Carnaval de Nice 2012: Bataille des Fleurs

Battle of the Flowers, a parade along the Promenade d'Anglais, along the Baie des Anges.  Wonderful costumes and floats created with flowers, lovely women tossing out mimosa branches to the crowds, hundreds of tourists and locals lining the street, a camera in every hand, winter sunshine.  It's crazy to land in Nice for Carnaval by accident.  Most of the people here have been planning this for months, no doubt.  And my apartment is on Place Massena, again not by design, but right in the heart of Carnaval.

These were my favorite costumes, the pink flamingos

Carnaval de Nice 2012

Last night was the opening night of Carnaval de Nice, 15 days of festivities & parades.  Thousands of people have descended on Nice in the last few days to take part, changing it from a quiet seaside village into a city teeming with tourists.

At one point in the festivities last night, there were spectacular fireworks in and around the Fontaine du Soleil in the central plaza, with the fireworks breaking behind the fountain's statue of Apollo, giving it the look of hell-fire and brimstone, the four horses on top of the statue's head like the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The theme of Carnaval this year is the King of Sport (Le Roi du Sport), promoting Nice as a tourist mecca for all kinds of sporting activities, from skiing to sailing.  The giant floats represent the King and Queen of Carnaval.  The King has a rather creepy visage, staring down at the crowds with crazy, psychotic eyes that actually turn. Scared me.  

This comes close to my image of hell, Satan coming with his evil grin, people screaming, running, smoke in the air

There were three huge balloons that lifted off with beautiful girl gymnasts attached who performed, music accompanying them (Alanis Morisette's Uninvited, etc), in the dark plaza, shadows reflecting off the nearby buildings.  Stunning.  Captivating.

Towards then end of the act, a confetti machine spewed out these paper snowflakes making the whole scene even more spectacular.

History of Carnaval

The Lenten period of the Liturgical year Church calendar, being the six weeks directly before Easter, was marked by fasting and other pious or penitential practices. Traditionally during Lent, no parties or other celebrations were held, and people refrained from eating rich foods, such as meat, dairy, fats and sugar. The forty days of Lent, recalling the Gospel accounts of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, serve to mark an annual time of turning. In the days before Lent, all rich food and drink had to be disposed of. The consumption of this, in a giant party that involved the whole community, is thought to be the origin of Carnival.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival

The Côte d'Azur

It's no wonder that it's called the Côte d'Azur, the Azure Coast, the color of the water in the morning sunlight can take your breath away and create a longing for this place, and you start to dream of your return before you leave.  It quiets the soul and fills your heart up to the top. 

So many lovely places to visit along the Côte d'Azur:  Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Monaco, Cannes, Menton, Eze, St Paul de Vence, Juan les Pins, Antibes, St Jean-Cap Ferrat, Mougins, all with breathtaking views of this azure sea. 

Below the view of the Mediterranean from the Promenade d'Anglias in Nice called Le Baie des Anges, the Bay of Angels

Robbed in Barcelona

Still crying over lost objects:

New Air Mac (the small cute one, light as a feather) 
Canon 7D Camera with new 50 mm lens ($2500)
Canon lightweight pocket camera (birthday gift)
Beloved Passport with stamps from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Spain (had to go to the embassy in    
     Barcelona to get a new one, missed the flight out)
Credit Cards & Debit Card (luckily left me with one to use for a stop gap)
Keys to my house in Seattle
Several pairs of reading glasses (cheap, but I needed them)
2 tubes of lipstick (first thing I replaced at the Barelona airport)
Paperwork for flight & phone number for the apartment in Nice
A really great (perfect) travel bag from REI 
600 euros!
My cool Ray-Bans


Not going back to Barcelona

On the beach in Nice, France

Bar-the-lona. It's hip. It's cool. It's happening (baby).

Sophisticated.  Old. Steeped in art, past and present.  Steeped in history.  Situated on the Costa Brava, the Mediterranean seaport, a center of art, culture, and "hip-ness." Pigeons roosting in the rooftop recesses, bringing to mind Picasso and his fanciful sketches of birds.  The Barrio Gothic and Gaudi-inspired ornamentation on rooftops and spires of thousand-year-old cathedrals.  Cafes, bars, and more cafes, tapas, pinchos and paella.  The Spanish people, masters of strolling and cafe culture.  What to photograph that hasn't already been captured?  Below, some of the Picasso-esque street art in and around the neighborhood of the Barrio Gothic. 

Oh it gets so lonely
When you're walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
Just gives you the blues
Just gives you the blues
So I bought me a ticket
I caught a plane to Spain
Went to a party down a red dirt road
There were lots of pretty people there
Reading Rolling Stone reading Vogue
They said "How long can you hang around?"
I said a week maybe two
Just until my skin turns brown
Then I'm going home to California [or Seattle]

from California by Joni Mitchell