France 2014: Road Trip to Biot and Antibes

On this trip so far, we have already seen so much natural beauty and encountered so much fascinating history that I have become not quite immune, but definitely more jaded and selective in my appreciation.  "I've seen better gorges, waterfalls, views, ramparts or ruins", I would sniff at Rich's prompts to look at new candidates.  Now, I'm looking for multiple avenues of interest in order to rate a new journey as a good day trip, including some combination of beautiful scenery, memorable dining experience, good shopping/window shopping, and cultural stimulation. Our next day trip exceeded all expectations, which is saying a lot, given my elevated requirements.

We started out in the town of Biot with two purposes–to look at the specialized glass products made in this village, and to visit the Fernand Léger Museum.  Since 1956, "La Verrerie de Biot" is known for its technique of purposely creating bubbles (usually considered defects) and imprisoning them between two layers of glass to produce unique decorative patterns.  There were several stores selling this Biot glass in all shapes, sizes and colours.  After humming and hawing over cups, wine glasses, plates, bowls, vases, pitchers, and then debating colour choices, we finally settled on a pink carafe which could be used either as  a liquid dispenser or a vase.  In another store, the glass items were sculptural works of art including a tilted-over jar with spilt "water" made of glass.  They also had a gorgeous green jar/vase with a stunning pattern at the bottom, which I would have loved to buy if it had not cost 450 Euros.

Instead, I settled for a 15 Euro necklace made from Biot glass which had attractive colours and was shaped like a wave.  One day after buying it, I accidentally put on the necklace facing the wrong way and decided that the flip side was pretty as well.  So now I have a reversible necklace.  We also found a set of Picasso-inspired salt and pepper shakers to add to our growing collection.  The town of Biot was full of art galleries and public art including mosaics and sculptures, so it was quite pleasant just to stroll around the streets.

After the fruitful shopping excursion and a quick bite to eat, we headed for the highlight of the town, which is the museum dedicated to the life and works of French painter/sculptor/film maker Fernand Léger (1881-1955).  As soon as we approached and spotted the gigantic, brilliantly coloured mosaics adorning the outer walls of the building, we knew that we were in for something special.

The museum is set on a large plot of park land, where some of Léger's larger sculptural pieces decorate the paths.  We could see people enjoying drinks and snacks under shaded tables and school children sitting on the grass sketching one of Léger's works.

Inside the museum, we started with some history about Léger, including his personal biography, and photos documenting his processes for painting and creating his ceramic sculptures, and then moved chronologically through displays of his art.  

An audio commentary described how (like many other artists), Léger's style changed throughout the years, moving from Realism to Impressionism to Cubism and eventually back to a closer representation of the figurative form.  Critics termed his style of art "Tubism" instead of "Cubism" because he would draw cylinders instead of rectangular cubes.  You can see the gamut of his changing techniques as you walk chronologically through the museum.  He worked in all different forms, ranging from paintings to stained glass to mosaics to ceramics to small and full-sized sculptures.

It was interesting seeing some of Léger's earlier works, since up to now, I've only known him for his distinctive paintings of people with the wide faces, large arms and hands, and thick, dark wavy hair that was his style in the later years.  There were plenty of examples of this style on display.  It was noted in the commentary that Léger liked to focus on depicting scenes of popular life featuring acrobats, cyclists, divers, and country outings.

One of the most impressive works on display is Léger's large-scaled, monochrome model of the  mural which he was commissioned to create in colour for the hotel and restaurant La Colombe d'Or in Saint Paul de Vence.  We will be having lunch at that restaurant and will have the chance to see that version, as part of the large collection of art that La Columbe d'Or is known for possessing.  It was interesting to view the mural from the side and see that the figures are actually 3-Dimensional.  The art in this museum was so cool that I was bouncing around with excitement and had to do my happy dance (these days, while singing Pharell Williams' song "Happy") on the way out.

