Provence Dreaming - Nice

 Feasts of Provence by Robert Carrier published by Rizzoli, c. 1988 ---    The inspiration for this trip

      I started dreaming about returning to Provence some years ago but the trip never happened. Australia and Calabria happened, but Provence got pushed back. I wanted to revisit a few places I had enjoyed, like Nyons and the Gorges du Verdon and St. Paul de Vence, and I also wanted to explore new regions in the ancient Roman "provinces."  I assembled various books and articles on Provence from my collection, and one wintry night last December I started browsing through Robert Carrier's Feasts of Provence.  I read the following paragraph in his introduction: "All around the little village there were hills of pine and scrub and wild herbs, and then further on other villages-- Entrecasteaux with it's lovely old chateau; Le Thoronet with its austere abbey,  Flayosc, Villecroze and Tourtour.  Nearby lay Cotignac, one of the prettiest villages in the Var, with its charming open square and fountain. To me this is one of the loveliest areas in all France." When I finished reading,  I knew where I wanted to go.

Provence and its regions

                  I found a fanciful map of Provence in Erica Brown's Provence Gastronomique

             And based on Robert Carrier's recommendations and my memories, I planned my trip...

This time I would forget Paris and begin in Nice. We would drive to Cotignanc and surrounding towns, continue through the Gorges du Verdon and up to Nyons, a town I had visited twice before and bookmarked to revisit for a longer stay. I would make sure to see the Pont du Gard and spend the night in nearby Arles with its amphitheater and Van Gogh foundation, before heading back to St Paul de Vence for a return visit. Then we could swing down to Menton on the Italian border to catch the striking Cocteau museum. Finally, we would  end the trip in Nice where we had begun. Now I needed to make reservations.

Leaving Dublin after a hearty breakfast with Irish brown bread

Oddly enough, our trip to Provence began in Dublin. It turned out to be complicated and expensive to fly to Nice from San Francisco so we took Aer Lingus to Dublin. We stayed overnight at the Albany House B and B, took in some sights, had a superb dinner and continued on to Nice the following day.

The Long Room, Trinity College Library---Dublin

Of course my first order of business in Dublin was to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College. Ever since Library School I had hoped to see the ancient Celtic illuminated manuscript of the four gospels written in Latin and illuminated on vellum.  I pre-booked tickets so I wouldn't be disappointed. Luckily Trinity College was a short walk from our B and B, and on the way we got to pass St Stephen's Green, a huge park packed with Dubliners frolicking about on this unseasonably beautiful day,

Sweet pea puree with raw scallops and vegetables

Pictured above is one of a number of stunning courses we ate at Bang Restaurant in Dublin, possibly the best meal of the trip. Don't miss it if you go to Dublin. Extra plusses for the moderate tab and the short walk from our hotel. We almost got locked in the park strolling home! I can't wait to return (and I still need to see James Joyce's house)

We landed in Nice on another lovely day and took the short cab ride to the Hotel Swisse overlooking the Baie des Anges. We were thrilled with the view from our third floor room. This hotel was a winner!

Early morning view from our balcony after a light rain, then down to a great French breakfast

We plunged right into Vieux Nice, which started only a few blocks from our hotel. We got wonderfully lost wandering the scenic streets, and on our first afternoon we somehow missed the Cours Saleya, with the huge daily market.

The next morning we made sure to check our map and head straight for the famous market which rambles all along the Cours Saleya, conveniently near our hotel.

On our way to the market I spotted two agnes b shops, one for men and the other for women. Because the store in San Francisco closed years ago, I was thrilled to discover my favorite designer so close to our hotel. I admire her so much I wrote a blog about her, My Agnes b. blog

                           Farther down Cours Saleya we found  Alzieri, the famous olive oil shop

Place Rosetti

I'm smiling on the fountain at Place Rosetti in the center of Vieux Nice, probably because I had just enjoyed a gelato at Fenocchio's, best glacier in Nice.

Place Rosetti

Every time we wandered in Old Nice we seemed to wind up at this bustling Place filled with happy locals and tourists eating, drinking and relaxing. There were Irish flags hanging out of some windows, due to the influx of Northern Irish football fans. Somehow I had planned the trip to France during the infamous European Cup Soccer matches, all held in various cities throughout FRANCE.

Great museums flourish in Nice and our first destination was the Musée National Marc Chagall, a pleasant bus ride up through the smart residential Cimiez district. The museum houses the largest selection of Chagall paintings anywhere. The collection is stunning and I have included only a fraction of insets that struck me.

Adam exposing his rib in a yoga pose (half lotus)

After our serious viewing, we crossed the lawn to the adorable café for a cool drink. Then we took the bus back down to town

The  Musée Matisse is farther up the Boulevard de Chimiez. The grounds are a bit shabby and the collection itself is not as impressive as the Chagall museum. In fact we were glad that we went to Musée Chagall first. This was an anticlimax. Still, we enjoyed seeing some impressive works like the odalisque above and the dancers below.

