial, is a 32 m [105 feet] high monument honoring the people from the city of Nice who gave their lives during World War I, and it is located on Quai Rauba Capeau, just below the Castle Hill of Nice. Carved into the rock, it is a central urn-looking structure placed on columns and framed by three large arches, holding the 3,665 names of the people of Nice who died in WWI, more names were added later after World War II and also the colonial wars.

Plaza Massena again

Fontaine du Soleil /Sun Fountain

It has five bronze statues of Earth, Mars, Mercury, Venus and Saturn with a seven meter marble statue of Apollo in the middle, 7 meters (23 feet) tall and 7 tons weight. .

Funny story about this statue

unveiled in 1956, there were objections to this statue. Apollo’s “job” according to mythology is to carry the sun across the sky every day driving in his chariot pulled by 4 horses. But this Apollo didn’t have a chariot and the 4 horses were on top of his head, forming a sort of crown. like an advertisement for the most popular automobile at the time, the Renault 4CV, known as the “4 horsepower”. So the magnificent Greek deity was saddled with the nickname – “the 4 horsepower statue”.

There were objections to his nudity as well. Even a reduction surgery by the sculptor on the offending part was inadequate. The set was banished from here and Apollo stood for 30 years in a sports stadium.

In 2007, a reporter saw the 5 bronze statues in a water treatment center and made a report leading to them getting reinstalled with the fountain. In 2011, Apollo also returned!!

A Sunday in Nice,Un dimanche a Nice, fiat car sculpture, Port Lympia, Nice

PORT LYMPIA

Old Port of Nice bordered by colorful pastel buildings and filled with boats... pretty sight

Charles Felix of Sardinia monument

Charles Felix of Sardinia, also known as Carlo Felice, who was the King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy from 1821-1831. Nice placed itself under the protection of the Counts of Savoy in 1388, and was not formally reunified with France until 1860.

The monument is located on Quai Lunel near Port Lympia; the statue faces toward the sea and Sardinia beyond.

We decided to return to Nice in better weather and drove to the Monastery in Cimiez

Monastere Notre Dame de Cimiez/Monastery of Our Lady of Cimiez

also called Church of the Assumption (Eglise Notre Dame de l’Assomption). 800s monastery with gardens overlooking Nice, plus paintings by Brea, a museum & Matisse's grave.

Beautiful church, there ws some private ceremony going on

a stray dog was following us, we had to turn back.

we drove on t east toward Villefranche-sur-mer .

Great building inside this sculpture at an intersection in Nice...

La Tête Carrée/ Library building

A monumental sculpture standing 28m high, La Tête Carrée looms over one of Nice’s busiest intersections. Meaning “square head”, La Tête Carrée is a 14m³ cube with a mouth and chin nested on a rounded pair of shoulders.

It is an iconic building that, at the time, was the first inhabited monumental sculpture in the world. Also titled, “Thinking Inside the Box," the giant square head houses 3 floors of books within the central library, “Bibliothèque Louis Nucera”.

Villefranche-sur-mer, Cote d'Azur

enjoyed great views from Villefranche-sur-mer

train chugging in...

View of the beach, Plage des Marinieres, Villefranche-sur-mer

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Reached Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild... Chic early 20th-century villa with 9 separately themed gardens, musical fountains overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.