FReeANCE

April 4th--We are all still a little under the weather, but decided that it would do us some good just to get out in the fresh air and sun. So, we took a bus into town to find the tourist information office to pick up a map and other information of the area. While we were at the tourist office, Abby picked up a magazine and was looking trough it. Next thing we knew she was on a page going "this looks like Daddy". It's unreal how much this picture looks like the new "European" Mike. Check out the picture of Mike (aka Hugh Coltman). The similarities are unreal. We then used Rick Steve's book to guide us to lunch. It had been several days since we'd actually had a good meal with traveling and not feeling well. We had just been eating a little bit at a time. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice lunch at Restaurant d'Angleterre. We absolutely loved the fact that the waiter brought us a pitcher of water. That definitely saved us some money. In Spain, we were spending so much money on drinks because at every restaurant we had to order a drink and even if it was water, it was bottled. We later read in Rick Steve's guide that by France law, the waiter has to bring you a pitcher of water. Anyway, when our check came so did 2 small glasses of what looked like liqueurs. I wasn't sure what they were, but I went ahead and tasted the red colored one. Right as I took a sip, Mike goes..."how do you know that's not to wash your hands with?" We got a good laugh at that because we are realizing that things aren't always as they seem in Europe. Anyway, from here, we found a store, The Cat Whiskers. It is an English bookstore that was recommended in Rick Steve's guide. Before we left the States, our original itinerary didn't include Nice so we were lacking a local guide, but we found one at the bookstore. After this, we strolled down Avenue Jean Medecin, hopping into stores along the way and people watching. This street is lined with many shops and has the tramway through the streets. We were really exposed to the French way of saying hello with witnessing even teenagers kissing cheeks as a hello.
April 5th--Today, we were all about doing things "FOR FREE". There are 2 museums here in France that are recommended in Rick Steve's guide book, Chagall Museum and Matisse Museum. The Chagall Museum (Musee national Marc Chagall) is free on the first Sunday of the month. That would be today! This museum houses the world's largest collection of Marc Chagall's work. Chagall designed and donated all his painting, inspired by the Old Testament, to this building which he considered a "House of Brotherhood". His Modern paintings were filled with bright colors and looked like they were drawn with crayons (with a lot of coloring outside the lines). It was nice to see something a little less perfect. Abby has really enjoyed coloring as a travel activity so it was neat for her to see this modern art. After leaving the Chagall Museum, we rode the bus to the Matisse Museum, but first walked through the beautiful park leading to the museum. It was a pretty day so we stopped to smell the flowers and climb some trees. The kids enjoyed just running around. Since they were having such a good time outside, Mike and I decided to take turns going into the Matisse Museum. He went first and then me. It was an easy process since it was free access as well. All in all, it took about 10 minutes to go through. It was more about doing it to say we did it than the fact that we actually knew who he was or anything about his paintings. The Matisse Museum (Musee Matisse) does hold the world's largest collection of Henri Matisse's paintings though. The pretty weather was starting to show signs of rain so we headed back to the apartment. On our bus ride back, we calculated how much money we spent today and came up with 12 Euros. That was for bus fare and a snack. Since we are trying to stay on a budget, we were thrilled about our expenses today!