The “Corso Carnavalesque” Parade in Nice
Carnival Craziness
Parler Paris Nouvellettre®
Your taste of life in Paris and France
ParlerParis.com
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 • Paris, France
Dear Parler Paris Reader,
The day started out with breakfast on the Place du Palais in front of the Palais de Justice, watching the Niçois go about their daily affairs. The fashion style was noticeably different than in Paris – many more women with platinum blonde hair, ponytails perched high on the crowns of their heads, high, high heels and not so much black as in the City of Light. This is not the Monaco or Cap Ferrat crowd – but the typical denizen of the country's fifth largest city, the Riviera's second largest (Marseille being first) of Greek and Italian origin. I sat at the café wondering if I would feel comfortable among them as much as I do in Paris, or if they would even let me into their tight little circles.
A short walk northward into the area of “Nice Centre” took me to boulevard de Débouchage where the Théâtre de la Photographie et de l’Image (www.tpi-nice.org) is exhibiting 120 photos by German photographer, August Sander. Some of the photos are vintage prints, but most are later prints made by his son, Gunther, of the 10,000 negatives Sander left behind. The “théàtre” is a stunning facility, adorned in gilded moldings and black velour seats, decorated with large posters from the various exhibits that have taken place there. Entry is free (all city museums are) and the exhibit is breathtakingly beautiful – worth a special trip.
The “Corso Carnavalesque” started at 2:30 p.m. just after our lunch of “Salade Niçoise” in the sun at an open café. The Corso is a parade that winds around the Promenade des Anglais comprised of 20 floats, 30 papier-maché characters, dozens of inflated characters and numerous musical and performing groups. They spend many months every year creating the oversized and colorful “grosses têtes” (big heads) for the sheer enjoyment of this one annual parade.
It lasted a good two hours and by the time the beginning of the parade came back to it's starting point, we were covered in confetti, sticky from the sprayed 'string' stuck in our hair and exhausted from taking a zillion photos while laughing from all the sights and sounds of the paraders and the spectators who no doubt were having just as much fun as we were. It was a shame that the sky clouded over in the midst of the merriment, as the backdrop of blue is normally more dramatic, but it didn't affect the good humor one iota.
That evening, old friends from Paris who have a retirement home in Cap d'Ail, a chic little town on the other side of Monaco, met us near the Old Port at one of Nice's best restaurants for “Socca” – Chez Pipo (Chez Pipo). Socca is also known as “Farinata” or “cecina” – a kind of thin pancake made with chickpea flour of Italian origin found along the coast from Nice to Pisa. It's baked in a tin plated copper pan (in a wood-burning oven if possible), seasoned with rosemary, pepper and sea salt, cut into triangular slices and eaten with your hands (how un-French is that?).
Today my colleague has eight apartments for sale for us to visit – four in the morning and four in the afternoon. She instructed me to wear good walking shoes and plan on a good pizza lunch, having reserved at one of her favorite restaurants. It's a good thing that there are 87 steps up to the apartment in which I am staying and will certainly walk off all the pizza, pasta and socca I've been eating, lest I 'roll' back to Paris instead of fly!
My fingers are crossed that at least one apartment will scream out as 'perfect' to purchase – or at least I will have learned a lot about what is hot and what is not in the city where one cannot help but call “Nice.”
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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P.S. Tomorrow you will learn more about my property adventures in French Property Insider. If you are not already subscribed, do so now! It's free, it's weekly, and it's a great way to learn more about investing in France. Visit French Property Insider to learn more.
