engineering around the world

Antibes, Nice, Monaco: A Weekend in the French Riviera

This weekend’s adventures started on Thursday night, when I and a group of GTL students rushed to the train station after French class to board the couchette - the sleeper TGV train. The couchette is certainly a unique experience - triple bunk beds on both side of each “room,” leaving not even enough headroom to sit up straight. The only options for those who wanted to hang out were to lie down or stand up, but somehow we made it work and spent hours all chatting and laughing together.

The couchette!

12 hours later, we were in Nice! It goes without saying that the French riviera is breathtaking. We all enjoyed many hours of splashing in the clear blue Mediterranean sea and lying in the sun. Being so close to the Italian border, the architecture and cuisine also invoked a lot of Italian culture, something I could appreciate having spent the previous weekend in Italy!

The sea.

The region of Provence has been graced with the presence of many famous artists, including Picasso and Chagall, so my favorite part of the weekend was exploring art museums and seeing the works that were inspired by the beautiful region. It’s easy to see how this region could have inspired such incredible art. On Friday, we took a train to Antibes, where Picasso spent some of his life, to see the museum built in his honor. One of the best parts of the museum was seeing a mural he painted on the wall of the museum - it was amazing to know I was standing in the same place he stood as he painted. While in Antibes, we also took a tour of Fort Carré, a 16th century fort (perhaps most recognized these days as one of the sites used in the James’ Bond film Never Say Never Again). The tour guide spent a long time discussing the geometry of the fort and showing how it was optimized to cover as much land as possible, much to the appreciation of all the engineers.

Satuday was spent in Nice, where we enjoyed an outdoor market, a hike, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Matisse Museum, and at night a huge festival with fireworks and concerts celebrating the 150th anniversary of Nice becoming a part of France. I also enjoyed roaming around the town and trying to capture the excitement of the people, the beauty of the buildings, and the energy of the light on camera.

Provence is known for delicious cookies, so I was delighted to find this shop overflowing with countless varieties of cookies and giving out free samples!

Sunday morning, we took the train to Monaco, a tiny country (less than 1 square mile) which boasts the Monte Carlo casino and an overflow of yachts, flashy cars, and what seems to be one of the world’s wealthiest populations.

The Monte Carlo.

In the afternoon, we ventured back to Nice for the Chagall museum. We only had an hour before it closed, but I could have spent the whole day there. I’ve always admired his work, but it was an entirely different experience to see the paintings in person. So much color, passion to take in. After dinner, we took another couchette back home, and arrived back in Metz on Monday morning. For all we did, it felt like we’d been gone for a week. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in just 3 days of traveling!