Bonne chance!

I'm doing bucket list stuff, as usual.

Hope you are fine. I plan to go to Barcelona and Paris with dtr in the fall.

I wrapped up my second book a couple of months ago but dtr can't get to for design/editing until the summer. She's very busy with her landscaping work. I'll send you a copy as soon as it's finished if you are interested. Meantime, I did a little art video with the help of a young man from local college computer department. He's developing his portfolio in video design.

I can also send a flashdrive for the video (the modern version of a slide show) entitled The Beauty Project, if you are interested in that as well. It's only a little over 3 minutes long. He did a great job producing it.

I'm surely interested.

Barcelona's great, and you know Paris, of course.

We stopped in Nice on way home from trip which began with a wedding in Poland, and our last day was younger daughter's birthday, anniversary of that event coming up! so we've stamped Nice in our memory list; had lunch @ Chinese restaurant!

Beautiful beaches. You can find affordable food. There might be a youth hostel there. You can walk to a lot of places.

and the train network should allow you stay a little further along the coast if it wasn't. Just stay away from the usual tourist haunts.

When you are 75, some times things slip away.

76 years old, was there in 1966, so no help on costs. I was 70 miles south in St. Tropez, same beautiful beaches.

It has been some years since I was there, but I remember being disappointed in that museum. Have been in the area various times since, but had no interest in revisiting with different companions.

Like the south of France a lot, just not that museum. Like a number of others.

It has been 30+ years. My remembrance is that the collection was small, not impressive, and not clearly presented. But then, it was a long time ago.

. . . after a wonderful bike tor in Provence with Vermont Bike Tours.

We felt the same disappointment in the museum, and Nice otherwise did not impress.

It’s a beautiful old town. The beaches to the east of town are sandy.. The ones in town along the Promenade des Anglais tended to be more stony.

We rented a car and a studio apartment near the airport but looking out over the water (we also rented a spot in a municipal parking garage about a block from the apartment). Prices were very reasonable as long as we shopped like the locals.

The south of France and Provence in particular are beautiful places. Stay as long as you can. It costs a lot less than you think.

Baltimore!
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/baltimore-museum-home-largest-matisse-collection-will-open-center-dedicated-artist-180972741/

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/baltimore-museum-matisse-center-1609573

From the Nice museum's site: "Matisse was an exacting collector. The pieces he kept were selected because they meant something special to him and his work. The 130 items held in the museum’s collection bear witness to the artist’s attachment to the objects he liked to have around him. Beyond their priceless material value, they are like messages addressed to us by Matisse and in turn become part of our own personal collection.

The old part of town is beautiful. If you go and have time, consider eating at Oliveira's, reserving a small table along the street ahead of time.

https://oliviera.com/

Wonderful food at a slow pace, each dish served with different olive oils they take the time to explain. Including dessert!

what it is like. Have fun.

Would like to see the less commercialized Riviera. I’m not sure of the town, but up the hill they have a really nice Chagall Museum. There’s so much art all over France, there is hardly a mention in the travel guides of this small museum. Be sure to ask the locals. It was worth the slight diversion.

I live in South Florida so I’m not wowed by beaches in general. I loved the drive in the mountains, though. Just like To Catch a Thief. The views are gorgeous!

Bon voyage!!

Beautiful city and very walkable, that is, if you like to walk.

Busses, trams are easy. I think it's the #5 that gets you to the Matisse Museum. And there's some Roman ruins close by. Worth the short walk to check it out.

Happy traveling!