But this was just the first part of the day.  Our second stop was to Antibes to see the sculptures on the terrace of the Picasso Museum.  We thought that we would be in and out of town within half an hour, but we got sidetracked when we saw the beautiful harbour and beach area.  We were enchanted by the deep blue water lapping against the stoned ramparts and turrets, and the flock of sailboats that seemed to be swarming around a yacht.  While I knew that Saint-Tropez and Cannes were popular spots along the French Riveria, I was not familiar with Antibes, which I found equally if not more beautiful than those more famous locations.

From the harbour, looking up upon the Picasso Museum which is located in the 17th Century Chateau Grimaldi with its castle-like facade, we could see tall, thin sculptures looming over the terrace walls.  It was not until we entered the museum that we realized those sculptures were not by Picasso.  Strangely, only the sculpture at the entrance was by Picasso, or at least I think it was–I don't understand why so much of the art in the Picasso museum is not by Picasso!  We found the similar thing in the "Picasso" museum in Vallauris.

The sculptures on the terrace of the Picasso Museum, created by a wide range of artists including Joan Miro, were gorgeously set against the backdrop of the beautiful sea view below. The humanoid, bronze, sculptures we saw from the ground were actually by French sculptor Germaine Richier (1902-1959), whose work we saw again later in the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-Vence.  My favourite of her four pieces sitting on the wall of the terrace was the one with his hand on his forehead as if to quote Homer Simpson in saying "D'oh!".

Although Richier's pieces were definitely the highlight of the terrace display given with their dramatic positions of honour atop the wall, there were other impressive works as well.  Several colourful sculptures by Joan Miro were similar to ones found in the Joan Miro museum in Barcelona.  A sculpture consisting of sliced up violins parts melded together was by the French born American artist Arman (1928-2005), who is known for his deconstruction and reconstruction of objects to form works of art.  He has a similar piece made up of saxophones in the Nice Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art.

Entering the first floor of the museum, we still did not see works by Picasso, as it was filled with temporary exhibition by Russian born Antibes artist Nicolas de Staël who created abstract art using a technique called impasto that applied thick layers of paint.  My favourite was the slightly less abstract piece called The Musicians, which still features his vibrant primary colours and thick brush strokes, but clearly depicts musicians playing their instruments.

It was not until we arrived at the second floor that we found iconic paintings, sculptures, lithographs and ceramics by Picasso, as well as black and white photos taken of him at work and at play.  Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in the museum.  I did find some images on the internet representing some of what we saw, including his sculptures of his mistress Marie Thérèse, a large mural called "Joie de Vive", whose images of peace are very similar in style to his War and Peace masterpiece in the Vallauris Castle chapel, and a sketch of a goat that is reminiscent of his Man and Goat sculpture also in Vallauris.  By the way, I don't like museums that forbid you to take photos in an attempt to force you to buy postcards.  If the goal is to make money for the museum, I much prefer venues like Fondation Maeght that explicitly charge you a photo-taking fee, which I would gladly pay.

While we have seen many examples of his paintings and sculptures before, Picasso's ceramics are harder to find.  The Antibes museum has a wonderful collection of vases, jugs, plates, all of which are transformed from functional objects into works of art because of Picasso's painted images and molded shapes.  He can make a water pitcher look like an owl, a condor or a bull.  Too bad I could not find images of some of my favourite pieces.

Before leaving Antibes, we stopped at an ice cream parlour called Companie des Glaces, where we had our second favourite ice cream experience after the soft ice cream at Glaces Alfred in Saint-Tropez.  This ice cream was particularly delicious because it was made with custard, giving it a smoother, richer texture.  The mint chocolate scoop had a strong minty flavour while our second scoop was made to taste like a Bueno chocolate bar, which is a chocolate covered wafer cookie with hazelnut cream–yumm!  Having shared this cup of ice cream, we suddenly noticed that we could have had a chocolate frappé which we love in Toronto.  After debating whether we should or not, we decided to go for it.  While not quite what we were expecting, it turned out to be a really, really good tasting chocolate milkshake with deep, rich tasting chocolate flavour.

So now, the tally for rating this road trip: beautiful scenery - check; memorable dining experience - check; good shopping opportunities - check; interesting cultural experiences - check, check.  All in all, this was one fine day.