One  of many Matisse drawings in the museum

Our captain

One morning after delicious croissants and café au laits, we took the 11 a.m. coastal cruise with Trans Cote d'Azur from Nice's colorful Port. We spent a pleasant hour on the Mediterranean viewing the elite villages from Villefranche sur mer to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and marveled at the picturesque hills dotted with villas of the royal, super-rich and famous.

Villefranche sur mer

I never tired of the pastel and ochre buildings, and the particular hustle and bustle of the ports along the riviera. But after four stimulating days and nights in and around Nice, it was time to get out our Michelin map #245, rent a car and move on.

My agnes b.

An iconic agnes b. label

Rummaging through my closet last week, searching for a favorite gray ribbed turtleneck, I spotted the unmistakable "agnes b." label and was immediately transported to a chilly April day in Paris, with its winding streets and elegant storefronts. It was here in 1981, on the Rue du Jour in the first arrondissement, that I stumbled upon a tiny boutique called agnes b. Entering the shop, I discovered  casual French styles ranging from whimsical to eccentric. It was love at first sight— I walked out with fawn-colored leather ankle-wrap sandals and a simple white tee shirt. I wore both items until they were in tatters, and always wished I had bought more.

Original Paris store, established in 1975

Back home in the States I found out agnes b. was born Agnes Troublée in 1941 in Versaille and spent carefree summers at her grandfather's estate in Antibes. She attended the École des Beaux-Arts and was active in the violent Paris riots of 1968 where she developed a political conscience. She married and had twins at 19 and separated at 20. Because she had little money she shopped regularly at Paris flea markets and developed a personal style so unique that she was spotted by a staffer from Elle Magazine  and offered a job as editor. But she preferred designing to editing and soon created her own collecion of simple yet chic women's clothing and opened a store in a former butcher shop in Les Halles. Word of mouth spread and Parisians visited her shop to buy her signature pieces like cardigans with button snaps, striped shirts made from the same sturdy cotton used by rugby teams and leather jackets inspired by a Manet portrait. Many of these pieces are still in her collections.

Agnes as a young woman developing her own personal style

Gradually success allowed her to open her first international store in New York in 1983. She developed "Homme", her men's line and then opened stores in London and Tokyo ( Japanese women adore her clothes).

San Francisco store at 33 Grant Ave---closed in 2009

At some point I discovered the San Francisco store on Grant Ave, near my hairdresser at the time.
I passed it going back to Bart and made a habit of stopping in every time I got my hair cut. Often I would find pieces that struck my fancy, and every time that I stepped into the dressing room with the marvelous Jean Luc Godard poster-collage plastering the wall,  I was  transported again to my nostalgic world of Paris in the early sixties, inhabited by characters like Brigitte Bardot, Jean Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. I thought the poster was one-of-a-kind but I recently  found out from my sister that you can buy it on agnes b's  website.  agnes b. website featuring the Godard poster.

Through the years, I managed to accumulate many beloved articles of clothing at this store, and in the arty spirit of the Sixties, I photographed my favorites in the bathroom mirror (images are reversed).

Collage of Jean Luc Godard films—my favorite dressing room decor

self portrait with white slacks, pink cardigan, blue pullover (very French)

                 Chartreuse corduroy pants, gray ribbed turtleneck, black cardigan, black leather jacket

striped dress, green blouse, shopping bag with lizard logo

black boat-neck "Fin" shirt with pink turtleneck below

Agnes is a champion of the arts; she collaborates with film makers and rock bands, has her own film production company and an art gallery in Paris and Brooklyn,  Galerie du Jour agnes b.,  and she shows up at international events like the Cannes Film Festival. She has recently opened the flagship store in Hong Kong, modeled after her childhood vacation home in Antibes, and she has  many other Asian ventures.

Agnes at 58th Cannes Film Festival wearing her signature lizard pin

Poster in her Galerie du Jour in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Even though Agnes caters to  rock stars and celebrities like Yoko Ono and Peter Gabriel, I feel tremendous admiration for her because of her free-spirited '60's idealism. Her company demonstrates so many rare and wonderful qualities. For example:  the company does not advertise, because she considers advertising to be immoral. Her clothes are all made in France to avoid using exploited labor, and each shop from New York to London to Tokyo and Hong Kong has a basket of free condoms on the counter. She's sensitive to the fate of the planet as well, and helps subsidize an organization called the Tara Expedition which has been organizing missions aboard the research schooner Tara for the past nine years and whose goal is to learn more about the impact of climate change on ecosystems.The Tara Expedition

Since she closed her store in San Francisco, I'm looking forward someday to revisiting the shop in Paris on the Rue Du Jour, where it  all began. Bon Voyage!