Bathed in Color -- Art Projected

Our trip last week took us to Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux de Provence.

We visited two years ago when our sons were in France. Now we had the opportunity to take Grace and Jack. 

Love these blues

The show changes twice a year. When we went before, it was Pop Art along with Picasso and the Spanish Masters.  We preferred the Pop Art because it was so cheery and the music was upbeat.
This time, the exhibit was Gaudi and Dali.
The Gaudi exhibit started first. I loved it.

You can imagine how it feels to stand in these colors. 

Gaudi, of course, is the architect for the famous basilica -- La Sagrada Familia --  in Barcelona

We could visit the basilica while hundreds of miles away in France. 

The colors make the old mine come alive.

Earl had to go back to the car because he had his prescription sunglasses on and wisely figured he might need his regular glasses in the dark. So he missed the beginning of the Gaudi exhibit. I insisted he stay for the next one so this is what it looked like as I filmed it. It begins with Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Heavenly.

As the music plays and the art comes to life, people can walk around, moving into different areas of the exhibit. Because of Coronavirus, everyone was required to wear masks and we had our temperatures taken before we walked in. They also limited the number of people inside the building so we were able to avoid others.
The second exhibit was Dali, and I'm intrigued by Dali, but have to admit that he is much stranger.

Most of the music they picked for the Dali exhibit could be traced to the 60s and 70s, like Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall," which wasn't bad.

The music and pictures are a bit more intense in this one.

After watching the exhibits, we wandered to the open air cafe for drinks. The air outside was clear, the sky an eye-watering blue.

Here's a picture we took earlier that day at the Pont du Gard. 

How lucky were we to see the exhibit and then return to a fabulous day as we drove to Aix en Provence for the night? 

An Anniversary Celebration in Nice

The beach in Nice, France, is one of the most uncomfortable beaches I have ever been to.
Don't get me wrong, the city is beautiful and the vistas are breathtaking, but if you're in search of a beach to frolic along the Med, choose another place.

The rocky beaches don't keep families from the beach

I knew the beach in Nice was rocky when I made a mistake writing about a trip to Nice in my book The Summer of France. Luckily, a friend corrected me and I was able to go back and edit so that Fia's trip to the beach was filled with softly rounded stones.
My own trip to the beach might have been filled with worn stones, but I had no idea how painful they would be.
Before we went to the beach, I went to a beach shop and bought a 7 euro pair of flip-flops because I had forgotten to pack mine.
I foolishly thought that the flip-flops would protect my feet. They did on the walk down to the water, but the first wave that rolled forward washed a layer of stones between my feet and the shoe.  As I was trying to kick them out, I lost my flip-flop and it started to float away.
The water was chilly, so I sat down on the rocks and soaked my feet, each time another layer of rocks somehow covered my shoe, wiggling between my foot and the sole. Earl swam a bit, sans shoes; he must have tougher feet than I do because he stood on the floor of the sea. After awhile, we decided to head back to the towels. Here was the next tricky bit.
The descent to the sea is a bit steep. So I stood up, emptied the rocks from my shoes. I precariously balanced while I put them back on, only to have another avalanche of pebbles to fill my shoes before I could take my first step.
I realized that I could not walk up the incline with the flip-flops on, so I carried them,  yelping in pain while I climbed to the top of the embankment.
Another pause while I put my flip-flops on and then a brief walk to the towel where, you guessed it, I lay down on a pile of rocks.
It wasn't as bad as trying to walk.
I may have to go in and edit The Summer of France so Fia has as painful an experience as I did.
I have decided that old tennis shoes might be the answer to the rocky beach -- an old pair of converse would have kept the rocks out and saved the pain on my feet. I don't know how all those kids are running and swimming barefoot. I guess they get used to it.
But don't cry for me. This morning, Earl and I simply took the elevator up to the top floor and swam in the pool of our hotel.

This is the curve of the beach where we're staying to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. 

The pool on our rooftop

The view from the rooftop

We came to Nice to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, which was Tuesday.
We traveled with Grace and Jack to the Pont du Gard, the ancient Roman aqueduct,

An amazing feat built in the first century AD

then we traveled to Carrières de Lumières, where art is projected on the walls of an old limestone mine and brought to life.

We've seen three exhibitions here. This one was Gaudi and Dali. 

Then we spent the night in Aix en Provence before leaving Grace and Jack behind. We used our credit card points to book a hotel in Nice, and now we have a lovely break along the shore.
But you won't catch me swimming. If only I'd packed some old tennis shoes.